The Queen

It's the Queen's birthday tomorrow (the 21st), though for some odd reason the country doesn't celebrate it until June.

And as such I realized that I've talked about English history, English culture, English food, English wars -- even driving in England -- but haven't discussed the most defining characteristic of England, the Queen!

So I'll start with two remarkable statistics:

1. There are 44 nations that have monarchs as heads of state, and Elizabeth II is the head of 16 of them. She is also the Head of the Commonwealth, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
2. She has served 58 years, the third longest of any British monarch. Next year she will surpass George III (of Declaration of Independence fame), and in 2015 she will surpass Queen Victoria to become the longest-reigning British monarch.  In 2024, at the age of 98, she could become the longest-reigning monarch in European history. (Her mother lived to 102.)

As I mentioned before, although the Queen is the head of state, as a "constitutional monarch" she is little more than a figurehead, with the real power residing in the Prime Minister. Elizabeth does not vote, and generally does not express her own political opinions in public. She meets with the Prime Minister weekly, but those meetings are confidential.

When William conquered England, he claimed all the land for himself, and extracted land rent from the tenants, which he used to pay the expenses of government. Later, taxes and fees were charged on people and buildings. In 1688, Parliament retained the taxes and began paying the army and navy, but the king still maintained the civil government and royal household from the land rent. However, as more and more land was given away or sold, the remaining rent was no longer sufficient. George III made a sweetheart deal with Parliament, in which he surrendered the income from the Crown lands to the treasury (estimated to be £11,000 per year at the time) in exchange for a a fixed "civil list" payment of £800,000 per year.

Today, it's exactly the opposite: the British Crown Estate has holdings of £6 billion and earns around £226 million per year,while the Queen gets a civil list payment of £7.9m per year. In other words, it is quite a good deal for the country. (Even ignoring the Crown Estate income and including other costs, the monarchy costs each Briton 69p per year, or about 1 US dollar per person per year.) The current payment has not changed since 1990; however, last year the Queen spent £13.9m -- dipping into a reserve -- and it is expected she will ask for an increase this year.

Interestingly, although the Queen owns the British Crown lands, she does so only in a professional capacity; that is, she can't sell them, and when she leaves office ownership will change to the next monarch. The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is similarly held in trust, as are Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. (She does own Balmoral and some other properties.)

The Queen currently enjoys a very high level of support, although this hasn't always been the case. Her popularity declined in the 80s as Britons suffered a depression (the Winter of Discontent), and then in 1992 they were forced to pay for the restoration of Windsor Castle after a major fire. There were talks of abolishing the monarchy altogether, although the Queen appeased them by agreeing -- for the first time in history -- to begin paying taxes on her own personal income.

Also in 1992, her daughter Anne divorced, Charles and Diana separated, and Andrew and Fergie announced they were separating. In her annual Christmas addressed, she referred to it as her "annus horribilis."

That said, her service to the country has been beyond reproach. She has tirelessly dedicated herself to the formation of the Commonwealth, a loose association of former colonies including Canada, India, Australia. (Interestingly, in 1956 there was talk of France joining the Commonwealth, but instead formed the European Economic Community, which became the European Union.)

She has travelled more than any monarch before her, including a global tour in 2002 (at the age of 74) to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. In 2012 she will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years on the throne. (Queen Victoria is the only other British monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee.) She will also address the United Nations later this year, and of course will host the Olympics in two years.

She, or a member of family, presides over 2,600 investitures per year, although the list is generally drawn up by the government. The Queen maintains two privileges: She, and she alone, decides who to confer the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter, both of which are limited to 24 living members.

If you're interested, the countries that recognize her as head of state are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She holds each crown "separately and equally."

And here's a (somewhat disturbing) list of things the Queen should do before she dies, as compiled by TNT Magazine.  (Look for the 'next' button in the upper-right corner.)