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National Geographic : 1966 Jun
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familiar royal face on the pounds you spend. Most Americans think of the British mon archy as a colorful, pleasant, but almost entirely ceremonial appendage of the gov ernment. It is considerably more. I was re minded of that fact recently when a British friend pointed out to me a messenger from Buckingham Palace getting out of a royal carriage in Whitehall. "Returning government dispatches," my friend said. "The Queen sees them all, y'know. Secret. Most secret. The lot." I confessed I hadn't realized it, and he decided my education should be furthered in this most British of subjects. Soon I found myself in a series of discreet meetings with certain discreet and well-informed people indeed, people so discreet that I can't men tion their names. Queen Active in Affairs of State "Oh, yes, the Queen sees all secret papers," one gentleman assured me. "She must be kept informed; it is her right. She may also be consulted by her Prime Minister, and she can warn him or encourage him. "A monarch who has been on the throne for a number of years is the best-informed KOACROMES N.G.S. person in the realm on affairs of state. You KODACHROMES © N.G .S. see, under our system, an incoming Prime Minister does not have access to the confi dential papers of his predecessor, but the sovereign sees everything. A wise and capa ble sovereign will use this knowledge effec tively." The Queen, I knew, appointed the Prime Minister, and I suggested to another inform ant that her choice must be automatic. "On the contrary, sometimes it's fright fully complicated," this man said. "It's clear enough if the party in power has elected a leader; he becomes Prime Minister. But un til recently the Conservatives didn't hold such an election. The Queen was put into a most difficult position some years ago when she had to choose between Harold Macmil lan and 'Rab' Butler. Similarly, the lead ership of the party was equally uncertain when Macmillan's retirement became immi nent due to illness. The Queen could have been put in a devilishly awkward spot. How ever, Conservative opinion was canvassed by Macmillan, who advised the Queen that the choice was Lord Home." I learned that there are only oblique ref erences in statute law to the powers of the monarch. Those powers that remain are almost entirely the result of evolution. Yet 789
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