Monarchy in the Commonwealth Realms

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The countries of the Commonwealth Realm share the same monarch. The present Head of State in these countries is Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen's constitutional roles outside the United Kingdom have been almost entirely delegated to the Governors-General of these countries.

Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen poses for different official portraits in each country. Here she poses as the Queen of Canada wearing the insignia of the Order of Canada and standing beside the Canadian flag.

This makes the Monarch of the United Kingdom also Monarch of

Antigua and Barbuda since 1981
Australia since the adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1942 (retroactive to 1939)
The Bahamas since independence in 1973
Barbados since independence in 1966
Belize since independence in 1981
Canada since the Statute of Westminster in 1931
Grenada since independence in 1974
Jamaica since independence in 1962
New Zealand since adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1947
Papua New Guinea since independence in 1975
Saint Kitts and Nevis since independence in 1983
Saint Lucia since independence in 1979
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines since independence in 1979
The Solomon Islands since independence in 1978
Tuvalu since independence in 1978

Additionally, under the 1981 Cook Islands Constitution, the Queen in right of New Zealand is head of state, but any change in the succession made by New Zealand would have no effect in the Cook Islands unless separately ratified there.

Royal succession is governed by the English Act of Settlement of 1701, which is part of constitutional law of the Commonwealth Realm countries.

Though the Queen's constitutional powers are virtually identical in each Realm, she does not usually act as political Head of State except in the UK, nor does she commonly perform ceremonial duties, except on occasions of significant historical or political importance. This results from the fact that she resides in the UK, even though she usually visits the other major Commonwealth Realms at least once every five or six years. Day-to-day political and ceremonial duties are instead performed in each Realm by a Governor-General who serves as the Queen's representative. Outside the United Kingdom, the Queen, on the advice of the prime minister of each Realm or, in the cases of Papua New Guinea and the Solomons, by parliamentary vote, appoints a Governor-General to act as her vice-regal representative during her absence. She is also represented by a Governor in each state of Australia, and by a Lieutenant-Governor in each province of Canada. These officials exercise almost all the powers of the constitutional monarch with mostly symbolic, figurehead duties, but they also have reserve powers, called the Royal Prerogative. Nominally, the Governor-General is appointed by the Queen.

Monarchy in the Commonwealth Realms

See also