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King/Queen of Sierra
Rey / Reina de Sierra (es)
黃金王國國王/女王 (zh)
Vua/Nữ hoàng của Sierra (vn)
시에라의 킹 / 퀸 (kr)
พระมหากษัตริย์ / สมเด็จพระราชินีแห่งเซีย (th)
황/누황 노셀라 (hn)
シエラの王/女王 (ja)
Serran DSerran ASerran SSerran H  Serran KSerran E / Serran DSerran ASerran SSerran HSerran I  Serran KSerran A  Serran SSerran ESerran RSerran RSerran A (sb)
Federal
Coat of arms of Sierra
Incumbent
Angelina II
Angelina II
since June 21, 2015
Details
Style Her Majesty
First monarch Smith I
Formation November 28, 1858
Residence Flag of Sierra Occidental Palace
Porciúncula, GC, Sierra
Appointer Hereditary
Website monarchy.gc.ks

The monarchy of Sierra is the foundation of the Sierran government (also referred to as the Crown) and the monarch functions as the kingdom's sovereign. Limited by the constitution, in reality, the monarch exercises little political power as his/her duties are fulfilled by the Prime Minister who is the actual of head of government. The current ruling and sole house is the House of Columbia, which is descended from the historic British House of Stuart.

The current monarch, Angelina II, ascended the throne following the abdication of her father, King Smith II in 2005. Angelina's great-great-grandfather, Smith I, was the first king of Sierra and one of the nation's founding fathers. She and her predecessors are also direct descendants of James II of England, the last Stuart king of England, Scotland, and Ireland before the Glorious Revolution. Through that capacity, they have claimed the title as "Monarch of Britain", a claim and title of which, is purely cosmetic. The responsibilities and roles of the Monarch are currently held in trust by The Prince Regent George of Sonora, who was appointed by the Queen in January 2016 to assume the duties of the Crown while she pursued her collegiate academics. The monarch is also the head of the Columbia Realms, making them the monarch of four other countries (Alaska, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Tlingit and Haida Gwaii).

The monarch and his/her immediate family constitute the royal family while extended family and honorary guests constitute the much larger Royal Household. As sovereign, the monarch undertakes various ceremonial, diplomatic, and representational duties to advance the interests of the Sierran people. While not outlined in the constitution, it has been a de facto tradition of the monarch to officially abstain from partaking in partisan politics. Being sovereign, the monarch is also graced with the position as commander-in-chief of the Sierran Crowned Armed Forces, directing all combat operations with close cooperation with the prime minister and Parliament during times of war and emergency.

Constitutional role[]

Kingdom of Sierra
Coat of arms of Sierra

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of the
Kingdom of Sierra


The Constitution of Sierra declares that the monarch is the sovereign head of the Kingdom of Sierra and therefore, the highest-ranking official in the governments of Sierra, Hawaii, and the Deseret, and is the fount of honor of the Sierran peerage system. Whenever there is a king, he is styled, His Royal Highness (abbreviated HRH) while in the case of a queen, she is styled, Her Royal Highness. All oaths are made to the monarch and his/her successors.

As a hereditary non-partisan member of the government, the monarch enjoys limited power and relies most of his/her duties to be executed by the prime minister, officers of the Cabinet, Parliament, or other legal bodies which have been authorized to work under the monarch's name. Legally, the monarch of the state, is referred to as the "Crown" which by its own right, is simultaneously the embodiment of Sierra itself. These fused concepts constitute a single corporation sole wherein the monarch may serve in both a corporate or individual capacity, but the distinction between the office and the individual is deemed the same entity under the law. In this sense, the monarch's possession of the Crown, as the Crown, signifies that he/she is the foundation of all power of the Sierran government. Any actions performed by authorized government officials are done so in the name of the Crown.

Among the few exclusive rights conferred onto the monarch is the royal prerogative (which consists of several special privileges and discretionary powers), the act of assent, the issuance of letters patent, and the issuance of edicts. The monarch usually executes these rights with the advice of the prime minister, the Executive Council, and the Privy Council, the Cabinet, and the Parliament. Rarely has a monarch acted out independently from the civil government and any laws passed by the monarch without the consent of Parliament would easily be rendered null and void by the Supreme Court. The royal prerogative includes the right to appoint and dismiss officials, declare war, make peace, negotiate and ratify foreign agreements including treaties, issue passports, and create or dissolve government offices. In addition, the monarch is responsible for appointing and dismissing Lords and Ladies Superintendent or Proprietor, viceregal representatives who link the monarchy with provincial, state, areal, or territorial governments.

