CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The political role of the queen seems to mystify a lot of people here in the United States. But we get a clearer picture in today's "Ask CNN."</s>ANNOUNCER: A CNN viewer wants to know: What is the governmental role that Queen Elizabeth has in England?</s>PATRICK ALLITT, HISTORY PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: The queen has no political power. But she does still have political authority and symbolic power. She's the head of state and plays a ceremonial role comparable to the ceremonial role played by the president. When Parliament is being called into session or when it's being dissolved at the end of the parliamentary session, it's officially she who has to make that decision. The prime minister goes to visit her at Buckingham Palace and announces that he needs a dissolution of Parliament. Or, after an election, she invokes a new Parliament. Every year, when the prime minister has got a set of policies he wants to be introduced, he writes a speech called "The Queen's Speech" and then gives it to the queen. And she delivers it before the houses of Parliament. But she's only at liberty to say exactly what the prime minister has said. So whichever party he comes from -- whether it's from the Conservatives or the Labor Party -- she reads out "The Queen's Speech," which is really the prime minister's speech, to announce what the priorities are for legislation that session.
Ask CNN: What is the Governmental Role That Queen Elizabeth Has in England?