# Queen Elizabeth II Still Has A Lot of Powers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2022, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449 "2022-06-19T09:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/41 "2022-06-21T01:11:58Z")
Liz, the avowed arsonist. This is a movie I’ve got to see. I wonder what … interesting … source our friend got this hyperbolic allegation from? Although didn’t that pesky King George burn down the White House? Not the property of a rich woman, but in some sense he and his taxpayers sure paid for his mistake. Imagine how powerful Britannia would be today were the USA still fully in the royal fold. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/42 "2022-06-21T01:25:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > To be sure, the Queen could have then countermanded her minion, the Governor-General, and reinstated the Australian PM. As far as I know, she could not have. The appointment of ministers is apparently not a royal prerogative in Australia (at the federal level), as it is in her other realms, but rather a power assigned [by the Constitution](https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Constitution/chapter2#chapter-02_64) directly to the Governor-General. At least, that’s the prevailing interpretation, which the Palace found extremely convenient at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/43 "2022-06-21T01:39:42Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > As far as I know, she could not have. The appointment of ministers is apparently not a royal prerogative in Australia (at the federal level), as it is in her other realms, If she doesn’t have the power to appoint, does she have the power to dismiss, or is that also reserved for the GovGen? If she doesn’t have the power to dismiss, then it’s not correct to say that the firing was the exercise of the Queen’s powers. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/44 "2022-06-21T01:40:50Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > If she doesn’t have the power to appoint, does she have the power to dismiss, or is that also reserved for the GovGen? Looks like that’s also the GG’s power: “Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/45 "2022-06-21T01:42:53Z")
If that’s the case then it’s incorrect to say the firing was the exercise of a royal prerogative. It was the action of an Australian governmental official, exercising a power granted to him by the Constitution of Australia, drafted by Australians. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/46 "2022-06-21T02:04:06Z")
> [@Thylacine](#): > > Just because they aren’t generally used doesn’t mean she doesn’t have scary powers to override the will of the people. Just how scary the reserve powers are is a different discussion, but QEII as Queen of Australia has no authority to use them, has no authority to appoint somebody to use them and has no authority to advise the person who does have the authority to use them. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/47 "2022-06-21T02:19:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > To be sure, the Queen could have then countermanded her minion, the Governor-General, and reinstated the Australian PM. She chose not to. Perhaps a bad act of omission; I’m far too far away to know. As above. No. Repeat simply no. Kerr was not her minion. She had and has no authority to countermand the GG. There was no act of omission for good or bad. The Crown does not interfere in the affairs of Australia. QEII knows this to be true and understands it way better than a disconcertingly high portion of her Australian subjects. Whitlam, who appointed him as GG, thought Kerr was his minion. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/48 "2022-06-21T02:38:18Z")
The letters released in 2020 show that Kerr did discuss the possibility of dismissing the Whitlam government with the Palace before doing the deed. The Queen did not officially know it was to be done before it was but her Private Secretary was definitely involved and in part Kerr did what he did so Whitlam could not beat him to the punch and ask the Queen to remove Kerr from office first. The fact she kept her hands clean officially does not mean they were in actuality. > **[Palace letters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_letters)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Prime Minister of Australia > Term of Government (1972–1975) The letters were made public, in full and online, on 14 July 2020.[[6]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_letters#cite_note-release-6)[[21]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_letters#cite_note-21) Hocking’s book _The Palace Letters_ cites a key letter from Charteris of 2 October 1975 which shows that ‘the Queen, Prince Charles, and [Sir Martin] Charteris were all aware by September 1975’ that Kerr was considering dismissing the government, and knew of his failure to warn Whitlam of that possibility.[[22]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_letters#cite_note-22) The Palace itself continues to deny that it played ‘any part’ in Kerr’s decision to dismiss the Whitlam government.[[23]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_letters#cite_note-23) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/49 "2022-06-21T02:41:22Z")
