f the United Kingdom: the three lions of England in the first and fourth quarters, the lion of

Scotland in the second and the harp of Ireland in the third. It is surrounded by a garter bearing
the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense ('Evil to him who evil thinks'), which symbolises the Order
of the Garter, an ancient order of knighthood of which the Queen is Sovereign. The shield is
supported by the English lion and Scottish unicorn and is surmounted by the Royal crown.
Below it appears the motto of the Sovereign, Dieu et mon droit ('God and my right').  The plant
badges of the United Kingdom - rose, thistle and shamrock - are often displayed beneath the
shield.

1.1. Stamps

The present-day postal service in the UK has Royal origins, beginning in the system used to
send Court documents in previous centuries. For centuries letters on affairs of State to and from
the Sovereign's court, and despatches in time of war, were carried by messengers of the Court
and couriers employed for particular occasions. Symbols of the Royal origins of the UK's postal
system remain. A miniature silhouette of the monarch's head is depicted on all stamps; the
personal cyphers of The Queen and her predecessors (going back to Victoria) appear on most
letterboxes; and the main postal delivery service is known as the Royal Mail. The image of The
Queen which appears on UK postage stamps was designed by Arnold Machin, who originally
created it as a sculpture. Issued on 5 June 1967, it has remained unchanged for four decades. It is
thought that this design is the most reproduced work of art in history, with over 200 billion
examples produced so far.

1.2. Coinage and banknotes

There are close ties between the Monarchy and the UK monetary system.These can be seen,
for example, in the title of the 'Royal Mint' and the representation of the monarch on all

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circulating British coinage. During The Queen's reign there have been four representations of
Her Majesty on circulating coinage. The original coin portrait of Her Majesty was by Mary
Gillick and was adopted at the beginning of the reign in 1952. The following effigy was by
Arnold Machin OBE, RA, approved by the Queen in 1964. That portrait was used on all the
decimal coins from 1968. The next effigy was by Raphael Maklouf FRSA and was adopted in
1985. From the time of Charles II onwards, a tradition developed of monarchs being represented
on the coinage facing in the opposite direction to their immediate predecessor.

1.3. The crown jewels

The Crown Jewels are the ceremonial treasures which have been acquired by English kings
and queens, mostly since 1660. The collection includes not only the regalia used at coronations,
but also crowns acquired by various monarchs, church and banqueting plate, orders, insignia,
robes, a unique collection of medals and Royal christening fonts. Britain is the only European
monarchy still using its regalia for the consecration ceremony of crowning the Sovereign. At
Westminster Abbey, where William I was the first monarch to be crowned, the Sovereign is
escorted to the Coronation Chair (used at every coronation since 1300) by individuals carrying
the processional regalia. The most famous attempt at theft was in 1671 by Colonel Thomas
Blood. He was caught at the East Gate of the Tower with the crown, one sceptre and the
orb. During the Second World War the jewels were hidden in a secret location which has never
been disclosed.

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 The Imperial State Crown sits on top of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin in September 2022 in
London.

2. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BRITISH MONARCHY

The British Constitution is an unwritten document, unlike the constitution in America or

the European Constitution, and as such, is referred to as an uncodified constitution, in the sense
that there is no one single document that can be referred to as the constitution of the United
Kingdom. The British Constitution is very unique, and can be found in a variety of different
documents, some dating as far back as the Magna Carta in 1215. Supporters of our constitution
believe that the current way allows for flexibility and change to occur without too many
problems. Those who want a written constitution believe that it should be codified so that the

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public as a whole has access to it in document form, as opposed to just constitutional experts
who know how to interpret it, and where to look for it.

Amendments to Britain’s unwritten constitution are made by a simple majority of support

for the change in both Houses of Parliament, which are then followed by the Royal Assent. The
constitution as we know is can be drawn from several various sources, but the most basic written
instruments that can be found as a basis of our constitution are: the Magna Carta of 1215, the Act
of Settlement of 1701, the laws and customs of Parliament, court judgements, as well
as  parliamentary constitutional conventions and royal prerogatives.

2.1. Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of constitutional government, where a hereditary

monarch is the head of state, unlike in an absolute monarchy, wherein the king or the queen is the
sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the constitution. The levels
and types of power and authority held by the Monarch vary from case to case, as does the nature
and guarantees of the constitution. This is a system of government in which a monarch shares
power with a constitutionally organized government, where the monarch may be the de facto
head of state or a purely ceremonial leader. The constitution allocates the rest of the
government’s power to the legislature and judiciary.1

Under the British Constitution, sweeping executive powers, known as the royal prerogative,
are nominally vested in the Sovereign. In exercising these powers, however, the Sovereign
normally defers to the advice of the Prime Minister or other ministers. This principle, which can
be traced back to the Restoration, was most famously articulated by the Victorian writer Walter
Bagehot as "the Queen reigns, but she does not rule".

