The Crown is a living bond. L'attività pubblica all'estero della monarchia britannica (1952-1972)

The Monarchy in Britain is a thousand-year-old institution which is experiencing considerable changes and represents both the authority of the supreme power (the Queen as Head of State) and the ultimate symbol of unity (the Queen as Head of the Nation); the subject, therefore, demands to be considered seriously. The topic of this book, consequently, is the study of the public activity of Queen Elizabeth II abroad and in the Commonwealth countries during the first decades of her long reign; the purpose of this analysis is not only to define the British Monarchy from an institutional point of view but also to enrich it considering the symbolical suggestions intrinsically linked with the image of the Sovereign. The public activity of the Queen (i.e. her trips abroad and in the Commonwealth; her meeting with the foreign Heads of State; her relationships with the Prime Ministers; the organisation of the visits by the Royal Household and the Private Secretary…) act as an interesting observational lens for the comprehension of the political significance of the Monarchy in the Westminster system and its evolution in the XX century. As a matter of fact, it appears that the Queen, although she has always thoroughly respected her constitutional limits, has played an important role facing the challenging post-war years and the dissolution of the Empire. The analysis has shown the importance of the Monarchy in the foreign policy (i.e. the attention of Elizabeth II for the special relationship of Great Britain with the United States; the invaluable personal diplomacy of the Sovereign; the significance of her visits as a political reward…) and, above all, the massive contribution of the Crown to the strengthening of the Commonwealth; in fact, the relatively peaceful transformation of the British Empire to a Commonwealth of Nations is an achievement made possible for the most part thanks to the personality of the Queen and her remarkable sense of duty towards those countries. The frame of reference of the intense public activity of the Sovereign, thus, has revealed the extraordinary survival strategies of the Monarchy and this study may help to comprehend at least partly the role of the Crown in the modern British Constitution.