title: accusing two young men in alqatif
text: email 
  queen elizabeth ii is not like you and me 
  did you know she is immune from prosecution that she has her own personal poet paid in sherry wine or that she holds dominion over british swans and can fire the entire australian government 
  its true that her role as the british head of state is largely ceremonial and the monarch no longer holds any serious power from day to day the historic prerogative powers of the sovereign have been devolved largely to government ministers but this still means that when the british government declares war or regulates the civil service or signs a treaty it is doing so only on her authority 
  and she still wields some of these prerogative powers herself  as well as numerous other unique powers ranging from the surprising to the utterly bizarre 
  most famously she owns all swans in the river thames 
  technically all unmarked swans in open water belong to the queen though the crown exercises her ownership only on certain stretches of the thames and its surrounding tributaries according to the official website of the royal family 
  today this tradition is observed during the annual swan upping in which swans in the river thames are caught ringed and set free again as part of census of the swan population 
  its a highly ceremonial affair taking place over five days swan uppers wear traditional uniforms and row upriver in six skiffs accompanied by the queens swan marker 
  the swans are also given a health check and ringed with individual identification numbers by the queens swan warden a professor of ornithology at the university of oxfords department of zoology according to the royal family website 
  rule britannia britannia rules the waves goes a classic british song  and this rule extends beneath the waves too the sovereign has dominion over a variety of aquatic animals in british waters 
  the queen still technically owns all the sturgeons whales and dolphins in the waters around england and wales in a rule that dates back to a statute from  during the reign of king edward ii according to time 
  according to the article this statute is still valid today and sturgeons porpoises whales and dolphins are recognised as fishes royal when they are captured within  miles about  km of uk shores or wash ashore they may be claimed on behalf of the crown generally when brought into port a sturgeon is sold in the usual way and the purchaser as a gesture of loyalty requests the honour of its being accepted by elizabeth 
  the law is still observed in  a welsh fisherman was investigated by the police after catching a foot sturgeon the bbc reported at the time the scottish government also issued guidance on the law in  writing that the right to claim royal fish in scotland allows the scottish government on behalf of the crown to claim stranded whales which are too large to be drawn to land by a wain pulled by six oxen 
  the queen can drive without a licence 
  driving licenses are issued in the queens name yet she is the only person in the united kingdom who doesnt legally need a license to drive or a number plate on her cars according to time 
  despite not being required to have a license the queen is comfortable behind the wheel having learned to drive during world war ii when she operated a firstaid truck for the womens auxillary territorial service as a result of the queens training she can also change a spark plug time notes 
  queen elizabeth ii isnt afraid to show off her driving skills either in  she surprised king abdullah of saudi arabia then still a prince by driving him around in her country seat of balmoral 
  former british ambassador sherard cowpercoles recounted the meeting in the sunday times as instructed the crown prince climbed into the front seat of the front land rover with his interpreter in the seat behind to his surprise the queen climbed into the driving seat turned the ignition and drove off women are not  yet  allowed to drive in saudi arabia and abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman let alone a queen 
  cowpercoles continued his nervousness only increased as the queen an army driver in wartime accelerated the land rover along the narrow scottish estate roads talking all the time through his interpreter the crown prince implored the queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead 
  unlike other members of the royal family the queen does not require a passport as they are issued in her name despite this lack of travel documents she has been abroad many times 
  she has two birthdays 
  when youre the british head of state one birthday just isnt enough the queens official birthday is celebrated on a saturday in june though her actual birthday is on april  
  official celebrations to mark a sovereigns birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer according to the royal mint 
  both birthdays are celebrated in suitable style too her actual birthday is marked publicly by gun salutes in central london at midday according to the official website of the british monarchy this includes a gun salute in hyde park a gun salute in windsor great park and a gun salute at the tower of london in  her majesty celebrated her th birthday in  with a walkabout in the streets outside of windsor castle to meet wellwishers 
  for her official birthday celebrations meanwhile she is joined by other members of the royal family at the spectacular trooping the colour parade which moves between buckingham palace the mall and horseguards parade 
