The Role of the MonarchyThe Role of the Monarchy

Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom.

In a monarchy, a king or queen is Head of State. The British monarchy is known as a constitutional monarchy. This

means that, while The Sovereign is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected

Parliament.

Although the British Sovereign no longer has a political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part

in the life of the nation.

As Head of State, The Monarch undertakes constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one

thousand years of history. In addition to these State duties, The Monarch has a less formal role as 'Head of Nation'. The

Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially

recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service.

In all these role The Sovereign is supported by members of their immediate family.

Symbols of the MonarchySymbols of the Monarchy

Flags, stamps and coins all represent the Crown in different ways, while symbols such as the Crown Jewels exert a powerful fascination.

With the passage of years, the history and meaning of many of these symbols has become obscured. Find out more about

Royal symbols and their origins in this section:

The principal symbol of the Monarchy is often deemed to be the Sovereign themselves. However, throughout the history

of the Monarchy the authority of the Sovereign has been represented by symbols.

The Royal Coats of Arms

The most notable symbols of Monarchy are the Crown Jewels and regalia, the Honours of Scotland and the Principality of Wales. Lesser known symbols include the Great Seal and

personal emblems of the Monarch such as the Royal Standard and Coats of Arms.

Even buildings such asBuckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouseare often said to

be a physical representation of the Monarchy.

Buckingham Palace - the Queen's official and main royal London home

Windsor Castle

The Palace of Holyroodhouse

Balmoral Castle

Items such as the Crown Jewels, and especially the regalia, represent the continuity of the Monarchy. The regalia forms

an integral part in the Coronation service for a new Sovereign and certain elements of the Crown Jewels are born before the Sovereign at the State Opening of Parliament. The

Queen wears the Imperial State Crown as she delivers the speech.

The Honours of Scotland Imperial State Crown

The image of the Monarch is also seen as a symbol of the Monarchy with The

Queen represented on items such as bank notes and stamps. Such images have

been used for hundreds of years with

images on Kings, Queens and Emperors

being used on coins throughout Europe. Even ceremonies such as the Trooping of the Colour are seen as important

symbols of the Monarchy.

The QueenThe Queen

The Queen is Head of State in the United Kingdom. As a constitutional monarch, Her Majesty does not 'rule' the

country, but fulfils important ceremonial and formal roles with respect to Government. She is also Fount of Justice,

Head of the Armed Forces and has important relationships with the established Churches of England and Scotland. Read more about The Queen's State roles in the UK and

Crown dependencies in this section.

Members of the Royal Family support The Queen in her many State and national duties, as well as carrying out

important work in the areas of public and charitable service, and helping to strengthen national unity and stability.

Members of the Royal Family

Those who undertake official duties are members of The Queen's close family: her children and their spouses, and

The Queen's cousins (the children of King George VI's brothers) and their spouses.

Younger members of the Royal

Family who are presently in education or

military training - such as Prince

William and Prince Harry - do not

undertake official duties full-time,

but often play a role in important national events and commemorations.

Prince Harry on patrol in Garmsir

Every year the Royal Family as a whole carries out over 2,000 official engagements throughout the UK and

worldwide.

These engagements may include official State responsibilities. Members of the Royal Family often carry out official duties in the UK and abroad where The Queen cannot be present in person. The Prince of Wales and The Princess

Royal, for example, may present members of the public with their honours at an Investiture.

When official events such as receptions, State banquets and garden parties are held, the Royal Family supports The

Queen in making her guests welcome.

Members of the Royal Family also often represent The Queen and the nation in Commonwealth or other countries, at events such as State funerals or national festivities, or

through longer visits to strengthen Britain's diplomatic and economic relations.

The Royal Family also plays an important role in supporting and encouraging the public and charity sectors. About 3,000 organisations list a member of the Royal Family as patron or

president.

The huge range of these organisations - covering every subject from education to the environment, hospitals to housing - allows members of the Royal Family to meet

people from a wide spectrum of national and local life, and to understand their interests, problems and concerns.

Finally, the Royal Family as a whole plays a role in strengthening national unity. Members of the Royal Family

are able to recognise and participate in community and local events in every part of the UK, from the opening of new

buildings to celebrations or acts of commemoration.

The Queen working by herself would be unable to

attend every engagement to which she is invited.

Members of the Royal Family

can undertake local or specialist engagements which would otherwise have to be declined.

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The Queen on the day of her Coronation, 2 june 1953

British monarchyBritish monarchy timeline timeline

Timeline of the Kings and Queens of Englandfrom 1066 to 1603

The Normans(1066 - 1154)

Plantagenets1154-1216 1216-1399

The House of Lancaster(1399 - 1461)

The House of York(1461 - 1485)

The Tudors(1485 -1603)

Kings and Queens of the United Kingdomfrom 1603 to the present day

The Stuarts(1603 - 1649) (1660 - 1714)

The House of Hanoverians(1714 -1901)

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and The Windsors(1901 -1910) (1910 - Today)

Interesting Fact:The only time when there was no King or Queen in

Britain was when the country was a republic between 1649 and 1660. (In 1649 King Charles I was executed and Britain became a Republic for eleven years. The

monarchy was restored in 1660.)

