Wizards and the Queen

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 83666

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "meriaugust" 
<meriaugust at y...> 
> wrote:
> 
> Meri:
> > Hi all, 
> > I have been following the posted discussions about wizarding  
> > population and about religion in the WW pretty closely and this 
> > morning while eating my breakfast a question popped into my 
brain: 
> > How does the British WW relate to the British royal family? Now, 
> > admitedly I am an American, so I am a little fuzzy on the details 
> of 
> > how a constitutional monarchy works (and I am only pretty sure 
that 
> > that's even what the system is called). I am wondering because I 
> also 
> > feel that this question relates to religion in the WW, as they 
> > (religion and the monarchy) are both authorities outside the MoM. 
> So, 
> > do witches and wizards owe any alleigence to the Queen? 
> 
> Geoff:
> I hope the following notes might cast a bit more light on things:
> A little brief history. Britain became effectively a constitutional 
> monarchy in 1832 after the passage of the Reform Bill. The reigning 
> monarch now is the head of state but with very little power. Walter 
> Bagehot, the famous Victorian writer on the constitution, defines 
the 
> constitutional monarch's rights as being – to be consulted, to 
> encourage and to warn. Often, the king has remained in the 
background 
> but, on occasion, as with George VI and Churchill during WWII, he 
> contributed greatly to the smooth running of political matters. 
> Occasionally, the monarch will be called in to solve a knotty 
> constitutional problem as when the Australian Governor-General 
> dismissed the Prime Minister several years ago. In terms of 
religion, 
> Henry VIII made the Church of England the official church in the 
mid 
> 16th century when he broke with Rome and the monarch is always 
styled 
> Head of the Church (of England) and Defender of the Faith. 
> 
> However, the average member of Joe Public does not take an oath of 
> allegiance. whereas Members of the Armed Forces obviously do. 
> Likewise, the monarch does not claim any authority over the Non-
> conformist/Protestant churches such as Methodist, Baptist, 
> Congregational, United Reformed etc. This begs the question whether 
> the Queen knows of the existence of the Wizarding World (the Prime 
> Minister does as we are told so in POA) and whether the incumbent 
> Minister of Magic considers himself in any way to owe allegiance to 
> the Queen. One assumes that wizards from a Muggle or half-blood 
> background such as Hermione and Seamus or those who have had a lot 
of 
> dealings with the Muggle world, such as Harry himself, would be 
aware 
> of the structure and have their own position firmly in mind.
> 
> Geoff

Meri again: 
Thanks for clearing up the muddled knowledge of an American. My 
confusion basically lay in the fact that in America we have no figure-
head head of state, because the president is given actual power, and 
your post helped to clear that up for me, so thank you! Anyway, it 
would be interesting to know more about the WW's relationship with 
the monarchy and religion, though it doesn't seem like JKR is going 
to make those relationships/distintions any clearer (and I am one of 
those readers who firmly opposes any interpretation of the books that 
makes Harry a Christ-like figure). I wonder if the WW even sees the 
monarchy as a figurehead representative of them? I am trying to 
picture witches and wizards lining the street to see a royal wedding 
or funeral, but it's not happening for me. Anyway, thanks for the 
info. 
Meri