DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CROWN AND QUEEN IN BRITISH CONSTITUTION

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The Queen and the Crown

The Queen or the King and the Crown should be clearly differentiated, for as Gladstone said, "there is no distinction more vital to the practice of the British Constitution than that which exists between the King and the Crown, between the Monarch as an individual and Monarchy as an institution.” Literally, the word “Crown” means something made of gold and jewels worn by a king. But in the language of the British Constitution, it means the sovereign powers, prerogatives and rights of the King exercised by his Ministers, Parliament or by some official of the State. In the sense, it is a subtle combination of the Sovereign Ministers (especially Cabinet Ministers) and, to a lesser extent, Parliament. Thus understood, the Crown is, as Sir Sidney Low said, “a convenient working hypothesis”, which enables the powers of the Queen to be exercised in reality by her Ministers. The King or Queen is only a human person, who dies and is succeeded by another, but the Crown never dies for it is an institution or legal idea and not a natural person. This distinction is well illustrated by the English saying: “The King is dead: Long live the Crown.” It is explained thus, The King is dead,” for he was only a human mortal, but “long live the Crown” means long live the office which the King occupies, because the Crown never dies. “The powers and functions and prerogatives of the Crown are never suspended even for a single moment. They belong to a post, not to a person.” Moreover, the distinction is further illustrated by the fact that the powers of the King of England have been steadily decreasing, while those of the Crown are constantly increasing. It is aptly remarked that “the whole development of the British Constitution has been marked by a steady transfer of powers and prerogatives from the King to the Crown.”

DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN CROWN AND QUEEN

This transfer of powers has a long historical development behind it. But it began particularly after the Glorious Revolution and the King was reduced to the position of a nominal Sovereign, with the powers transferred by law or Convention to Parliament, the Cabinet or Ministers. This change
was first noticed in the reign of the Stuart King, Charles II, as is illustrated by what one of his courtiers wrote on the door of the royal chamber:

  • Here lies our Sovereign Lord, the King, 
  • Whose word no man relies on; 
  • He never says a foolish thing, 
  • But never does a wise one.


Upon this, the witty monarch commented: “Very true, because while my words are my own, my acts are of my ministers.” This transference, however, is concealed by the fact that powers are transferred from the King to the Crown, which includes both the King and his Ministers, who act in the name of the King or Crown. 

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