> I was under the impression that the monarchy still had some fairly important power, such as the ability to dissolve the government ("no confidence" is the term, I think). Is this true or not?
>
> Stephen

Technically, yes they have that power. But along with the right to veto laws it would be near impossible to use. The last time a monarch failed to rubber-stamp a law was in the 1740's (I believe - I'm a little hazy on the details), and led to a lot of problems between the Crown and the State.

Interestingly, the monarch has more power in Canada than in England, due to rights and privileges hung over from when it was a part of the Empire, and thus governed by the Crown rather than by parliament.

winter"Ah, Empire. Those were the days"mute