Royal assent is the act of the monarch formally approving a bill passed in Parliament and therefore, making it a law. The monarch has the power to veto either by refusing to give assent (After two weeks of no response, the withheld bill automatically becomes law however.) or by explicitly rejecting it. If the monarch were to veto the bill, Parliament may override the veto provided two-thirds of both houses vote in favor of the bill.

Edicts are issued by the monarch at his/her discretion and treated as full-binding law. Edicts are usually reserved for and enacted during emergencies. Edicts also include the power to invoke martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus which entail the monarch's assumption of more direct and rigorous control in relation to the civil government. There are several legal safeguards to protect and circumvent against an abuse of the edict. The Supreme Court could declare the edict unconstitutional, the Parliament could pass a law to repeal the edict (they would not need an assent in such cases), or the executive civil branch (under the prime minister) could simply choose to ignore the edict and fail to execute it.

History[]

Early years[]

The Sierran monarchy was established in 1858 by the Constitution of Sierra with Smith I as Sierra's first king. The idea of a monarchy was inspired by the royalist faction of the Californian Constitutional Convention who advocated for a monarchy mirroring that of Britain's. A great number of these royalists were settlers from Britain itself and some even proposed creating a political union with the Kingdom. Members of the federalist faction vehemently opposed incorporating a monarchy and delayed any significant development for well over a year. The convention's head, Smith C. Miller, was one such opponent but when his views changed, he championed a compromise between American federalism and British monarchism which would appeal to both factions. Miller proposed that the new government would indeed be a monarchy but which would be limited by a constitution, an electable civil government, and a legislature heavily inspired by the United States Congress.

Sierran Civil War[]

Post-war years[]

Sierran Cultural Revolution[]

Cold War years[]

Contemporary years[]

Succession[]

Upon the death of the king or queen, the heir apparent immediately succeeds the throne along with its privileges, rights, and honors. The phrase, "Ten thousand years! The king/queen is dead, glory, glory to the king/queen!" must be uttered by the prime minister who is the first to officially deliver the news of the deceased monarch. After an official autopsy is conducted by a state-sanctioned coroner, the same phrase is appended to the end of all federal and provincial oaths for 7 days. In addition, an official mourning is declared which in effect, stipulates that all national flags at official buildings be flown at half-mast. The successor's coronation may only be commemorated after the former monarch's state funeral ceremony has been held.

Absolute primogeniture is used to determine the next successor and his/her issue would automatically take precedence in the line of succession over their uncles, aunts, and their issues. Succession is based on age favoring the eldest living child first when determining the order of precedence within the monarch's issue.

Finances, services, and benefits[]

The monarch's finances, expenses, and most of his/her assets are held and managed by the Keeper of the Privy Purse who is appointed and dismissed by the monarch at their personal discretion. The position is one of the few posts in which the monarch may change according to their suiting without prior consent and approval by Parliament and the prime minister. For the monarch's residences, an annual grant-in-aid is used to cover maintenance and upkeep costs. The monarch must personally pay taxes including the annual income tax directly from their personal revenue.

The wealth of the monarch has been estimated to be around $200 million to $500 million (in 2014 KSD) and according to independent sources, the monarchy generates $5 million in revenue each year for the state when taking personal tax into account alone.

As with civil officials, the monarch and his/her family receives the protection of the Secret Service whose members are entrusted the sole task of providing personal security for the royal family. In addition to the Secret Service, the Occidental Palace and other complexes are continuously patrolled and protected by the special division of the Secret Service, the Royal Guardsmen, who don ceremonial attire and sabers. Like the Royal Guardsmen, officers are equipped with firearms although carry the additional responsibility of functioning as the color guard and upkeep of the royal grounds. The Royal Guardsmen almost never leave their posts, even when the monarch or another royal member leaves the premises provided that said monarch or member left accompanied with adequate number of other security-cleared official or servicemen. At royal ceremonies including coronations and weddings, all available Royal Guardsmen attend the events.

Residences[]

Occidental Palace

An aerial view of the main complex of the Occidental Palace.

The royal family primarily resides at the Occidental Palace, a Châteauesque mansion located in the Holmby Hills neighborhood at Porciúncula, the capital city of Sierra (and the province of the Gold Coast). Here, the majority of state banquets, visits, and formal ceremonies are held on the palace grounds. The palace features over 123 rooms, several amenities including a tennis court, a bowling alley, a bar, and two pools (one indoors, the other outdoors), a 1.5 acre garden, a home theater system, and several guest houses. As of 2016, the Queen herself does not reside at the Palace. Instead, she resides in a modified, high-security dormitory at Stanford University in Stanford, Santa Clara.

