I believe there was already a similar topic created on this subject in the past, but on a more hostile front. I've decided to create this thread, so that we can actually have this discussion without the negativity and disgusting attitudes.

 

Why is it that the Queen is such an iconic person in the UK? Why is it that the UK seems to worship the queen as the equivalent to a God?

 

I'm completely ignorant on the matter, and what better way to become educated, than by people who actually reside in the UK.

As I stated in the thread you're referring to:

 

"The Queen in the UK is head of the state if you will, it's an English tradition dating back a few thousand years to have a King or Queen who ruled the country, back before politics and governments we had a King or Queen and their advisors who made the decisions they thought best for the country, to go against the Monarchy was an act of treason punishable by death. It's a long standing historical hierarchy that exists not just in England. It's therefore a huge part of our lives, she's the royalty that leads our country and continues our history."

 

She still remains iconic for this reason, our history and our traditions that have been around since the time when the monarchy made the decisions.

 

We don't worship her as if she was equivalent to a God. Let's get this one correct, if you are not aware back in the 1400's (and probably even earlier, but I never studied history prior to the 1400's) It was a common belief in religion that the king or queen was appointed by God to do his work. The will of the king/queen was also the will of God, hence why those who won the crown through a battle were known as "usurpers" because they took the crown (and therefore the title of king/queen of England) illegitimately (in other words, not born in through the current royal family or chosen by God). Traditional English folk who still follow religion will still see the Queen in the same sense and therefore is of great prestige.

 

To my knowledge, other countries also see our queen as iconic, due to the old English empire but as I'm English born and raised I can't comment so much on how other countries perceive our Queen.

 

Hope this helps and that other English folk might have more historical information for you, or even more modern reasoning :)

 

Edited September 24, 201411 yr by LukeD

I have nothing to say about UK itself. Only about her Canadian connection.
She is also an iconic figure in Canada, and other former British colonies. Canada is probably in 2nd place. 
All Canadian coins have her face.
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In Canada, she is our head of state. Queen Elizabeth II is also on our 20 dollar bills. I find it interesting to still have a tradition with having the queen.

As I stated in the thread you're referring to:

 

"The Queen in the UK is head of the state if you will, it's an English tradition dating back a few thousand years to have a King or Queen who ruled the country, back before politics and governments we had a King or Queen and their advisors who made the decisions they thought best for the country, to go against the Monarchy was an act of treason punishable by death. It's a long standing historical hierarchy that exists not just in England. It's therefore a huge part of our lives, she's the royalty that leads our country and continues our history."

 

She still remains iconic for this reason, our history and our traditions that have been around since the time when the monarchy made the decisions.

 

We don't worship her as if she was equivalent to a God. Let's get this one correct, if you are not aware back in the 1400's (and probably even earlier, but I never studied history prior to the 1400's) It was a common belief in religion that the king or queen was appointed by God to do his work. The will of the king/queen was also the will of God, hence why those who won the crown through a battle were known as "usurpers" because they took the crown (and therefore the title of king/queen of England) illegitimately (in other words, not born in through the current royal family or chosen by God). Traditional English folk who still follow religion will still see the Queen in the same sense and therefore is of great prestige.

 

To my knowledge, other countries also see our queen as iconic, due to the old English empire but as I'm English born and raised I can't comment so much on how other countries perceive our Queen.

 

Hope this helps and that other English folk might have more historical information for you, or even more modern reasoning :)

So how do you all in the UK feel about the Queen having this much power? Do you believe that the Parliament should have this power, and not the Queen? Couldn't the Queen just screw up the country altogether (Not saying she would, speaking hypothetically) if she wanted to?

So how do you all in the UK feel about the Queen having this much power? Do you believe that the Parliament should have this power, and not the Queen? Couldn't the Queen just screw up the country altogether (Not saying she would, speaking hypothetically) if she wanted to?

I would prefer the monarchy to have the power to override government than the government have all the power. Our government is what makes all of the decisions now, at any point however the monarchy can dissolve government and make the shots and that's the way I prefer it to be even though she does mostly nothing now.

 

She could totally screw up the country, but then. So can all of the politicians in power.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always learned that the Queen actually has very little power - lots of authority, but little power (the distinction is that authority is what you can technically do, power is what you can really do -- dictators are often a good example, because they often don't take the highest office and/or officially most authority is vested in a deliberative body, but the one person really has all the power). Technically, the Queen can veto any law, dissolve Parliament whenever, and so on; in practice, could the Queen actually get away with using her powers to overrule a democratically elected government?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always learned that the Queen actually has very little power - lots of authority, but little power (the distinction is that authority is what you can technically do, power is what you can really do -- dictators are often a good example, because they often don't take the highest office and/or officially most authority is vested in a deliberative body, but the one person really has all the power). Technically, the Queen can veto any law, dissolve Parliament whenever, and so on; in practice, could the Queen actually get away with using her powers to overrule a democratically elected government?

