Britain: An official handbook > 1956

II. GOVERNMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION
THE MONARCHY
The United Kingdom is a monarchical state, formed originally in the ninth
century by the unification of all England under a Saxon king, and later expanded
by the conquest of Wales and Ireland1 by kings of England and by the dynastic
union of the English and Scottish thrones in the person of James I of England and
VI of Scotland. The United Kingdom is also a member nation of the Common¬
wealth, of which the Queen is the head.
The form of the Royal title is varied for those member countries of the Common¬
wealth which owe allegiance to the Crown to suit the particular circumstances of
each. India, as a republic, owes no allegiance to the Crown, but accepts the Queen
as the symbol of the free association of the member nations and, as such, as the
head of the Commonwealth.2
Agreement was reached at a meeting of Commonwealth representatives in
December 1952 on the form of the Queen’s title in the various parts of the Com¬
monwealth, and legislation was passed by the Parliaments concerned to enable
the necessary changes to be made.3 The Royal Title in the United Kingdom is:
‘Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen,
Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’.
The seat of the monarchy is in the United Kingdom. In the other member
nations of the Commonwealth which owe allegiance to the Crown, the Queen is
represented by a Governor-General appointed by the Crown on the advice of the
ministers of the country concerned. The function of the Governor-General is to act
in relation to the administration of public affairs according to the constitutional
practice obtaining in the country in which he holds office in regard to the exercise
of the powers of the Crown. As the Queen’s representative he is wholly independent
of the United Kingdom Government; and he is sometimes a national of the country in
which he holds office. In the Dependencies—the Colonies, the Protectorates and the
Trust Territories—the Queen is represented by Governors, High Commissioners or
Residents, who are appointed by the Crown and perform the constitutional func¬
tions of the Crown, but who have in addition varying executive and legislative
powers, and are responsible to the United Kingdom Government for the good
government of the countries concerned.
Each of the member nations of the Commonwealth has its own separate constitu¬
tion, governed by different laws and customs, and subject to different powers of
change. The scope of this chapter will be confined to a description of one of those
nations—namely the United Kingdom—and the machinery and processes through
which its constitution works.
1 In 1920 the United Kingdom was diminished by the separation of the 26 counties of
southern Ireland.
2 The position of Pakistan will be similar when its new republican constitution is
adopted.
3 In the United Kingdom, the Royal Titles Act, 1953.
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