What does it mean when the queen is referred to as Head Of State?

Answer 1

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the U.K. like every other country in the world, has both a Head of State who is the Sovereign (currently Queen Elizabeth II) and a Head of Government (currently David Cameron, the Prime Minster). The U.K. is governed by Ministers of the Crown appointed by the Prime Minister in the name of the Sovereign.

The Sovereign is also Head of the Commonwealth as a separate office from being Head of State of the U.K. but her exact status within each Commonwealth country varies dependent on that country's specific Constitution.

But within the U.K. the Head of State personifies the State as is in law He or She is an integral part of the legislature, head of the executive, head of the executive, head of the judiciary, commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. In the member states of the Commonwealth of which the Sovereign is Head of State, Her representative is a Governor-General. In U.K. dependencies the Sovereign is usually represented by a Governor who is responsible to the British government.

As Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth, the primary convention today is Queen does not get involved in politics neither within the U.K nor within any Commonwealth nation or State. She is ruler but not Head of Government. whereas in some countries in the world, like the United States, the Head of State is elected and is also the Head of Government (currently Barrack Obama).

In many other countries like the Republic of Ireland, the President of the Republic is also in effect ceremonial rather like Queen Elizabeth is in the U.K. whereas other countries have an elected President who is both Head of State and Head of that nation's Government with specifically defined periods of office and power defined in that country's Constitution.