The Normans 

The Normans were descendants of Vikings who had settled by force in North East France around the mouth of the Seine River. The land they occupied became known as Normandy. (The name Normandy comes from the French

normand, meaning Norsemen and Normans)

The Plantagenets 

The Plantagenets were a huge powerful family not just in England but throughout Europe. The first Plantagenet

was King Henry 2nd whose father owned vast lands in Anjou an area as big as Normandy around the modern town of Tours. Henry’s wife Eleanor ruled the even larger territory to the south called Aquitaine. Plantagenet Kings were thus the richest family in Europe and ruled England and half of

France. Their name came from planta genista, the Latin for yellow broom flower, which the Counts of Anjou wore as an

emblem on their helmets.

The Lancastrians

The accession of Henry IV sowed the seeds for a period of unrest which ultimately broke out in civil war. Fraught by rebellion and instability after his usurpation of Richard II,

Henry IV found it difficult to enforce his rule. His son, Henry V, fared better, defeating France in the famous Battle of

Agincourt (1415) and staking a powerful claim to the French throne. Success was short-lived with his early death. By the

reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out

between rival claimants to the throne, dating back to the sons of Edward III. The Lancastrian dynasty descended from

John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular Richard II. 

Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York asserted their legitimate claim to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son, but through a female line. The Wars of the

Roses therefore tested whether the succession should keep to the male line or could pass through females. Captured

and briefly restored, Henry VI was captured and put to death, and the Yorkist faction led by Edward IV gained the

throne

The Yorkists

The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians in 1461 did not put an end to the Wars of the Roses, which

rumbled on until the start of the sixteenth century. Family disloyalty in the form of Richard III's betrayal

of his nephews, the young King Edward V and his brother, was part of his downfall. Henry Tudor, a

claimant to the throne of Lancastrian descent, defeated Richard III in battle and Richard was killed. 

With the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth, the sister of the young Princes in the Tower, reconciliation was

finally achieved between the warring houses of Lancaster and York in the form of the new Tudor

dynasty, which combined their respective red and white emblems to produce the Tudor rose.

The Tudors

The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin,

Henry VII succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the

highly successful Tudor house. Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years.

During this period, England developed

into one of the leading European colonial

powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh

taking part in the conquest of the New

World. Nearer to home, campaigns in Ireland brought the country under strict

English control. Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many changes. The Tudor court played a prominent part in the cultural Renaissance taking place in

Europe, nurturing all-round individuals such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey. 

Execution of Lady Jane Grey, is often known as

"The Nine Days Queen"

The Tudor period also saw the turbulence of two changes of official religion, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent believers of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The fear of Roman Catholicism induced by the Reformation was to last for several centuries and to play an influential role in

the history of the Succession.

The Stuarts

Scotland provided England with a new line of kings, the Stuarts. They were to bring disaster to the nation for, coming

from Scotland where royal power had not been curbed by Parliament, they had no understanding of the more

democratic ways that had developed in England.

The Union of the Crowns was followed by the Union of the Parliaments in 1707.

Although a new Scottish Parliament now determines much of Scotland's legislation, the two Crowns remain united under a

single Sovereign, the present Queen.

The Hanoverians

The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society. For all that, the Hanoverian period was remarkably stable, not least because of the longevity of its kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there were only five monarchs, one of

whom, George III, remains the longest reigning king in British History. The period was also one of political stability, and the

development of constitutional monarchy.

For vast tracts of the eighteenth century, great Whig families dominated politics, while the early nineteenth

century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime' Minister, Robert Walpole, dates from this period, and income tax was introduced. Towards the end of the Hanoverian period, the Great Reform Act was passed, which amongst other things

widened the electorate. It was also in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her overseas empire, despite the

loss of the American colonies, largely through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century.

By the end of the Hanoverian period, the British Empire covered a third of the globe. The theme of longevity was set

to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to the British Royal Family in 1840 with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Queen

Victoria herself remained a member of the House of Hanover.

The only British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years at the beginning of the modern age in the early years of the

twentieth century. 

King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha survived in other European monarchies,

including the current Belgian Royal Family and the former monarchies of Portugal and Bulgaria.

The House of Windsor

The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name

by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of

the current Royal Family. 

During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom have fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional

monarchy. One of their most important roles has been acting as national figureheads lifting public morale during the

devastating wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45.

The period saw the modernisation of the monarchy in tandem with many social changes which have taken place over the past 90 years. One such modernisation has been

the use of mass communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public all over the world. 

George V adopted the new relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in 1953, at The Queen's insistence; and the World Wide Web has been used for the past seven years to provide a global audience with information about the Royal Family. 

During this period, British monarchs have also played a vital part in promoting international relations. The Queen retains close links with former colonies in her role as Head of the Commonwealth.

The English Monarchy has undergone many changes throughout the years. There have been several rulers. Each

has brought changes to their country and to the world, which is why it is important to study the different monarchs and

periods of English history.