Monday 7 February 2022

70 years since the accession of the Queen

Sunday 6 February 2022 marked 70 years since the accession of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen is therefore by far the longest reigning monarch in British history. 

Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years 216 days and George III for 59 years 96 days.. The day was marked by the Queen's Accession Day message

The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth and also Head of State in a considerable number of nations and territories.

Many events will take place to mark the Platinum Jubilee including a holiday weekend from Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5 June.  The Coronation took place on 2 June 1953.

The Crown:

"The Crown" is a frequently used term.

It is a term with a variety of meanings including the physical object of a Crown, the Queen in her official capacity (e.g. the Queen in Parliament), or even the government (e.g. Her Majesty's Government,  Ministers of the Crown).

The House of Commons library has published a briefing document - The Crown and the constitution - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk) - author David Torrance (4 February 2022). This briefing includes a short history of the Crown. It then looks at Succession to the Crown and Prerogative Powers. This is followed by a look at the relationship of the Crown to Parliament, the Executive, the Law, the Church (the Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England), the Armed Forces. Finally the paper looks at the Crown internationally and the finances of the Crown. 

The paper's 65 pages are interesting and explain very well the various roles and relationships which exist under the UK's uncodified constitutional arrangements and in which CONVENTIONS play a very large part - e.g. who the Queen appoints as Prime Minister is largely governed by convention.

Links:

Queen's Accession Day message

Previous post - 10 years ago on 5 February 2022 - Law and Lawyers: 60 years a Queen: the Diamond Jubilee (obiterj.blogspot.com).This looked briefly at the events in 1952 when HM King George VI died and the Queen - then Princess Elizabeth - became Queen. 

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