What Does The British Royal Family Actually Do？)

Though they do enjoy unimaginable privileges, being a member of the British royal family isn't all fun and parties. They also have actual duties to perform. These various tasks and responsibilities keep Queen Elizabeth II and her family busy. But hey, living like a royal means working like a royal. So today, we're going to take a look at what the British royal family actually does. But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. After that, we'd be much obliged if you would leave a comment and let us know what other royal topics you would like to hear about. OK, so take a look at this video that is fit for a queen. Ever since she became queen in 1952, Elizabeth II has been something of a royal workhorse. Unlike some of the weirder and lazier royals in history who may have ignored their responsibilities, Queen Elizabeth completes all of the duties expected of a British monarch on a daily basis. And she takes her work very seriously. From attending events to conducting tours abroad, these various jobs show how members of the royal family work as a form of public service. The queen, however, isn't the only royal who has work to do. Her husband, Prince Philip, helped shoulder some of her responsibilities for decades. Their children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward also take on royal duties full time, as have some of the royal grandchildren, including Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his brother, Harry, Duke of Sussex. It's good to be the queen. But despite what many think, members of the British royal family don't just sit around all day doing whatever they want. They're actually expected to do stuff. But what kind of stuff? Well, royal labor usually means attending a wide range of functions, from public charity events to private meetings, openings, and just about everything in between. The queen has always undertaken a lot of these engagements personally. But she's not the only one that's eligible to do it. Anyone in the family could theoretically attend these engagements as a royal representative. In fact, in 2018, the queen's two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, attended the most engagements on her behalf. Queen Elizabeth may only be the head of the country in a symbolic sense, but she still participates in some important state ceremonies. Perhaps the most significant ceremony she performs is the annual opening of Parliament. Each May, a new session of Parliament begins. Wearing the trappings of monarchy, including her crown and robes, the queen delivers a speech to officially signal the opening of the government. She has missed the opening of Parliament only a handful of times in her decades of rule. Not a bad record by any measure. Once upon a time, England was a monarchy where the king ruled with an iron fist. But in 1215, the Magna Carta started to limit the sovereign's powers. And now, that unchecked authority is long gone. Today, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, which means the king or queen's powers are severely limited. It's the members of Parliament that actually run the country now, not the monarch. In the modern constitutional monarchy, the monarch acts as something of a rubber stamp. Elizabeth gives her approval, known as the royal assent, for all legislation passed by Parliament. One of the most crucial aspects of the United Kingdom's constitutional monarchy is the fact that the monarch has traditionally been apolitical. The king or queen is supposed to transcend politics by representing the whole of the nation. As such, the monarch is expected to always give royal assent. Whether the queen truly has the power to withhold royal assent in the modern era is a matter of some debate. In reality, she usually just follows the advice of her ministers, who themselves are supported by Parliament. So it's unlikely they would ever advise her to withhold assent. That being the case, the issue has never arisen in the modern era. In fact, it has literally been centuries since the king or queen has withheld royal assent. Queen Anne's refusal to grant arms to Scottish militias in 1707 was the last time a monarch refused it. Royal assent may be given in an elaborate ceremony. The queen could appear personally in the House of Lords to execute this function, but she usually doesn't. In fact, the last time a sovereign appeared in person at Parliament for this purpose was during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1854. The queen may also appoint Lords Commissioners, who could announce that royal assent has been granted during a ceremony held at the Palace of Westminster. However, royal assent is more typically granted in writing via what are called letters patent. Royals also need to be able to throw a good party. Tens of thousands of people turn out for events hosted by the Windsors. In fact, the royal family estimates that they host around 70,000 people annually for various official functions. One of the biggest series of events each year are the Royal Garden Parties, which host 30,000 people in London and Edinburgh throughout the summer. Official royal events are, of course, by invitation only. And Garden Party invitees often work in public service. Among the tasks the queen must perform is honoring distinguished individuals through official ceremonies two times a year on New Year's and the queen's birthday. The queen announces a list of individuals