Monarchy of Saint Kitts and Nevis
| Queen of Saint Kitts and Nevis | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
 |
|
| Elizabeth II | |
| Details | |
| Style | Her Majesty |
| Heir apparent | Charles, Prince of Wales |
| First monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Formation | 19 September 1983 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis is a constitutional monarchy in which a monarch is head of state. The present monarch is Elizabeth II, who is also Sovereign of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen's constitutional roles are mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Royal succession is governed by the English Act of Settlement of 1701, which is part of constitutional law.
From June 1983 the two islands of Saint Christopher (otherwise known as Saint Kitts) and of Nevis have been a sovereign democratic federal state which may be formally styled Saint Christopher and Nevis or Saint Kitts and Nevis or the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis or the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
One of the most complicated features of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Monarchy is that it is a shared monarchy.
53 states are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Sixteen of these countries are specifically Commonwealth realms who recognise, individually, the same person as their Monarch and Head of State; Saint Kitts and Nevis is one of these. Despite sharing the same person as their respective national monarch, each of the Commonwealth realms – including Saint Kitts and Nevis – is sovereign and independent of the others.
The Balfour Declaration of 1926 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 this time (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.
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