# Who's the most powerful monarch in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034 "2009-08-02T04:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/21 "2009-08-03T02:38:40Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > If we’re talking about power on a global level, the Saudi king, no question asked. Dude single-handedly controls the nation that controls lots and lots and lots of oil. However, I wouldn’t say he single-handedly “controls the nation.” Although it’s a monarchy, the rest of the Saudi royal family and religious leaders have a lot of influence. A Saudi king who was at odds with the rest of his family and the religious leadership would soon find himself deposed and replaced by another member of the family. From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_arabia): > [@](#): > > The king’s powers are theoretically limited within the bounds of Shari’a and other Saudi traditions. He also must retain a consensus of the Saudi royal family, religious leaders (ulema), and other important elements in Saudi society… The leading members of the royal family choose the king from among themselves with the subsequent approval of the ulema. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/22 "2009-08-03T02:43:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > However, I wouldn’t say he single-handedly “controls the nation.” Although it’s a monarchy, the rest of the Saudi royal family and religious leaders have a lot of influence. A Saudi king who was at odds with the rest of his family and the religious leadership would soon find himself deposed and replaced by another member of the family. > > From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_arabia): How does his level of control over his country compare to that of other monarchs? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/23 "2009-08-03T03:00:51Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > How does his level of control over his country compare to that of other monarchs? The Sultan of Brunei probably has more individual control, not being as beholden to family members or religious leaders. From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty_Paduka_Seri_Baginda_Sultan_Haji_Hassanal_Bolkiah_Mu%27izzaddin_Waddaulah) > [@](#): > > Under Brunei’s 1959 constitution, the Sultan is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers since 1962. On 9 March 2006, the Sultan was reported to have changed Brunei’s constitution to make himself infallible under Bruneian law. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/24 "2009-08-03T04:49:02Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > And, of course, the king of Thailand has quite a following within his own country, and will cheerfully throw those who don’t like him in jail. Actually, no, he can do nothing like that. His subjects, though, would be mighty quick about it. But he himself has no actual power to order anything, although his wishes are usually met. A fine distinction, but a valid one. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yeah, it probably comes down to the Pope and the Saudi king. I for one would like to see them duke it out in ring, winner take all. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/25 "2009-08-03T05:16:26Z")
Sultan of Brunei a) internal control of their own country? Going to go with Colibri on this one - Sultan of Brunei does have a very good level of control in his country, although he does have to pay attention to the Mullahs, under pressure he tightened up the implementation of alcohol laws. He also has to pay attention to the needs of Shell and Total, as they keep his cash flowing. b) global influence? Very very little. For my bonus points, it is not a great place to live, it is pretty dull and not much to do. it is kind of run down and very rural. Quite safe though. King of Saudi a) internal control of their own country? As Colibri said, the Saudi king has to pay serious attention to the Mullahs and has a pretty extensive family, the country is pretty tightly buttoned down by the military b) global influence? His main instrument of global influence is oil production and it’s impact on price. Saudi is not that much of a free spirit in what it can do with oil production, firstly he has to cooperate with the other members of OPEC, secondly he has to maintain revenue, so turning down the taps is a dangerous game. On the flip side, Saudi is pretty constrained on what it can do on raising the production to ease prices due to limits on current fields production rates. So he certainly doesn’t run the world, but has good level of influence over OPEC and hence probably has the most economic clout of any monarch, although that is not necessarily a great deal. For bonus points - Well I’ve only visited and know people who live there. You have to live in a compound, surrounded by armed guards, women have to where full covering if they go outside the compound, just not a friendly country to be in. ---
**Author:** ![lordsod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@lordsod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lordsod)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/26 "2015-08-30T02:06:12Z")
> [@glee](#): > > But she’s never going to get a ‘suggestion’ past the Australian Parliament for example. Sorry but I really have to point out the staggering ignorance here. Why did you feel you had the knowledge neccesary to say this? Following a self-shutdown due to disagreements over budgeting, the Australian Parliament was dissolved in 1975 under the powers of the monarchy of the Commonwealth of Nations (i.e. Queen Elizabeth II) Whilst she did not make the decision, it was under her authority from the Governor-General of Australia. She had full power to reverse the dismissal, and she has full power to dismiss any commonwealth government who has agreed to have her as Head of State. The Australian Parliament has not had a shutdown since. They know what’s up. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, which includes 53 member states. The British Monarch can dissolve also UK Parliament pending a new election. Considering the UK is the world’s 6th largest economy and has a huge standing in international politics, that’s no small fact. It is, however, the “policy” of the monarchy to not interfere where others (elected members of parliament, for example) have responsibility, although the power is definitely there. I think there is a certain amount of respecting democratic values involved, as I’m sure the Royal Family wants to continue to exist as such, and they are not exactly a result of democracy. That being said, I am not a political analyst and \*could \*be totally wrong. Though if I weren’t reasonably sure, I wouldn’t have commited this act of necrothreading. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/27 "2015-08-30T02:36:25Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **lordsod**! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/28 "2015-08-30T02:59:22Z")
Oh, a zombie, but what the heck. The answer to - a) internal control of their own country? Is Kim Jung Un. North Korea. 20 million or so people have no idea what the rest of the planet is like, let alone countries. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/29 "2015-08-30T03:33:22Z")
I always thought Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands was up there. Not so much related to the Queenship, but there’s this little international corporation called Royal Dutch Shell that weilds some influence. But she’s no longer Queen, and I don’t think they still own a controlling majority of the stock. Also, regarding the comment about the Pope that “he does not grow up knowing he’s even in the system to become Pope” … the last 2 Popes that were elected were the runners-up in the voting for the previous Pope. So if we knew who came in second place behind Pope Francis, we’d have a pretty good idea who the next Pope will be. The votes are announced inside the Sistine Chapel, so all the Cardinals who were there know who that was. And it’s almost certainly one of them – it’s hasn’t been anyone except one of the Cardinals for hundreds of years. So he does have a pretty good idea that he’s the ‘front-runner’ to be the next Pope. It’s just the rest of us who don’t know, since all the attendees are absolutely forbidden to talk about it. But I expect a fair number of people within the Vatican have found out. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/30 "2015-08-30T05:41:54Z")
The people who mention the king of Saudi Arabia are possibly correct. But a lot of people don’t realize how much influence the clerics wield. King Abdullah was a reformer–but he had to move very slowly and very gently, to avoid a revolt by the clerics. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/31 "2015-08-30T10:37:05Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > As far as internal power, I’d say it’s a tie between the king of Bhutan and the king of Thailand. … the king of Thailand has quite a following within his own country, and will cheerfully throw those who don’t like him in jail. Those promoting the King of Thailand for the position are way off-base. The lèse-majesté laws are as likely to be used in a trumped-up way by anti-royalist parties when in power, as by royalists. I remember the King of Thailand denouncing the sitting Prime Minister in one of his birthday speeches many years ago; the Prime Minister and his wife sat in the front row with faces reddening… In the next general election the crook was returned to power with a bigger majority than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/32 "2015-08-31T19:12:37Z")
I vote for [this](http://blog.moodygardens.com/monarch-madness-not-just-a-pretty-face/) dude. OK, so no one gets to vote for a monarch. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034/33 "2015-08-31T19:30:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yeah, it probably comes down to the Pope and the Saudi king. But their powers are different and the reach of that power is different. The Pope’s main power is an almost fanatical devotion to himself. And the ability to destroy zombies with holy water. The Pope’s two main powers are… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-powerful-monarch-in-the-world/505034.md?page=1)