The Golden Age is over, 14 kingdoms are orphaned

Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, the country's figurehead for seven decades, died at her home in Scotland on Thursday at the age of 96, The Moscow Post correspondent reports

According to the Reuters Daily Briefing, Elizabeth's main achievement during her long reign was to maintain the popularity of the monarchy for decades of turbulent political, social and cultural changes that threatened to turn the monarchy into an anachronism. Some commentators describe her reign as a "golden age" reminiscent of that of Elizabeth I, who ruled England 400 years ago at a time of growing power and cultural heyday.

With the death of his mother, Prince Charles became King of the United Kingdom and 14 other kingdoms. Charles's late mother was extremely popular and respected, but she left behind a royal family whose reputation has been tarnished and relations strained, including over ongoing allegations of racism against Buckingham Palace officials.

According to the British constitution, the sovereign ascends the throne at the time of the death of his predecessor, even before he is proclaimed before the people, and the interregnum does not exist. The new monarch is officially proclaimed king or queen by a special body called the Accession Council, to which members of the Privy Council are invited - a group of several hundred elected royal advisers, including cabinet members.

A full meeting of the Privy Council is convened only in the event of the accession to the throne of the new sovereign or, when the monarch announces his intention to marry, which is of great importance given the hereditary basis of the monarchy. Also invited to the Accession Council, which proclaims a new sovereign, are the Lords Spiritual and Secular (i.e. Bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords along with the secular peers of the kingdom) and high commissioners from Commonwealth countries.

The sovereign's crowning, in fact, just formal procedure of ratification, follows accession after the mourning period. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in June, 1953, in 16 months after George VI's death. The crowning takes place in the London Westminster abbey in the presence of politicians, eminent public figures and representatives of the countries from around the world.

The sovereign rules on favor of the Law on settlement of 1701 which establishes rules of a succession to the throne, deciding that only Protestant descendants of the granddaughter of the king of England James I (the princess Sofia, a kurfyurstina Hanover) can occupy a throne. Before adoption of the new law in 2013 the marriage with Catholic also forbade the royalty to take the place in the line of inheritance. The legislation of 2013 also eliminated the priority given to the male line that means that any royalty who was born since October 28, 2011 won't be exposed to discrimination at inheritance of a throne on the basis of sex.

The spouse of the late sovereign doesn't play any role in inheritance as the official role of the spouse throughout a dynasty comes to an end with the act of childbirth.

Except for Wilhelm III and Maria's unique case who governed in common the monarch rules alone. Wives of royalties are given a rank and the status of their husbands while male spouses of women of the royal family have no automatic right for a title.

If the new sovereign the minor, the regent appointed the old king or the queen is appointed for performance of official functions of the monarch, so far the new king or the queen won't reach a maturity.

Traditionally it is considered that the sovereign personifies the state which he or she heads, and symbolizes the general communication between the countries making the United Kingdom. Under the law the sovereign is a chief executive, an integral part of legislature, the head of judicial authority, the commander-in-chief of armed forces and the Supreme governor of Anglican church.

Actually he or she stamps decisions of the government and governs at will of parliament. The monarch convokes and dismisses parliament and also suggests the leader of the political party which won a general election to become the prime minister and to create the government.

When there is "the suspended parliament" in which any party has no absolute majority, the sovereign in the past could show personal judgment when choosing the leader.

The British sovereign is also the head of the British Commonwealth of Nations which grew from the British Empire and the head of state of 14 other countries. It is Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

The monarchy is the oldest secular institute of Great Britain, and the royal family conducts the family tree from William the Conqueror in 1066 and even from Egbert Uesseksky, the conventional first king of England crowned in 829.

Address the sovereign "your Majesty". "Her Prevoskhoditelneyshy Majesty Elizabeth II, the Grace of God of Korolev of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and other her territories, the head Sodruzhestva, Vera's Defender" was an official title of the queen Elizabeth.

King

With the death of the mother prince Charles became the king of the United Kingdom and 14 other kingdoms. The crowning of the new monarch has to be held after the mourning period. It is a ceremony which is held in the Westminster abbey. The national anthem God Save The Queen (My God, store the queen) will sound a little differently: God Save The King (My God, store the king). New badges on helmets of police officers will be necessary (they represent initials of the monarch). On stamps the portrait of the new king will appear. Even the British passport contains a mention of Her Majesty.

Charles was born at the princess Elizabeth the next year after her wedding with Philipp Mountbatten who was the Greek prince from a dynasty Gluxburgov. On the father Charles is necessary praprapravnuky the Russian emperor Nicholas I (through Nicholas granddaughter, Olga Konstantinovna — the spouse of the king of Greece George I). Respectively, he through the father is also Peter the Great's descendant.

After the death of the grandfather George VI and accession of his mother Elizabeth II juvenile Charles became the successor of the British throne. A wreath of the prince of Wales Elizabeth II assigned to the head of the firstborn on July 1, 1969 in the lock Caernarfon in Wales. From this point Charles began to participate actively in public life, in particular, to sit on in meetings of the House of Lords. Also prince Charles became the royalty, the first for three centuries, who was present at a cabinet meeting.

The new king had previously met many foreign leaders, communicated with numerous British governments, and created a network of charities. According to The Guardian, Charles has turned his own courtyard into a kind of grandiose salon for convening the powerful - business leaders, religious figures and politicians to solve issues ranging from sustainable development to urban renewal.

In November 2018, Prince Charles, in an interview with the BBC, promised that he would stop speaking out on socio-political topics when he became king. At the same time, the Prince of Wales has repeatedly publicly spoken out on topics such as environmental protection. But as monarch, Charles will be required to act within "constitutional parameters."

Photo: SCANPIX / AFP PHOTO/Robert Michael