| as this thread has gone in this direction, Queen Elizabeth is the queen of australia and technically our head of state. her face is on our coins, new citizens swear an oath to obey the Queens laws. but she is a totally irrelevant consideration to any political or policy decision. when royalty visit australia, there are some nice photos, maybe a military parade, they might ceremoniously open the next sitting of parliament, but then they leave and spend their time visiting fetes and attending charity events. when the british prime minister visits, they spend almost all their time with cabinet ministers. | 
