Can Queen Elizabeth Be The Empress Of Britain?

Queen Elizabeth has been the Queen of England for seven decades, but many still wonder if it would ever be possible for her to become an empress. As the longest-reigning British monarch in the history of the royal family, many wonder if she can already be called the Empress of Great Britain.

Queen Elizabeth is not only the longest-reigning British monarch. She is also the longest-serving female head of state, the oldest living monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving current head of state. Despite the many title she currently holds, the title of Empress is not one of them.

By definition, an empire is a sovereign state that functions as an aggregate of nations or people. It can either be ruled by an emperor or a different kind of monarch, and its territory and population are on a much larger scale than a kingdom.

Since an empire is constituted of contiguous territories, many would think that the current jurisdiction of Queen Elizabeth will pass as an empire. However, there’s only one empire in the world today, and that is the Empire of Japan.

Just like Queen Elizabeth, Emperor Akihito of Japan also has no real political or executive authority. However, he also occupies a constitutional and representational role in the country. If Queen Elizabeth wants to proclaim herself as an empress, there is no particular rule or law that can prevent her from proclaiming so. However, there is a small chance that Queen Elizabeth will take this route.

The title “Emperor” or “Empress” has long been associated with colonialism and imperialist agendas because of how previous emperors and empresses in history took advantage of their power. If Queen Elizabeth decides to be called an empress, the public could take it negatively. Also, the members of the British parliament might likely vote down this proposition because the term “empress” has no history in Britain.

Back in 1801, there was a proposition to call Britain the United Empire of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, King George III rejected the proposition to make him an emperor because according to him, Britain is only for kings and queens, not emperors and empresses.