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Actually existing news

Here's something you can save for people who insist the Royal Family are a harmless institution.

Both the Queen and the Prince of Wales are entitled to veto bills in parliament that might affect the property of the Crown or the Duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall. In recent years the monarch and monarch-to-be have been offered 39 bills for personal approval, one was vetoed (a 1999 bill proposing the transfer of war powers from the executive to parliament was blocked by the Queen). Other bills offered for approval, include the 2004 Civil Partnership Act, the 2004 European Union bill, the 2005 Work and Families bill and the 1997 Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act, to name but a few - the last one was because Prince Charles owns the harbours on the Isles of Scilly.

Madness, isn't it? It's an incredible affront to what little democracy we do have. Two very wealthy landowners are given extraordinary executive powers because nearly 1,000 years ago some French bandits won a battle in a Sussex field.