Can The Queen Declare War?

Everyone always wants to know what The Queen is actually allowed to do. While she can’t go round chopping people’s heads off, The Queen does indeed have some real power. One of the things which people are often most curious about is whether or not The Queen has the power to declare war.

With the Platinum Jubilee upon us The Queen is once again in the public eye. She has now been monarch for 70 years, a feat which has never been seen in Britain before. Despite being on the throne for almost three quarters of a century The Queen is still active, as she could be seen beaming on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the Jubilee. But what can The

Queen still do?

Alamy

Our 96-year-old monarch is Commander-in-Chief of the UKs whole military force, and when it comes to war Queen Elizabeth II is the only person in Britain who has the official power to declare war on another country. The power to go to war with another country comes under what is called the Royal Prerogatives and these powers can only be exercised by The Crown. 

However, none of this is codified in any parliamentary procedure so the government doesn't actually have to go to The Queen if they want to take military action. You can see this to be true as since ascending the throne back in 1952 the Queen has not once declared war on another country, in fact the last time a monarch declared war was King George the VI in 1939 against Nazi Germany. Nonetheless, if The Queen did publicly declare war without consulting parliament, we would officially be at war, but in practice that doesn't really mean much

Although The Queen won’t be going to war with France any time soon, her official powers are still in place. The Queen still has the power to dissolve parliament and have a whole election of new MPs, but once again this role is predominantly ceremonial.