Skip to content
Article

The Role of the Monarch

King Charles III is a constitutional monarch, meaning that he is Head of State. Although his political and executive powers are limited, the Monarch plays a central role in the life of the nation and has a lot of important responsibilities.
The Prince of Wales, today King Charles III. He's wearing a grey suit. There are many people in the back wanting a glimps of the king.
The Monarch of Britain is King Charles III. Image: Dan Marsh / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Here are some of the most important responsibilities of the British Monarch:

  • King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth; an organization of countries that used to be under the political control of the UK as territories of the British Empire. These include Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
  • The Monarch is Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
  • The monarch is the Head of the Church of England
  • The Monarch is one of the three main parts of Parliament, but does not get involved in running the government and does not publicly say what he or she thinks about political issues.
  • The Monarch officially appoints the Prime Minister after a general election and must sign every Act of Parliament before it can become a new law.
  • One of the most important roles is to represent the nation as a symbol of national identity and unity. Because of this King Charles and other members of the royal family spend a lot of time visiting people in the UK and abroad.