THE KING’S PREROGATIVES

New Zealand Tablet, 28 July 1910, Page 1173

THE KING’S PREROGATIVES

The prerogatives attaching to the Crown in England (says the Bombay Examiner) may for convenience sake be classified under four heads: (1) Personal, (2) Political, (3) Judicial, and (4) Ecclesiastical in nature. . . With regard to that of the first-mentioned description the principal ones are as follow: As the individual invested with the supreme government, the Sovereign cannot, legally speaking, ever be considered, as deceased. At the most there can only be a ‘ demise of the Crown that is to say the transfer of the Royal authority to a successor. The familiar phrase,' ‘The King is dead; Long live the King,’ means that though the breath is out of the body of one Sovereign, there is another constitutionally entitled to occupy his place. For this reason the Royal Standard never flies at ‘ half-mast ’ over the Sovereign’s residence. Another ‘ personal ’ prerogative of the King of England is that he can do no wrong.’ Since from a theoretical point of view, he makes the laws, he is naturally above their operation. On this account, therefore, should a subject suffer an injury at the hands of the Sovereign, the fact is attributed to ‘ the mistake of his advisers.’ In the same way no action for false imprisonment can possibly be sustained against the King. He is, also exempt from taxation,

save in respect of lands acquired by his privy purse. Thus it happens that while King Edward was not ‘ rated ’ when living in Buckingham Palace, his son was required to pay something like £IOOO a year when in residence in Marlborough House. It is also interesting to note that a species of sanctuary attaches to any Royal dwelling. The effect of this ruling is, that should a subject contrive to take refuge in, say, Windsor Castle, no judicial process could be executed against him * until he chose to leave the precincts. In the case of a criminal, or Crown debtor, however, no such protection is afforded. Other ‘ personal ’ prerogatives enjoyed by a British Monarch are the exclusive right of printing the Bible in the British Dominions, the erecting of lighthouses on the coast, and the guardianship of all infants and lunatics. It need scarcely be pointed out, however, that nowadays these privileges are not exercised to any pronounced extent. As a matter of fact, the printing of the Bible is attended to by the authorities of the University Press at Oxford, while the other matters referred to are entrusted to the Board of Trade and the Lord Chancellor. The Sovereign is also entitled to alter the Royal Standard. On the demise of the Crown a general election is not necessarily called for; our Cabinet Ministers are required to surrender their portfolios. This, however, is only a matter of. form, since the portfolios are promptly returned. Peers and members of Parliament take a fresh oath of allegiance, as .must also officers of the Navy and Army, while Ambassadors to the Court of St. James’s have to receive new credentials.

Some of the prerogatives attaching to the Throne of England date from very early chapters in the country’s history, and their retention at this date is largely a concession to sentiment. So far as the ‘political’ ones go, the most valuable that King George may exercise is the one entitling him to withhold his assent to any Bill, notwithstanding the fact that both Houses of Parliament may have passed it. The last occasion on which this right was exercised was so long ago as the year 1707. As head of the State the Sovereign is Commander-in-Chief of the naval and military forces, and is for this reason entitled, should he deem it necessary, to set the old press-gang laws in operation again. It is also a ‘ political ’ prerogative to assume the ownership of all treasure-trove or lands discovered by any subject. Should, therefore, an Englishman reach the South Pole before a representative of any other nation, it will become the property of the Crown— the finder will be unable to float a public company for its exploitation without previously obtaining the Royal sanction to do so. The 4 judicial ’ prerogatives attaching to the Crown of England are for the most part of a highly peculiar nature. For example, every action in the Court of the King’s Bench Division is considered as taking place coram rege ipso, even though the Sovereign be out of the country altogether at the time. - \ ■

The ‘ecclesiastical’ prerogatives of the English monarch include the appointment of Bishops, and the patronage of, all benefices that are thus rendered vacant. Since the time of Henry VIII. the King has been recognised as the head of the Church. He cannot, however, create ecclesiastical jurisdiction or found a new Bishopric without the assent of Parliament.

V While the number of prerogatives that may at the present day be exercised by George V. is considerable, the list thereof is nevertheless of an extremely attenuated description in comparison with the ones obtaining three or four centuries ago. Its proportions have been limited gradually by desuetude or by pressure on the part of Parliament to forego certain items at one time included therein. _ The Magna Charta, for instance, was responsible for depriving the Sovereign of much of the power he formerly enjoyed, and the subsequent Petition of Right and Act of Settlement had 'also a considerable effect in the same same direction. ' '

Among the lapsed privileges _of the Crown may be mentioned the granting of monopolies, the imposing of compulsory knighthood, the impressment of carriages and horses, and the confiscation of the property of any subject convicted of treason or felony.