Prince Edward, left, Queen Camilla, King Charles III and Prince William at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Wednesday. LONDON — Thursday’s general election is the nation’s first since King Charles III took the throne. But can the reigning monarch — and senior members of the royal family — vote in the election?Welcome to Britain’s constitutional monarchy, where kings reign, but they do not rule.
Robert Hazell, professor of government and the constitution at University College London, echoed Fitzwilliams’s remarks, noting that “by convention,” senior royals, like the monarch, “do not vote, to preserve the political neutrality of the royal family.” The king holds a weekly meeting with the prime minister to talk about government matters, and the discussion “is entirely private,” the royal website notes — and long the subject of speculation by historians.
“Some conventions have come under strain in recent years, but the convention to the monarch not voting is a clear rule,” King said.