Chapter 206: The Honor of the Royal Family

"You fool!"

At seventy-five, Queen Elizabeth II of England slammed the newspaper she was holding into Charles's face.

"Don't you have a brain? Damn it, how could I have such a stupid son? Assassinating your ex-wife? That's the most idiotic way to go about it!"

Charles retorted stubbornly, "I did it for the honor of the royal family! If that woman ends up with another man, how much of an insult would that be to the royal family? And I didn't want her dead—just injured. Wouldn't it be better if she just lay in a hospital bed for a year or so, peacefully?"

"Stupid! Can you control the outcome of a car accident? You talk about honor? If you cared about honor, you wouldn't have been fooling around with that Camilla woman. You wouldn't have divorced Diana, and you definitely wouldn't have done something so foolish! All you care about is your own pride!"

"I didn't mean to! Who knew that Martin's bodyguard would discover the brake issue? This whole thing should've ended cleanly. Diana was being followed by paparazzi while having an affair, and then a car accident happened—leading to... to things that can't even be spoken about!"

Charles was just as angry—blaming it all on Martin.

"I really regret introducing Richard and the others to you. I thought you'd learn to take responsibility, but instead, you've dragged them into this mess. Now everyone is suspicious that they're involved!"

"They have no evidence. So what if they're suspicious?"

"Evidence? You—"

The queen covered her forehead, utterly disappointed in her son.

Did he really think that the royal family was above the law and didn't need to care about public opinion?

If it weren't for her tireless role as the benevolent matriarch, securing the goodwill and support of the public, the little remaining power of the royal family would have long been eroded by Parliament and the Cabinet.

Never think that the monarch of England is just a figurehead without real power.

Even though the power of the monarchy has been diminished since the establishment of the constitutional monarchy, England's monarch still holds a small portion of real power today.

First, from a legal perspective, the sovereignty of England belongs to the monarch.

That is, "England is the monarch's England," not "the monarch is England's monarch."

Secondly, in name, the monarch is the head of state, still holding the titles of "Commander-in-Chief of the English Armed Forces," "Admiral of the Royal Navy," and "Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force."

At the same time, the monarch is the highest judicial officer, meaning the monarch is legally the highest prosecutor in England, while the Attorney General is merely the monarch's legal advisor.

Thus, theoretically, the monarch represents the law of England. This also means the monarch has immunity from prosecution; no matter the crime, they will not be punished by the law.

To list a few examples:

The monarch has the right to appoint the Prime Minister;The monarch can dissolve Parliament;The monarch has a veto on parliamentary decisions, including laws made by Parliament;As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the monarch can declare war on other countries if necessary;The monarch has the power to grant pardons.

However, since the 1990s, Queen Elizabeth II has rarely used these powers.

This is to avoid inciting distrust from the Prime Minister and Parliament.

At the same time, the queen has worked to project an image of being harmless, earning support from the public and some of the great nobles and business tycoons in Parliament.

This is the reason she has been able to retain these powers.

These powers, for her, are like nuclear weapons—if left unused, they serve as a deterrent, but if activated, they could backfire.

Unfortunately, Charles was too foolish to understand these truths.

The queen sighed. Her son had already become set in his ways—stubborn and foolish.

There was nothing she could do now. This was his life, and she had nothing left to teach him.

Fortunately, William was a good boy; she would focus on teaching her eldest grandson more.

"Apologize. Say that you failed to protect your ex-wife properly, and that you'll do everything possible to prevent such things from happening again."

"What? That's impossible!"

Charles jumped up in protest.

"This is not advice; it's an order!"

The queen shot him a sharp look. An invisible authority radiated from her, and Charles instantly froze.

Although she had played the role of the harmless "Hello Kitty" for decades, anyone who thought Queen Elizabeth II was just a sweet, harmless old lady was gravely mistaken.

As the longest-reigning monarch in England's history, she had not only lived through World War II but had also faced the dismantling of a declining empire, weakening military and economic powers, and the fracturing Commonwealth. Through it all, she did everything she could to ensure a special relationship with former colonies.

Her strong leadership had kept Scotland and Northern Ireland from breaking away.

She had supported Thatcher in the Falklands War against Argentina, and later, her intelligence service had stirred political divisions within Argentina.

This war strengthened England's international stature and boosted public trust in both the government and the royal family.

A woman of such strength, character, and tactics could never be compared to a "Hello Kitty."

Under the queen's gaze, Charles quickly softened.

"Alright, mother, I will do it."

"Also, from now on, don't use the intelligence services without my permission. I'll notify Richard about this."

"Alright, alright!"

"Good. Now leave."

After Charles left, the queen immediately called her court official.

"Send someone to warn The Sun. Tell them to back off."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Also, what's Martin up to? Isn't he filming 'Harry Potter' in London?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Have him come to see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Wait, don't invite him directly. Let Diana pass the message. She's been wronged too, so convey my goodwill to her."

"Understood. Also, have our media report more on the 'Harry Potter' production. Consider it my compensation to that young genius."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"By the way, I hear he has a good relationship with my two grandsons?"

"As far as I know, yes. William and Harry both like him. I've heard that Martin got the inspiration for Harry Potter from Prince Harry."

"Haha, interesting. I should have met this young man earlier."

The queen seemed to revert to her "Hello Kitty" persona, transforming once more into the "gentle" and "lovable" old lady!