# UK Constitution and Government/Sovereign


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`<big>`{=html}`<big>`{=html}The Sovereign`</big>`{=html}`</big>`{=html}

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## The Sovereign

The role of head of state in the United Kingdom is held by the
Sovereign; the present Sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II.

### Succession to the throne

As a hereditary monarchy, the rules for succession to the throne are
established by common law, as modified by statute.

In accordance with the *Act of Settlement* (1701), on the death of the
Sovereign he or she used to be succeeded by his or her \"heir of the
body\"; this operated in accordance with the principle of
*male-preference primogeniture*. If the Sovereign had only one child,
that child succeeds. If there are more than one children, then the order
of succession was determined first by sex, and then by age. This was
repealed by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.

If the Sovereign dies childless (\"without issue\") then the order of
succession is applied to their siblings: the oldest surviving sibling
then succeeds. If the Sovereign\'s siblings have died before he or she
died, then the order of succession works through the children of the
next oldest deceased brother, and so on.

Only legitimate children are able to succeed. The *Royal Marriages Act
1772* operates to restrict the capacity for a potential heir to marry
without the Sovereign\'s approval: all descendants of King George II,
other than women who have married into foreign families, are required to
obtain the Sovereign\'s consent before marrying, unless they can
otherwise obtain approval from both Houses of Parliament.

The *Bill of Rights* (1689) and *Act of Settlement* require all heirs to
be descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover (d. 1714), and impose
further requirements that an heir be a Protestant, that they may never
have married a Roman Catholic, and that they be in full communion with
the Church of England. Heirs not meeting these conditions are skipped
over as if \"naturally dead\".

### The role of the Sovereign beyond the United Kingdom

As Sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, the Sovereign is also head
of state in the \"Crown dependencies\" of Jersey, Guernsey (and its
dependencies), and the Isle of Man. While the external relations of
these islands is dealt with by the United Kingdom, however, they do not
form part of the United Kingdom itself, and have their own
constitutional arrangements.

Similarly, the United Kingdom has sovereignty over various territories
around the world, known as the *British overseas territories*. As such,
the Sovereign is also head of state in these territories, although again
these do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, and have their own
constitutional arrangements.

The British Sovereign is also the Sovereign of certain other
*Commonwealth Realms*: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Each of these nations is a
separate monarchy; the Sovereign therefore holds sixteen different
crowns. In each nation, the Sovereign is represented by a
Governor-General, who generally stands in relation to the local
government in the same relation as the Sovereign does to the British
government.

Finally, the Sovereign has the title *Head of the Commonwealth*. The
Commonwealth is a body of nations mostly made up of former colonial
dependencies of the United Kingdom. The role of Head of the Commonwealth
is a personal role of the present Queen, Elizabeth II, and is not
formally attached to the monarchy itself (although the present Queen\'s
father, King George VI, also held the title). The role is purely a
ceremonial one.

### Royal Family

While the members of the Sovereign\'s family do not have any role in
government, they do exercise ceremonial functions on his or her behalf.

A male Sovereign has the title \"King\", while a female Sovereign is the
\"Queen\". The wife of a King is also known as a Queen; however, the
husband of a female Sovereign has no specific title.

By convention, the Sovereign\'s eldest son is created \"Prince of
Wales\" and \"Earl of Chester\" while still a boy; he also automatically
gains the title of \"Duke of Cornwall\". Also by convention, the
Sovereign\'s sons receive a peerage either upon reaching the age of
twenty-one, or upon marrying.

The style of *Prince* or *Princess* extends to the children of the
Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign, and the eldest son
of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. Furthermore, wives of Princes
are styled Princesses, though husbands of Princesses do not
automatically become Princes.