who will receive knighthoods and appointments into royal orders. Some of the royal honors include the Order of the British Empire. Those who have received these honors go through an investiture ceremony in which the queen or another high-ranking member of the royal family acting in her stead presents them with a medal. Some of the more famous individuals who have received knighthoods include Anthony Hopkins, Elton John, Dame Judi Dench, Alfred Hitchcock, and Richard Branson. Perhaps one of the most meaningful roles members of the royal family have is to act as patrons of charities. Each high-ranking member of the family chooses a variety of charities to patronize. Being a royal patron means being a kind of spokesperson and PR representative. The royal family member's name brings valuable exposure to the individual charity. The queen alone has helped raise over one billion pounds for charities. Royal family members usually patronize charities that reflect their interests. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, majored in art history at the University of St. Andrews, and now patronizes a number of arts organizations, including London's National Portrait Gallery. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is royal patron to Tusk Trust, formed to conserve wildlife and promote education and community development across Africa, and Centerpoint, which aims to provide housing and services to homeless youth. Elizabeth has tirelessly done her duties as queen for decades, but she has always had other high-ranking members of the royal family around to shoulder some of her responsibilities. All of her children and some of her grandchildren undertake official responsibilities full time. These working royals spend their days exclusively performing royal duties. Other royals take on some royal tasks while still maintaining their own careers. The queen's granddaughters, for example, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, both also have jobs outside the royal family. Princess Beatrice, for example, has been a sales associate at the high-end department store Selfridges, worked in the Foreign Office's press office, performed as an extra in the 2009 movie The Young Victoria, interned at Sony Pictures, and now serves as vice president of partnerships and strategy at the software company Affinity. Princess Eugenie, on the other hand, worked at the auction house Paddle 8, and later took a directing position at art gallery Hauser and Worth. Both princesses, however, still perform some royal duties. On the other hand, Prince Harry, who along with his wife Meghan Markle, stepped down as senior members of the royal family. Though the monarch is not explicitly a political figure, Elizabeth is expected to roll out the red carpet for VIPs. In fact, she typically hosts a lavish state dinner at Buckingham Palace for visiting heads of state. These formal events usually include elaborate menus and goodwill toasts. Many American presidents who visit the United Kingdom on official state visits have received this treatment, including the Bushes and Obamas. Elizabeth isn't just the monarch of the United Kingdom. She's also the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, an organization of states that were once part of the British Empire. As you might expect, Elizabeth takes this role seriously. She has personally undertaken Commonwealth tours to places like Australia, Jamaica, and Kenya, where she visits with officials and civilians alike and charitable links between countries. In recent decades, her children and grandchildren have undertaken Commonwealth tours in her stead, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to Australia in 2014 with a young Prince George. As arguably the most well-known royal family in the world, the Windsors receive mountains of mail annually. Royal family members receive and respond to, on average, 100,000 pieces of mail a year. These include everything from fan letters to invitations to functions. The queen herself has shown almost all of her correspondence on a daily basis by one of her private secretaries. And according to the royal family's official website, where you can find information on how you can write to her and how she should be addressed, she takes a keen interest in the letters she receives. However, if you're writing to try and get the queen to take sides in a personal or political dispute, don't bother. Her Majesty will not intervene in any such conflict. And letters asking her to do so will receive a boilerplate reply explaining as much. Also, don't bother sending the queen any unsolicited gifts. They can't and won't be accepted. Though Queen Elizabeth maintains residences and palaces throughout the United Kingdom, she doesn't always get to enjoy them as much as she'd like, because her royal duties often take her abroad. By 2015, she had made no fewer than 265 overseas visits. She's not the only one. Other members of the royal family have conducted overseas trips, which are sometimes political in nature. In the wake of the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in particular, have been recruited to visit European nations and conduct a so-called charm offensive. The goal has been to offer goodwill and smooth over Brexit tensions. We'll see how that works. So what do you think? How much would you like to be a British royal? Let us know in the comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos from our Weird History.