The queen has lots of Power but, I was taught that to pass an edict that she brings up, it has to go through Parliament as it is a Constitutional Monarchy. This stuff was all organised in a bunch of Civil wars in Great Britian 100's of years ago.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always learned that the Queen actually has very little power - lots of authority, but little power (the distinction is that authority is what you can technically do, power is what you can really do -- dictators are often a good example, because they often don't take the highest office and/or officially most authority is vested in a deliberative body, but the one person really has all the power). Technically, the Queen can veto any law, dissolve Parliament whenever, and so on; in practice, could the Queen actually get away with using her powers to overrule a democratically elected government?

You're technically right there. I was just using "power" as a generic term. The Queen has the authority to do all of the things mentioned above if she so chooses. 

How well that would go down with the public would depend really on the reason behind her actions. I mean if government completely collapsed in it's functionality it would beneficial to dissolve government, run the country as is and install a new government in order to recover. I highly doubt she would be liked/get away with it if she said "lol let's get rid of government for fun" but as all legislation government passes requires royal assent you can't argue with her. 

You're technically right there. I was just using "power" as a generic term. The Queen has the authority to do all of the things mentioned above if she so chooses. 

How well that would go down with the public would depend really on the reason behind her actions. I mean if government completely collapsed in it's functionality it would beneficial to dissolve government, run the country as is and install a new government in order to recover. I highly doubt she would be liked/get away with it if she said "lol let's get rid of government for fun" but as all legislation government passes requires royal assent you can't argue with her. 

Made me LOL.

 

So the Queen of England is the highest point of power in the entire government, if I understood correctly. Now does the queen have direct power over the military? When I say this, I mean that she can send a set number of troops to any specific country.

Made me LOL.

 

So the Queen of England is the highest point of power in the entire government, if I understood correctly. Now does the queen have direct power over the military? When I say this, I mean that she can send a set number of troops to any specific country.

 

Technically yes, as they are Her Majesties Armed Forces. All swear an Oath to the queen. So in theory, she could declare war and control how the armed forces are used, but the Ministry of Defence typically does all of this.

 

This is the same for most things, the Queen COULD do all these things, but 99.9999999999999999999% of the time she never even has to lift a finger because we have government.

The exceptions are appointing the prime minister and opening the new parliament after elections (this is a royal procedure that occurs each time government cycles) and the royal assent is also a procedure in which legislation which has been passed through the house of commons and the house of lords get's enacted as legislation rather than a "bill".

Technically yes, as they are Her Majesties Armed Forces. All swear an Oath to the queen. So in theory, she could declare war and control how the armed forces are used, but the Ministry of Defence typically does all of this.

 

This is the same for most things, the Queen COULD do all these things, but 99.9999999999999999999% of the time she never even has to lift a finger because we have government.

The exceptions are appointing the prime minister and opening the new parliament after elections (this is a royal procedure that occurs each time government cycles) and the royal assent is also a procedure in which legislation which has been passed through the house of commons and the house of lords get's enacted as legislation rather than a "bill".

Oh wow, I wasn't aware of this. I feel like I'm learning more now, than I have in 10 years of American education. Funny, but I've got one more question for you if you don't mind answering; Say the queen becomes abusive and oppressive with her powers. Aside from a straight up rush into her home, how would the people remove the queen from power? Wouldn't the military just defend her, or would they side with the people?

Oh wow, I wasn't aware of this. I feel like I'm learning more now, than I have in 10 years of American education. Funny, but I've got one more question for you if you don't mind answering; Say the queen becomes abusive and oppressive with her powers. Aside from a straight up rush into her home, how would the people remove the queen from power? Wouldn't the military just defend her, or would they side with the people?

 

I'm not 100% sure on this. As far as I know the Queen can only be overthrown and a new regime put in place. If the Queen was removed from the throne and a new regime in place the new regime could then switch government and sort it out. As for the military, technically they swore an oath to the Queen and so would have to side with the monarchy. However it's not unknown in history for the armed forces to split resulting in military personnel going against those in power. The issue you have there of course is that if you fail, you just committed treason.

Other than a coup I'm not sure there is any way to remove the queen from power. But again, I'm not 100% sure on this particular topic.

Oh wow, I wasn't aware of this. I feel like I'm learning more now, than I have in 10 years of American education. Funny, but I've got one more question for you if you don't mind answering; Say the queen becomes abusive and oppressive with her powers. Aside from a straight up rush into her home, how would the people remove the queen from power? Wouldn't the military just defend her, or would they side with the people?

 

You can't if you go anywhere near Buckingham palace you'd be shot by the guards. She's protected and can do whatever she wants.

 

Cause apparently she shits sideways.

The queen I think is one the of the most inspirational person In the u.k although I don't live in the u.k, in history the queens have done a lot of good things.

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Edited June 23, 20241 yr by tobeymaguire