38	THE  BRITISH  APPROACH  TO  POLITICS
he is asked; but this is not what the Constitution requires or
expects. Time would not allow him to discuss every matter
needing his signature, but he can always require his Ministers
to .discuss with frim the topics of chief importance. This right he
usually exercises. Lord Palmerston, when Foreign Secretary in
the middle of the I9th century, lost his position because he tried
to ignore Queen Victoria's right to be consulted. In these
discussions on policy, the King may express his own opinion
freely, on two conditions. The first is that it must not be made
public. If it were generally known what the King's opinions
were, he would be drawn into the conflict of parties. The
party with which he agreed would make the most of the fact as
a way of getting votes; while an election victory for the other
side would be a defeat for the King. Prime Ministers can endure
to be defeated, because they can go into opposition; for Kings
who are known to be in disagreement with the majority of their
people, there is scarcely any place but exile. The second condition
is that, in the last resort, the Minister's wishes would prevail.
If the King were to persist in.opposition, the whole Ministry
might resign; then, if they had a majority, they could prevent
any other Ministry from governing, and so oblige the King to
send for them again and accept their views. Such a chain of
events is possible; but it is not likely. Ministers do not go to
discussions with the King armed with the threat of resignation,
ready to produce it at the first sign of opposition. So long as both
King and Ministers understand the Constitution, the discussion
can go on amicably. 'At the end of it there will emerge a policy
with which the Minister will agree, though it may not be exactly
the same policy as he proposed at first. The King's views may
have modified the Minister's opinion. The King may or may
not agree with the final decision; but at least he has been able
to discuss and criticise and perhaps affect policy. By these
discussions the personal wishes of George Windsor are turned
into the constitutional will of the King of England.
The King can therefore be thought of as an expert adviser