As i was doing some ironing last night i suddenly wondered if the queen has ever done any ironing? What does OCUK think?
She served as a cadet and then a low-ranking officer in the military. Mechanic, driver and general dogsbody. I'm sure she had to iron her uniform then. Maybe other people's clothes as well. If a senior officer told Cadet Windsor to iron their uniform, she'd be ironing their uniform.
Since she became queen, probably not. I'd imagine she has a full service laundry setup.
Its crazy what the queen can actually get away with
She can't be arrested
She can't be prosecuted
She doesn't need a passport
HM forces work on her behalf obviously, the same for the courts
Although i am sure if she did break the law, then the law would be changed.
She could be arrested and prosecuted...but only by herself. In a legal sense, she is her own passport.
Technically there are a few laws she's officially subject to because theoretically they're constitutional documents above the law. Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, that sort of thing. I've no idea what it would mean in practice, though. Those laws have sort of been negated over time anyway.
The queen could theoretically get away with a lot more than that. On paper,
all authority in the UK is still in her name. So she could, theoretically, dissolve parliament, sack all judges, rule by decree, etc, etc. She's also Supreme Commander of the armed forces, so she can countermand any orders, declare war, etc, etc.
Can't see it happening myself, but it's an insurance policy. If a tyrant used politics to gain power, the monarch could depose them and, crucially, the armed forces wouldn't have to mutiny to overthrow the tyrant. That sounds far-fetched, but it would have sounded far-fetched to a lot of people in Germany in the 1920s.
I would laugh and laugh if the forthcoming Queen's speech said that she had no confidence in either party's ability to lead the country and was therefore dissolving her government and ruling directly rather than allowing her government to rule in her name. She's certainly a better diplomat than May or Corbyn, so she might well be better at negotiating Brexit.