2.2. Role of the monarch

1
Torrance, David, The crown and the constitution, House of commons library, 2023, 32.

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 The king is the head of state in Great Britain. However, his powers are symbolic and
ceremonial, and he remains politically neutral. He will receive daily dispatches from the
government in a red leather box, such as briefings before important meetings or documents he
must sign. The Prime Minister will usually meet the King on Wednesdays at Buckingham Palace
to update him on government activities. Those meetings are completely private and there is no
official record of what was said.

Тhe King also has a number of parliamentary functions:

1. forming the government - the leader of the party that wins the general election is
usually invited to Buckingham Palace, where he is formally asked to form a
government; the king also formally dissolves the government before a general election; 

2. state opening and the King's speech - the king starts the Parliamentary year with the
State Opening ceremony; he sets out the government's plans in a throne speech in the
House of Lords; 

3. royal consent - when a bill is approved in Parliament, it must be formally approved by

the king in order for it to become law; the last time royal consent was refused in 1708.

4. ТHE FUTURE OF THE MONARCHY

Even though the Monarchy offers constitutional guarantees, some argue that it should either
be abolished or that its legal powers should be stripped away (leaving the Royal Family with
purely ceremonial duties) or even take example from Denmark and Sweden, which have
effectively privatized their monarchies. Of course, the strongest argument against this system is

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the hereditary principle, which offers no guarantee of the suitability of the heir to the Crown and
is a matter of pure chance.

It could be argued that the Monarchy underpins an outdated class system and gives the
impression that Britain is a backwards-looking nation. But, even if there is a significant
Republican movement in Australia, the idea of Republicanism has never taken deep root in the
United Kingdom, probably partly due to the political apathy of the British, who are not a
revolutionary people. Looking to the future, most of the British are confident that the Royal
Family is here to stay.

CONCLUSION

Monarchy is a form of government in which the head of state-monarch/king comes to the

throne as a rule by inheritance, rules for life or until abdication (retirement) and is legally and
politically irresponsible, which implies that according to constitutional principles he cannot be
convicted or can judge. He can be tried in exceptional situations such as upheavals, revolutions
or coups d'état, and in these cases the monarchy is most often overthrown and the ruling dynasty
is interrupted, and a new one comes to the throne. In the past, monarchies were most often
absolute or unlimited because all the functions of the state were united in the person of the king
who liked to define himself with the saying "the state, that's me". Later, with the development of

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civil democracy, monarchies are abolished and replaced by republics as a more suitable form of
organization, and in some places monarchies are retained as limited, constitutional and
parliamentary. In them, the king retained his characteristics of heredity, lifelong rule and
irresponsibility, but lost his constitutional and legislative powers and most of his executive-
political powers. 

Looking at the history of Great Britain, it seems almost unbelievable that it has
maintained its traditional form of monarchy throughout the centuries and even in troubled times
and that it still preserves it today. Especially from the perspective of a small country with a
Christian tradition whose destiny has been shaped since ancient times by various powers that
subjected it to their different types of government. In the history of the European Christian
world, it is a unique case that a sovereign declared himself the head of the church of his country,
turning his back on the Pope to the general surprise of the European Christian powers of the
time, and that he still stands steadfastly at its head, is still its cohesive element, a factor of
stability and the embodiment of determination and insubordination. The strong influence of the
ecclesiastical nobility, which by representing the interests of the church in parliament, certainly
contributed to the well-being, prosperity and uniqueness of the United Kingdom, is also
unquestionable.

LITERATURE

 Баста-Флајнер, Лидија, Политика у границама права, Службени гласник, Београд,

2012.
 Васовић, Вучина, Савремене демократије, Службени гласник, Београд, 2008.
 Јовановић, Слободан, Примери политичке социологије: Енглеска, Француска,
Немачка, БИГЗ, Београд, 1990.
 Torrance, David, The crown and the constitution, House of commons library, 2023.
 Symbols of monarchy, http://www.monarchist.org.uk/symbols-of-monarchy.html,
преузето дана: 20. 04. 2023.

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 Улога монархије у Великој Британији: Ко је све њен део и шта је посао краља?,
https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/svet-62854016, преузето дана: 21.04.2023.
 What is the Future of The British Monarchy?,
https://english.tau.ac.il/british_monarchy_2022, преузето дана: 21.04.2023.

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