Ok. I stand utterly corrected. In which case I’ll join forces behind the Greatly Esteemed and Learned @Northern_Piper. It appears that when this was posted (to which I erroneously replied): > [@Thylacine](#): > > Her representative in Australia took the side of an opposition behaving badly and without precedent instead of the properly elected Prime Minister and sacked a government in 1975 [1975 Australian constitutional crisis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis) > This started talk of becoming a republic but the same fuckers who orchestrated that gave us awful models to vote on that made QEII look preferable. Now there is greater support for it but the sentiment seems to be to wait her out and flick Chuck instead. > > Just because they aren’t generally used doesn’t mean she doesn’t have scary powers to override the will of the people. it seems @Thylacine chose to tar the Crown (and QE2 individually) with something it/she was manifestly not capable of doing, much less guilty of doing. Although admittedly Australia’s arrangements have some weird vestiges where blame appears to attach in odd ways to anachronisms. I see echoes here _vaguely_ akin to the ongoing ructions in the USA and the SDMB about the slowly evolving status of Puerto Rico. Nobody is quite sure what’s really what, nobody is exactly happy, but not enough people are quite upset enough to try something thoroughly different from first principles. And so it festers in a weird anachronistic fashion better not trotted out into the light and put to use. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/50 "2022-06-21T03:41:10Z")
> [@Thylacine](#): > > her Private Secretary was definitely involved and in part Kerr did what he did so Whitlam could not beat him to the punch and ask the Queen to remove Kerr from office first. Sure, Kerr discussed the Australian situation with The Palace. He was a toady ingratiating himself there, but he was not seeking their instructions. That was his prerogative, not theirs. When he thought he needed an opinion on his actions he sought out Garfield Barwick, in contravention of Whitlam’s instructions. Lots of people knew the nature and disposition of Kerr and fed that to their advantage. Whitlam’s fatal error was that he totally misjudged his own appointment. Kerr gloried in his vice-regal position, reminiscent of George Curzon and considered himself a most superior person. His second wife Nancy born Anne Dorothy Taggart was of a matching mindset and as “Lady Macbeth of Yarralumla” forged a formidable reputation for snobbery. They reintroduced the abandoned trappings and conventions of court etiquette as a mark of their rarified status. Lady Anne insisted on being referred to as “Your Excellency” and that women curtseyed to her. Unlike QEII she did meddle in Australian political affairs. There is a memo of Sir Paul Hasluck, Kerr’s predecessor after a conversation Sir Martin Charteris, Queen’s Private Secretary, of the Palace’s disillusionment with the Kerrs, and belief that "the Kerrs, and especially Lady Kerr, were ‘very greedy’ ". ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/51 "2022-06-21T04:03:52Z")
> [@Thylacine](#): > > The letters released in 2020 show that Kerr did discuss the possibility of dismissing the Whitlam government with the Palace before doing the deed. The Queen did not officially know it was to be done before it was but her Private Secretary was definitely involved and in part Kerr did what he did so Whitlam could not beat him to the punch and ask the Queen to remove Kerr from office first. > > The fact she kept her hands clean officially does not mean they were in actuality. So you think the Queen should have intervened in Australia’s political matters, on her own bat, and overrule the Australian Governor General in his exercise of his powers under the Australian Constitution? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/52 "2022-09-12T17:57:47Z")
On a different note: I understand the historical importance of the Queen’s death. I am sorry for her family and her subjects who grieve her passing. However, I do not see the necessity for wall to wall coverage in the US. I’m sure she was a good monarch for the 70 years she reigned. She was not the monarch here and I really don’t want to watch the funeral stuff that isn’t really the funeral. A couple of updates would do. I am really more interested in news that actually has an impact on me, the US, the world really. Because she really didn’t have that much power. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/53 "2022-09-12T18:05:23Z")
The American tv networks don’t give a fuck what you think. They are in the business of selling advertising which means that they are going to show what the majority (or largest plurality) of their regular viewers want to see. That, apparently, is coverage of the Queen’s death. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/54 "2022-09-12T18:15:20Z")
I’d much rather see coverage of the late Queen than more talking heads blathering on about shit they know nothing about in place of actual news. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/55 "2022-09-12T18:18:38Z")
The thread title is a lot more sinister now… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/56 "2022-09-12T18:19:10Z")
To be honest, I haven’t watched tv news coverage in decades. It’s all crap. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/57 "2022-09-12T18:36:17Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > The thread title is a lot more sinister now… 👻 Just needs a tiera ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449/58 "2022-09-12T19:05:33Z")
This is what AI art was made for. (Created with the upmost respect) > **[Queen Elizabeth's Ghost wearing a tiara - AI Generated Artwork](https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/6HjOYOSRgWEPADdizhpH)** > > AI Art Generator App. ✅ Fast ✅ Free ✅ Easy. Create amazing artworks using artificial intelligence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-ii-still-has-a-lot-of-powers/966449.md?page=2)