Monarchy, Church and State

The UK is one of eight parliamentary monarchies in Europe. Our research seeks to inform public debate on a range of issues including the constitutional and political role of the monarchy, prerogative powers, and the relationship between the monarchy, church and state.

Our work in this field began with church and state, looking at the implications of disestablishment. Then in 2016 we published a听report about the role and future of the Monarchy. This led on to work on the next accession and coronation, looking in particular at听the accession and coronation oaths. Our next project was a听, leading to publication of an听听in 2020.听Then came a听, and a report on听reforming the prerogative, published in November 2022. Our latest contribution is a report on听future challenges for the monarchy听(December 2022).

We also publish frequent blog posts about the monarchy: the most recent are in the sidebar. A听list of frequently asked questions on the British monarchy, the coronation and the Regency Acts can also be found听below.

The Constitution Unit鈥檚 research in this area is led by Professor Robert Hazell and Dr Bob Morris.

British monarchy听FAQs

Regency Acts听FAQs

Research

Accession and Coronation

A project examining the accession and coronation, including how the oaths might be revised and updated, and planning for the next coronation.

Monarchies in Europe

In March 2019, we held a conference to discuss the role of monarchy in a parliamentary democracy, with representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The subsequent papers were edited into a book, (Hart, 2020)

Future of the Monarchy

To mark the late Queen’s 90th birthday, we published a report in 2016 about the role and future of the Monarchy. We have also written a chapter in Constitutional Futures Revisited about the Reign of Charles III.

Prerogative Powers

Professor Robert Hazell is part of a SSHRC-funded research project which compares how the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are seeking to regulate prerogative powers.

Access our archived work on monarchy, church and state

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