Queen Elizabeth II has died

>>xd+(OP)
Some view the monarchy as anachronistic. Of course there's merit to that argument but the monarchy as an institution really doesn't cost that much and has worked in the British political system as really a check on abuse of government power. The Queen's consent in forming government is routine but it can be withheld.

Australia had an example of this where the Governor General (the Queen's representative in the Australian government) sacked the government and formed a caretaker governmen tin the 1970s.

The American system of relying on centuries of tenuous interpretation of a fairly short document just isn't as much of an improvement as you think.

The Australian constitution allows for the Governor General to have "reserve powers" without specifying what they are.

Ultimately all these systems rely on trust.

It's wild to think the Queen began her reign with having weekly chats with Winston Churchill all the way up to appointing Liz Truss just this week. Her father fought in World War I. She lived through World War II. It's wild to think about.

It's also wild to consider the Queen never had an exepctation of ruling. An abdication caused that to happen. The happiest and freest time of her life may well have been living on Malta prior to that, living a fairly normal life with her husband and young family.

Institutions exist to protect the people, not the institutions themselves. Never forget that.

zlacker