The second Brexit day comes and goes as calls – that started in earnest in January – for our Head of State to intervene get louder. This is considered unlikely given the Queen’s role as neutral constitutional monarch of the United Kingdom but she does meet fortnightly with the British Prime Minister when she can express her views. But no doubt, the Palace is watching closely especially if things start to look anarchical at any point in time between now and 31 October. The BBC has reported that our Head of State is unable to dissolve parliament and call an election in Britain as this power was removed from the monarch by the 2011 Fixed-term Parliament Act. It is interesting that our Governor-General, her representative in Australia, retains this power as one of the ‘reserve’, ie unwritten and undefined powers, of that office. For more on this click on link below: “Can the Queen intervene in Brexit? Why Elizabeth II could do something but (almost certainly) won’t” by Serina Sandhu inews.co.uk online 10 April 2019.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
