workingclasshistory:

On this day, 16 April 1999, the Military Action against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill, introduced by an anti-war member of parliament, was scheduled to have its second reading. The law would have meant that any military action taken by the UK against Iraq would have to be voted for by a majority of MPs, rather than launched unilaterally by the government.
But as the bill would affect the powers of the monarch, it required consent of the queen before it could be discussed in parliament. The queen, following advice from the Labour government, then refused to give consent for the bill to reach the floor, thus killing it.
Despite being nominally a parliamentary democracy, the UK royal family have extensive powers to veto new laws – something which the British government is clearly embarrassed about, considering how they vigorously fight freedom of information requests related to royal consent.
When the UK did eventually attack Iraq, however, the decision was made by a majority vote of parliament, despite a huge majority of the UK population opposing it. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1401987639986382/?type=3