  she has her own private cash machine 
  less a power and more a perk of the job a private cash machine for use by the royal family is installed in the basement of buckingham palace its provided by coutts one of britains most prestigious  and exclusive  banks 
  the queen has her own personal poet 
  the poet laureate is an honorary position in british society appointed by the monarch to a poet whose work is of national significance according to the official website of the british monarchy when first the role was introduced the appointee was paid  per year plus a butt of canary wine today the poet laureate is given a barrel of sherry 
  carol ann duffy will hold the position until  
  she has to sign laws 
  the queens consent is necessary to turn any bill into an actual law once a proposed law has passed both houses of parliament it makes its way to the palace for approval which is called royal assent the most recent british monarch to refuse to provide royal assent was queen anne back in  
  royal assent is different than queens consent in which the queen must consent to any law being debated in parliament that affects the monarchys interests such as reforming the prerogative or tax laws that might affect the duchy of cornwall for example without consent the bill cannot be debated in parliament 
  queens consent is exercised only on the advice of ministers but its existence provides the government with a tool for blocking debate on certain subjects if bills are tabled by backbench rebels or the opposition 
  it has been exercised at least  times according to documents released under the freedom of information act including one instance in which the queen completely vetoed the military actions against iraq bill in  a private members bill that sought to transfer the power to authorise military strikes against iraq from the monarch to parliament the guardian reported in  
  she can create lords 
  the queen has the power to appoint lords who can then sit in parliament the upper house in britains legislative system like many other powers this is exercised only on the advice of elected government ministers 
  she doesnt have to pay tax but she does anyway 
  the queen does not have to pay tax but she has been voluntarily paying income tax and capital gains tax since  
  the queen has the power to form governments 
  unlike the queen prime minister david cameron doesnt literally sit on a throne rob stothardgetty imageshbobi 
  the queen previously wielded the power to dissolve parliament and call a general election but the fixedterm parliaments act put an end to that in  now a twothirds vote in the commons is required to dissolve parliament before a fiveyear fixedterm is up 
  she does still play a part after an election however when she calls on the mp most able to form a government to do so 
  this caused some worry ahead of this years general election it once looked as if the conservatives might not have a majority but would be the largest party and would try to form a government meanwhile it was feasible that labour could form a majority despite having fewer seats by entering into a coalition with multiple other parties 
  in this situation the queen would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place every year she opens parliament with the queens speech which lays out the governments plans but to give david camerons speech would arguably be to tacitly endorse his government  while staying away would send the opposite message 
  at one point the times was told by sources that she planned to stay away if cameron failed to secure enough mps but the palace later had an aboutface royal sources confirmed she would lead proceedings even if there was a risk the speech would be overthrown the following week because the tories had failed to muster enough backing from smaller parties the times subsequently reported 
  she has knights 
  sure they no longer ride around on horseback wooing maidens with their tales of valour but britain still retains knights like lords they are appointed by the queen  and she knights them personally 
  knighthoods are typically given to figures who have made a particular contribution to british society  whether in business the arts the military or elsewhere after terry pratchett was knighted the legendary fantasy author forged himself a special sword using pieces of a meteorite 
  the individuals knighted are decided by ministers the bbc reports who present her with a list of nominees each year for her approval 
  she is exempt from freedom of information requests 
  all information about the royal family is exempt from freedom of information requests the exemption was made after a legal battle between the guardian and the government to have letters from prince charles sent to whitehall ministers made public the socalled black spider memos were recently released but the change means the same cant happen in the future 
  she can ignore or overrule ministerial advice in grave constitutional crisis 
  while the overwhelming majority of the queens prerogative powers are devolved to her ministers there is one exception that allows her to wield power herself only in grave constitutional crisis the sovereign can act contrary to or without ministerial advice with no precedent in modern times its not clear what would actually constitute this but the possibility remains 
  the queen holds the ability to fire the entire australian government 
