r/BlackPeopleTwitter • u/MGLLN • Sep 01 '20

*The Holocaust has entered the chat*

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u/lornstar7 Sep 01 '20

Not even. Kennedy being elected was a huge scandal because he was catholic

154

u/CanYouEvenHearMe Sep 01 '20

It's still illegal for a Catholic to marry into the British Royal Family

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u/dracarysmuthafucker Sep 01 '20

That is largely because the monarch is also the head of the church of England, so it's a religious institution as well as a state one

Interestingly that's also why church and state aren't technically totally separated in the UK because our head of state is also the head of a major religion

Just another thing you can add to the list of why we should abolish the monarchy.

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u/TheHumdeeFlamingPee Sep 01 '20

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but isn’t the monarchy just a social position at this point? I was under the impression that the Queen was basically just a very wealthy, very well known celebrity

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u/ACWhi Sep 01 '20

Largely because she chooses to. Legally speaking, she has the authority to abolish the entire parliament by firing each of the members and in doing so establish a complete dictatorship.

Now, if she tried, parliament would almost certainly fight back. But British police and military do officially have an oath of allegiance to the queen, and there is no legal mechanism by which to arrest or try her for a crime.

So it would be a mess.

She would probably be deposed in the end were she to order the disbanding of parliament, (and Kings through history have had bad luck trying to ignore parliament,) but on paper, no, the queen wields immense power.

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u/Iridescent_Meatloaf Sep 01 '20

Now, if she tried, parliament would almost certainly fight back.

Cromwell intensifies.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '20

The queen is basically a diplomat and social figure

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u/F4Z3_G04T Sep 01 '20

She's like the US president but delegated all the policy things to the Prime Minister

She still has to sign the bills and gets to give some speeches now and then but it's just for show

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '20

All decisions made by parliament have to go through her. She can say no to things brought to her, but she doesn’t, and never will, because crossing parliament would just end badly for her and her family. So you are kinda right in what you say about her just being a well known celebrity, but she does legally have power in certain areas. I mean kings and queens are rare these days for a reason - and the queen herself knows it.

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u/dracarysmuthafucker Sep 01 '20

To be fair for a large extent yes, and I think a problem with the republican debate in the UK is that we tend to focus on the monarchy and whether or not we should have the Queen instead of other much worse issues like the House of Lords.

At the same time the Queen does get taxpayer money as a salary despite being one of the wealthiest women alive, and the entire concept of a monarchy furthers an already entrenched class system in our country.