Queen of Solomon Islands | |
---|---|
Incumbent | |
Elizabeth II | |
Details | |
Style | Her Majesty |
Heir apparent | Charles, Prince of Wales |
First monarch | Elizabeth II |
Formation | 7 July 1978 |
The monarchy of Solomon Islands is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Solomon Islands. The present monarch of Solomon Islands is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also the Queen of a number of other Commonwealth realms.
The Queen's constitutional roles have been almost entirely delegated to the Governor-General of Solomon Islands. Royal succession is governed by the English Act of Settlement of 1701, which is part of constitutional law.
The Commonwealth of Nations has fifty three member states, of which, sixteen are specifically Commonwealth realms that recognise, individually, Elizabeth II as their Monarch and therefore Head of State; Solomon Islands is one of these. Each realm, including Solomon Islands, is a sovereign and independent state. Elizabeth II exercises her sovereignty only as Queen of Solomon Islands and on all matters relating to Solomon Islands, the Monarch is advised solely by Solomon Islands ministers.
This arrangement came into being subsequent to the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which provided the dominions the right to be considered equal to Britain, rather than subordinate; an agreement that had the result of, in theory, a shared Crown that operates independently in each realm rather than a unitary British Crown under which all the dominions were secondary. The Monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, although it has often been called "British" since (in both legal and common language) for reasons historical, legal, and of convenience. The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act, 1927 was the first indication of this shift in law, further elaborated in the Statute of Westminster, 1931.