  as the head of state in australia the queen has certain powers over the government in  for example the queens representative in the country at the time gov gen sir john kerr fired the prime minister in response to a government shutdown 
  kerr appointed a replacement who immediately passed the spending bill to fund the government max fisher wrote in the washington post three hours later kerr dismissed the rest of parliament then australia held elections to restart from scratch and they havent had another shutdown since 
  in addition to the uk and australia the queen is also the head of state in antigua and barbuda the bahamas barbados belize canada grenada jamaica new zealand papua new guinea saint kitts and nevis saint lucia saint vincent and the grenadines solomon islands and tuvalu 
  all the above are commonwealth realms or former british colonies the british sovereign retains the position she holds in the united kingdom that of head of state as in britain this is largely a ceremonial role from day to day 
  shes the head of a religion 
  queen elizabeth ii is the head of the church of england britains state religion first established after king henry viii split away from the catholic church in rome in the th century 
  her formal title is defender of the faith and supreme governor of the church of england and she also has the power to appoint bishops and archbishops as with many of her other powers however this is exercised only on the advice of the prime minister who himself takes advice from a church commission 
  an interesting side effect of this is that the sovereign must be a confirmed member of church of england catholics and those of other religions may not ascend to the british throne if prince charles converted to islam for example he would be unable to become king after queen elizabeth ii dies 
  she gets to give away special money to the elderly 
  maundy money is a special kind of silver coin the queen gives away to pensioners every year at a uk cathedral every easter in a special ceremony the number of recipients corresponds with the sovereigns age this year for example she will be  when easter rolls around so she will give maundy money away to  pensioners 
  the coins are technically legal tender despite coming in unconventional pence and pence denominations but given the coins rare status they tend not to enter general circulation 
  shes also immune from prosecution 
  all prosecutions are carried out in the name of the sovereign and she is both immune from prosecution and cannot be compelled to give evidence in court 
  in theory the sovereign is incapable of thinking or doing wrong legal scholar john kirkhope told business insider however barrister baroness helena kennedy qc told the bbc in  that nowadays that immunity is questionable 
  although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the sovereign as a person under uk law the queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law according to official site of the monarchy 
  if the monarch did commit a grievance offence he or she would almost certainly be forced to abdicate there is at least one precedent of the courts prosecuting the sovereign in the th century king charles i was tried for treason following the english civil war he said no earthly power can justly call me who am your king in question as a delinquent the court disagreed and had him executed 
  the queen has the right to be consulted to encourage and to warn her ministers 
  assuming no grave constitutional crisis the queens input into the legislative process is supposed to be limited in real terms to the right to be consulted to encourage and to warn her ministers  advice delivered via meetings with the prime minister 
  the queen also has certain historic rights and privileges john kirkhope a lawyer who successfully campaigned to have details of queens consent made public provided business insider with a list of some of the stranger rights the queen still holds 
  hungerford has to present a red rose to the sovereign in exchange for its fishing and grazing rightsthe duke of atholl must pay by way of a rose whenever the sovereign calls this most recently happened during the reign of queen victoria so its unclear whether the rose has to be any particular colourif the sovereign passes near kidwelly castle in wales the tenant has to provide a bodyguard in full armour this is complicated slightly by the fact the castle is a ruinthe marquis of ailesbury owns savernake forest and is required to produce a blast on a hunting horn should the sovereign pass through the forest this last happened in similarly the owner of dunlambert castle in northern ireland has to produce a blast on an ancient bugleand lastly many landowners must also pay a quitrent  a kind of tax on their property paid to the monarch some are pretty unusual 
  the owner of sauchlemuir castle must set out three glasses of port on new years eve for the grandmother of james iv of scotland for reference james iv served from  to the owner of fowlis must deliver  when required  a snowball in midsummerthe city of gloucester pays for its holdings of crown lands by providing an enormous eel piegreat yarmouth must provide a hundred herrings baked in  pasties to the sheriff who then sends them to the lord of the manor  who then sends them to the sovereignthe duke of marlborough has to present a small satin flag with a fleur de lys on august  the anniversary of the battle of blenheimthe duke of wellington has to present a french tricolour flag before noon on june   the anniversary of the battle of waterloo