The Monarchy

The British sovereign is the head of what is known as a ‘constitutional monarchy’.
This means that, while he or she remains the UK’s head of state, with
the notional prerogative to govern and take major constitutional decisions,
in practice she does not do so. Unlike in presidential countries, Britain’s
head of state is a fi gurehead with little real power. Instead, day-to-day decisions
regarding domestic and foreign policy are left to Parliament and, more
specifi cally, the government, led by the ‘First Lord of the Treasury’, or prime
minister.
The authority invested in successive prime ministers to choose their own
ministers, devise and draft legislation, and decide whether to take the state
to war, among other things, is derived from another of those key constitutional
principles: the Royal Prerogative. In essence, this is the body of customary
privileges and powers historically acquired by reigning monarchs
(predominantly in the Middle Ages). Today, the majority of so-called ‘prerogative
powers’ derived from this principle are exercised not by the Crown
itself, but by Parliament.