Constitutional Monarchy in British Columbia
The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions in British Columbia in the same wayit does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole. It is thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the province's government. The Canadian monarch— since 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II— is represented and her duties carried out by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them, and the judges and justices of the peace. The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power. This arrangement began with an 1871 Order in Council by Queen Victoria and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the late 18th century. However, though British Columbia has a separate government headed by the Queen, as a province, British Columbia is not itself a kingdom.
Government House in Victoria is owned by the sovereign only in her capacity as Queen in Right of British Columbia and used as an official residence by both the lieutenant governor and the sovereign and other members of the Canadian Royal Family will reside there when in British Columbia. Members of the Royal Family have owned property in British Columbia in a private capacity: Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, owned Portland Island, though this was offered by her on permanent loan to the Crown in Right of British Columbia.
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