Send to a Friend

keobooks's avatar

At what point did the British Royal family become figureheads of state?

Asked by keobooks (14322points) April 14th, 2013

I was watching this documentary series on Netflix called Monarchy UK. It was really gripping, but ended shortly after Cromwell’s death. They did mention re-instating the monarchy and putting Charles II on the throne, but there was no mention of what powers that king had.

I know that Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t have any real rights or responsibilities as a queen except for ceremonial purposes and I was just wondering when did this change happen? Did Queen Victoria have any power on the throne, for instance? I am guessing the decline of power began after Cromwell (Magna Carta aside, because Kings still had a pretty strong hand even with it) but I wasn’t sure how fast it took for things to change to what they are today.

I assume the change was gradual, but I was just curious as to about when did the position of King or Queen become almost purely ceremonial and symbolic?

Feel free to link to interesting sites! I was having trouble muddling through wikipedia because it just states the facts and doesn’t get into exactly how much power did each Monarch possess.

Using Fluther

or

Using Email

Separate multiple emails with commas.
We’ll only use these emails for this message.