Today marked the end of the Diamond Jubilee festivities in Britain. Over the past four days, millions of Britons took to the streets to celebrate the sixty-year reign of Her Majesty the Queen. On some level, the idea of millions of people turning out to fete an 86-year-old grandmother is rather strange. Then again, the whole institution of the British monarchy is built on paradox. On paper, the Queen has vast powers. Describing Queen Victoria’s powers in the 19th century, the constitutional scholar Walter Bagehot said:
[s]he could dismiss all the officers, from the General Commanding-in-Chief downwards; she could dismiss all the sailors too; she could sell off all our ships of war and all our naval stores; she could make a peace by the sacrifice of Cornwall, and begin a war for the conquest of Brittany. She could make every citizen in the United Kingdom, male or female, a peer; she could make every parish in the United Kingdom a “university”; she could dismiss most of the civil servants; she could pardon all offenders. In a word, the Queen could by prerogative upset all the action of civil government within the Government, could disgrace the nation by a bad war or peace, and could, by disbanding our forces, whether land or sea, leave us defenceless against foreign nations.[note]The English Constitution, Introduction to the Second Edition, pg. 32[/note]
The current Queen may share many of those powers, but she can only exercise them on the advice of ministers accountable to Parliament. There are a few instances where the Queen retains personal discretion, but they are few and far between. She does, however, retain the right to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn her government. Because communications between monarch and minister are confidential, it is difficult for us to understand the extent to which the Queen has influenced her governments. That won’t become clear until the relevant documents are declassified after her death. Judging from the odd tidbits that have entered the public domain, it’s clear that she is an astute observer of the political scene.
But that’s not why millions of Britons have come out to cheer her. I’d wager that most of them couldn’t care less about her role as head of state; they’re cheering for her as head of the nation. They’re cheering for her because she stepped up to the plate after her father’s untimely death and immediately set about discharging a difficult job with dignity and grace. They’re cheering for her because she has walked the fine line between clinging to the past and embracing the future. They’re cheering for her because she has worked to recognize the many unsung heroes of British society–the dinner ladies, the crossing guards, and the jumble sale volunteers. They’re cheering for her because, at 86, she still carries out over 400 official engagements per year.
Over the past six decades, the Queen has shown herself to be one of the greatest Britons. I may not be one of her subjects, but I have no problem joining with them as they cry “Vivat Regina!”
Codex Lochianus 