The Limits Of Monarchy
King Charles has to publicly back the government even if his private feelings may be different
On the recent 80th anniversary of VJ Day, marking the day the Second World War ended, King Charles delivered a heartfelt message to the world. “In times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear but the arms you link,” he said. “It has been my privilege to reassure the remaining veterans that they, and their fallen comrades, will never be forgotten.”
A war veteran saluted “my brave King who is here with his beloved Queen in spite of the fact that he’s under treatment for cancer.”
The King and Queen both wiped away tears at a ceremony commemorating the sacrifices made by thousands of British and Commonwealth servicemen and women during the conflict. The King is a very emotional man.
In his position he is often compelled to cope with many duties that he might not approve of.
A religious man, King Charles is committed to Anglicanism and is the supreme governor of the Church of England. But he has stated that he wants to be a protector of all main religious faiths, whether or not they are Christian.
For example, his Coronation ceremony included a greeting spoken collectively by leaders and representatives of the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist communities.
He is also fascinated by Islam and recently made several positive speeches about Muslims’ “great contribution to British society and culture.” He has opened a new wing at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies which is named after him. Some people feel his behaviour is perhaps too generous. It has left some Christians and people of other religions feeling anxious that their faiths have been ignored, particularly at these difficult times.
As King Charles is a constitutional monarch, he reigns but not rules: power lies with parliament, and he is expected to approve the decisions and policies of the elected government.
I spent a year following the then Prince Charles for a magazine article marking his 70th birthday at the end of which he invited me for a weekend at Dumfries House in Scotland, set in 2,000 acres of land. It has a unique selection of education and training programmes designed to support learners of all ages with experiential, hands-on activities. It had a wide range of students, some of whom used to live on the streets. I was very impressed by Charles’s kindness and sense of humour and how well he encouraged young people looking to the future.
It must have been personally painful for King Charles to know that his spoilt younger brother Prince Andrew tried to persuade his parents to let him and not Charles take the throne and not to allow him to marry Camilla. His son Harry lacks gratitude and cannot be trusted. Then there is his addiction with his wife Meghan Markle who seems to want to bring down the monarchy. It’s also disturbing that Netflix’s plan could be to keep the couple under their umbrella to try to gather any appetising information about the monarchy or from the couple should they decide to divorce.
He does however gets enormous pleasure from Prince William and Princess Catherine’s three children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte 10, and Louis, seven, who will soon be moving into the eight-bedroom Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
Since taking office in July 2024 the Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer, no fan of the monarchy, has introduced major changes.
Two controversial bills awaiting Royal Assent introduce assisted dying and allow late abortions, areas about which the king may privately have grave reservations.
Now Starmer has announced his government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian State despite it having no defined boundaries and without demanding as a pre-condition the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Instead, Hamas is forcing emaciated hostages to dig their own graves which is morally grotesque, unconscionable, and utterly indefensible.
Charles’s late mother Queen Elizabeth II, a very revered monarch, also had to cope with difficult political changes, which she always managed adroitly.
If the King refused to act on government advice it would be a grave breach of constitutional convention, which could result in a political crisis, potentially endangering the future of the monarchy itself.
The last time a British monarch refused Royal Assent was in 1708, and it is now considered a formality.
In rare circumstances, a monarch might be asked to advise a prime minister to reconsider a request that could violate a constitutional norm, but this would have to be done subtly and with great caution.
Since the Iraq War of 2003, there has been growing pressure from MPs for parliament to have the last word on approving hostilities.
But although King Charles may be a mere bystander in such matters nowadays, there is no doubt that behind the scenes he will always be pushing the message of peace, not war.