The House of Windsor is a British royal house, and currently the reigning house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. Since it was founded in 1917, there have been five British monarchs of the House of Windsor: George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II, and Charles III. The children and male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip also genealogically belong to the House of Oldenburg since Philip was by birth a member of the Glücksburg branch of that house.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state that has Charles III as its monarch and head of state. Charles succeeded his mother, Elizabeth II, as monarch immediately upon her death on 8 September 2022. All the realms are equal with and independent of the others, though one person, resident in the United Kingdom, acts as monarch of each. The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law.
Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 to 22 June 1948 to signify their sovereignty over the Indian Empire as its imperial head of state. The image of the emperor or empress appeared on Indian currency, in government buildings, railway stations, courts, on statues etc. Oaths of allegiance were made to the emperor or empress and the lawful successors by the governors-general, princes, governors, commissioners in India in events such as imperial durbars.
The style and title of the Canadian sovereign is the formal mode of address of the monarch of Canada. The form is based on those that were inherited from the United Kingdom and France, used in the colonies to refer to the reigning monarch in Europe. As various Canadian territories changed ownership and then the country gradually gained independence, the style and title of the monarchs changed almost as often as the kings and queens themselves. The mode of address currently employed is a combination of a style that originates in the early 17th century and a title established by Canadian law in 1953.
In the United Kingdom, the Accession Council is a ceremonial body which assembles in St James's Palace in London upon the death of a monarch to make formal proclamation of the accession of the successor to the throne. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, a new monarch succeeds automatically. The proclamation confirms by name the identity of the new monarch, expresses loyalty to the "lawful and rightful Liege Lord", and formally announces the new monarch's regnal name, while the monarch and others, in front of the council, sign and seal several documents concerning the accession. An Accession Council has confirmed every English monarch since James I in 1603.
The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire.
A Royal Style and Titles Act, or a Royal Titles Act, is an act of parliament passed in the relevant country that defines the formal title for the sovereign as monarch of that country. This practice began in 1876, when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Royal Titles Act. By that law, and the subsequent Royal Titles Act 1901 and Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, the monarch held one title throughout the British Empire. Following the enactment of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governments of the now separate and independent realms sharing one person as sovereign agreed in 1949 that each should adopt its own royal style and title, which was done in 1952. As colonies became new realms, they passed their own royal style and titles acts. All of the laws were created during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and past British monarchs, together with consorts of female monarchs. The title is granted by the reigning monarch, who is the fount of all honours, through the issuing of letters patent as an expression of the royal will.
The precise style of the British sovereign has varied over the years. It is chosen and officially proclaimed by the sovereign. In 2022, King Charles III was proclaimed by the Privy Council to have acceded to the throne with the style:
Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that authorised the alteration of the British monarch's royal style and titles, and altered the formal name of the British Parliament and hence of the state, in recognition of most of Ireland separating from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. It received royal assent on 12 April 1927.
The state known today as Ireland is the successor state to the Irish Free State, which existed from December 1922 to December 1937. At its foundation, the Irish Free State was, in accordance with its constitution and the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, governed as a constitutional monarchy, in personal union with the monarchy of the United Kingdom and other members of what was then called the British Commonwealth. The monarch as head of state was represented in the Irish Free State by his Governor-General, who performed most of the monarch's duties based on the advice of elected Irish officials.
Demise of the Crown is the legal term in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms for the transfer of the Crown upon the death or abdication of the monarch. The Crown transfers automatically to the monarch's heir. The concept evolved in the kingdom of England, and was continued in Great Britain and then the United Kingdom. The concept also became part of the constitutions of the British colonies, and was continued in the constitutions of the Commonwealth realms, until modified within those realms.
The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
The Constitutional history of Australia is the history of Australia's foundational legal principles. Australia's legal origins as a nation state began in the colonial era, with its legal system reliant initially upon a legal fiction of terra nullius to impose British law upon the colony of New South Wales. As the colonies expanded, Australia gradually began to achieve de facto independence. Over the years as a result the foundations of the Australian legal system gradually began to shift. This culminated in the Australia Act, an act formally ending legal ties with the UK.
Elizabeth II was Queen of the Gambia from 1965 to 1970, when the Gambia was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. She was also the monarch of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in the Gambia were delegated to the governor-general.
Elizabeth II was Queen of Uganda as well as the head of state of Uganda from 1962 to 1963, when the country was an independent constitutional monarchy. She was also the sovereign of other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, including the United Kingdom.
