As we look into the role The Queen plays in appointing a new prime minister, we’re looking at Royal Prerogative and how it is exercised.
Simply put, Royal Prerogative is the authority and powers vested in the sovereign to govern. However, in modern times, it is exercised only upon the advice of the prime minister, and it is exercised through Her Majesty’s government ministers.
According to the UK Parliament’s official website, “The prerogative enables Ministers, among many other things, to deploy the armed forces, make and unmake international treaties and to grant honours. In modern times, Government Ministers exercise the majority of the prerogative powers either in their own right or through the advice they provide to the Queen which she is bound constitutionally to follow.”
Royal Prerogative has run through English history with increasing limitations on what the sovereign can do on their own initiative; for example, early monarchs reigned virtually supreme with few limitations on what they couldn’t do—the Magna Carta was an early document created with guidelines on their power and how the barons could have a say in what was enacted, dating to King John in the early 1200s.
Richard II also attempted to define Royal Prerogative, and the rules from his reign were built upon until Henry VIII took the throne and split from the Catholic Church, becoming, in effect, answerable only to himself and Parliament. Monarchs after Henry VIII continued to let their government keep them in check, with a few obvious fractions into the 1600s.
Perhaps the most important part of the Royal Prerogative is the ability of the monarch to dissolve Parliament; The Queen does this at the request of her Prime Minister, triggering an election. The choice of Prime Minister is also technically a part of Royal Prerogative, in that The Queen could theoretically appoint any person she wants to the role, however she has always allowed her politicians to choose their own leader, and always asks the leader of the chosen governing party to form a government in her name.
The Queen also has Royal Prerogative in the judicial and foreign affairs spheres of government: namely, her government can grant pardons and nolle prosequi (the decision to end a criminal case before any decisions or verdicts are reached; recognise foreign states, declare war; and present honours and awards in The Queen’s name.
The Queen is kept informed of the government’s activities in her name via weekly audiences with her Prime Minister. She has the right to “be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn,” according to sources.
On 6 September, The Queen will ask either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak to form a government in her name following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. They will become Her Majesty’s 15th prime minister.
