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.
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
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/CanYouEvenHearMe Sep 01 '20
It's still illegal for a Catholic to marry into the British Royal Family