Can someone please explain the british royalty to me?

[College girl 4.0]

Why is there no king--did he die?? and what happens when Queen Elizabeth dies? Is charles next in line with camilla? Then when he dies, is it william? What is the point of the british royalty now...do they hold power, or does the parliment?

Lastly, how do they have money? I have never seen Elizabeth work...

[cfvh]

There is no king because we have a queen regnant, that is a queen in her own right. There is the title of king consort, which is a king by marriage, but this has fallen out of fashion in the UK.

When Queen Elizabeth dies, Charles, as her son and heir apparent, will succeed to the throne if he is still living at the time. When Charles dies, William, as Charles' heir apparent, will become king. Camilla is not in line of succession, she is simply Charles' wife. Of course, she will be queen when Charles is king, but she will be a queen consort and not a queen regnant. A queen consort is a queen by marriage.

The Queen technically has vast powers but rarely exercises them and she is above politics, instead taking the advice of her ministers on government matters. The Queen has the power to dissolve parliament, so whatever power parliament has they have it because of her.

The Queen receives income via the Civil List to pay for all of the official duties of the Royal Family. She DOES work, her job is to represent the United Kingdom and her other realms, which she does, and also to intervene in the case of certain political crises.

The Queen also receives income from the Duchy of Lancaster, of which she is said to be duke. The Prince of Wales (her son, Charles, also the title of the heir apparent) as Duke of Cornwall receives income from the Duchy of Cornwall.