The royal family has several secondary residences and retreats throughout Sierra including the Palace-by-the-Bay in San Francisco City, San Francisco, Vikingsholm in South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, Laguna, and the Marmalade Manor in Salt Lake City, Deseret. There exists two buildings owned outside Sierra in two separate locations including: the Cayman Islands and Maui, Hawaii. In both cases, the buildings are privately owned by the Queen's father, Smith, Duke of Cabo, himself. The Duke acquired the properties during his service as Crown Prince and bought it through the private profits he earned as chief executive officer and founder of telecommunications company Cabrillo Technologies.

Style[]

Monarchical styles of
the King/Queen of Sierra
Coat of arms of Sierra
Reference style His/Her Royal Majesty
Spoken style Your Royal Majesty
Alternative style Sir/Madame/Protector of the Sierrans

Officially, the monarch is given the style His/Her Royal Majesty. It is the highest-ranking style in Sierra whereas in most European monarchies, the style is Majesty most often used instead. The only other monarchy which uses this particular style is the Swedish monarchy. Since the creation of the Sierran monarchy, all monarchs have been styled in the following general manner, with minor differences: His/Her Royal (Imperial) Majesty, (Name), by the Grace of God, King/Queen of Sierra, Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales and Protector of the Sierrans, Sovereign of Bénieîle, the Channel Islands, Los Pacifícos, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Rapa Nui, the Sierran Samoa, Paramount Chief of Hawai'i, Righteous Sovereign of the Deseret, Most High Lord/Lady of Cancún and Yucatán, and Sovereign of All Other Loyal Lands and Islands, High Lord Superintendent of the Realm, et al. Only Lewis I, Lewis II, and Lewis III were styled as His Imperial Majesty, when the Sierran monarchy also possessed the title and position of Emperor of Hani. The claims to the British throne (and consequently the English, Scottish, Irish thrones, and even erroneously, the "Welsh throne") were officiated through royal edict by King Smith I in 1859 in light of his lineage to James II of England, the last Stuart king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who headed the House of Stuart, the parent house of the Sierran-based House of Columbia. Deceased monarchs receive the same style but omit King/Queen of Sierra, Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales as in the case for Smith I where he remains referred to as His Royal Majesty, Smith I, by the Grace of God, the Late King and Protector of the Sierrans.

Coat of arms[]

The royal coat of arms are a royal variant of the national coat of arms featuring a crown-topped mantle behind the shied. They are "Tierced per fess Azure, Or, and Gules, overall an inescutcheon Quarterly, first and fourth Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland), second quarter three lions passant gardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure (for England), third quarter Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland), the whole surrounded by the Golden Fleece, Thistle, and Garter; for a Crest, upon the Motto 'In Defens' and the royal helm imperial crown Proper, thereon A glory Or, breaking through a cloud proper, surrounding an azure field bearing a constellation of thirteen stars argent, and above, an array of seven stars Gules, overall a lion statant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper; Mantling Gules ermine, with the Tudor roses, shamrocks, and thistle engrafted on the same stem. Sinister proper, dexter reversed. For Supporters, Dexter, a grizzly bear regardant proper collared or, supporting a like staff, therefrom flowing to the sinister a banner charged with the Royal Standard, Sinister a deer proper collared or, supporting a like staff, therefrom flowing to the dexter a banner or charged with the Cross of Saint George. Mottos 'Renatus et redemit' and 'Libertas sine sacrifico' in the compartment below the shield, with the Tudor rose, shamrock, and thistle engrafted on the same stem and scroll proper Argent."

Coat of arms of Sierra

Royal coat of arms of the Monarch

List of Sierran monarchs[]

No. Name Portrait Reign Consort
1 Smith I Smith I portrait 2 November 27, 1858—August 15, 1893 Rachel of Sierra
2 Lewis I Lewis I August 15, 1893—June 23, 1927 Martha of Claremont
3 Lewis II Lewis II June 23, 1927 – September 18, 1945 Maylene of Michigan
4 Lewis III Lewis III September 18, 1945 – September 9, 1991 Natalia of the Banat
5 Angelina I Angelina I September 9, 1991 – October 17, 2005 Adam, Prince Consort
6 Smith II Smith II October 17, 2005—July 21, 2015 Evelyn, Duchess of Cabo
7 Angelina II Angelina II July 21, 2015—present

Timeline[]

House of Columbia

Family tree[]


See also[]

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