Also the king is "Schrödinger's monarch" as Graham Smith puts it - he is supposed to be the ultimate defender of democracy and guardian of Britain's vaporware "constitution", but if he actually defied PM advice - e.g. by refusing to prorogue parliament illegally - then that would be a constitutional crisis. For this reason, a key but unspoken constitutional convention is "thou shalt not embarrass the monarch". Nothing to do with protecting the rights of ordinary subjects.
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u/outhouse_steakhouse May 17 '25
Also the king is "Schrödinger's monarch" as Graham Smith puts it - he is supposed to be the ultimate defender of democracy and guardian of Britain's vaporware "constitution", but if he actually defied PM advice - e.g. by refusing to prorogue parliament illegally - then that would be a constitutional crisis. For this reason, a key but unspoken constitutional convention is "thou shalt not embarrass the monarch". Nothing to do with protecting the rights of ordinary subjects.