The Crown
This article is about the Crown in relation to monarchy. For other uses, see Crown.The Crown is a term which is used to separate the government authority and property of the state in a
kingdom from any personal influence and private assets held by the current Monarch.
The Crown is a
corporation sole, a legal entity which can own property and have rights. In the
United Kingdom Elizabeth II is currently the post holder, and thus Queen of the United Kingdom. The holder of the position of The Crown will be King or Queen and officially governs the UK. In practice, however, the UK is usually governed by the government derived from the democratically elected parliament, but this is only done 'on behalf of the Crown' and laws are given
Royal Assent by the
Crown in Parliament.
In the United Kingdom, as an example,
The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom is an entity that represents all rulership in the UK, but is separate from the person currently wearing it. For instance, the Queen owns some of her castles herself, and if she abdicated, she would keep them. Others belong to the Crown, and would belong to the next monarch. This situation arose on the
abdication of King
Edward VIII in
1936, when the new King,
George VI, was obliged to purchase
Balmoral Castle and
Sandringham House from the former king.
The situation for The Crown in the other
Commonwealth Realms is similar.
Both Canada and Australia are federations: therefore, besides the Crown in right of Canada and the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of Australia, there are Crowns in right of each
Canadian province and each
Australian state. For example, there is the Crown in right of the province of
British Columbia. The rights which the Crown possesses in right of a Canadian province are exercised by the province's lieutenant-governor (e.g.,
Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia), not the
Governor-General of Canada, and such rights are exercised under the advice of the provincial ministers (not the federal ministers). The situation in Australia is analogous with
governors and
state ministers.
Many government workers in the United Kingdom are
Crown Servants. For instance, traditionally, prison warders and
police officers were directly employed by the Crown, or owe a duty to the Crown where there is no direct employer-employee relationship, and not by the Prison Service or Police Authorities. The Crown is also the source of all justice in the UK (which is why there is the
Crown Prosecution Service in the criminal courts whose
lawyers are called
Crown Prosecutors), which also meant that it was immune from prosecution. Those working within the intelligence services such as
Mi5 and
Mi6 are also Crown Servants. Thus all Government departments were essentially immune from prosecution, an immunity which was limited slightly by the Crown Proceedings Act of
1947. Crown servants may not sit as
Members of Parliament and this is used as a way of allowing MPs to retire before their time—they are awarded a
sinecure job which is that of a Crown Servant and thus disbarred as an MP (see
resignation from the British House of Commons).
The concept of the Crown took form under the
feudal system, evolving from and synthesising oriental and barbarian concepts of kingship. Under the feudal System, in
England and (separately)
Scotland, all rights and privileges were ultimately granted by the ruler (though this was not the case in all countries that had this system). All land was granted by the Crown to lesser lords, in exchange for feudal services, and they granted the land to lesser lords. One exception to this was common
socage—owners of land held as
socage held it subject only to the Crown. The Crown as ultimate owner of all property also owns any property which has become
Bona Vacantia.
Again, most of these principles are similar in the other
Commonwealth Realms which share the Crown along with the UK.
In Commonwealth law, the expression "Crown in right of ..." is often used: e.g., the Crown in right of the
United Kingdom, the Crown in right of
Canada, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of
Australia, the Crown in right of the State of
New South Wales, etc.
In practice, in the vast majority of cases, the powers of the Crown outside the United Kingdom are not exercised by the Monarch directly, but rather by a
Governor-General,
Governor, or
Lieutenant Governor (as the case may be), on the advice of the ministers of the appropriate local (federal/national, state or provincial) government. In those few cases where the Monarch exercises powers directly, she again usually does so on the advice of the ministers of that government.
The powers which belong to the Crown in right of a particular dominion can only be exercised on the advice of the ministers of the dominion. So, for example, the rights which the Crown possesses in right of the United Kingdom can only be exercised under the advice of
British ministers, and the rights which the Crown possesses in right of Canada can only be exercised under the advice of
Canadian ministers. The
British prime minister cannot advise Her Majesty in exercise of her rights in regard to Canada, nor can the
Canadian prime minister advise her in exercise of her rights in regard to the United Kingdom.
The monarch, or her appointed representative, has the right to refuse the advice of ministers, and act instead in accordance with their personal views. However, these "
reserve powers" are almost never used, outside of times of
constitutional crisis.
*
Crown copyright*
Crown dependency*
Royal Prerogative*
Succession to the British Throne
