44 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

Seal which is in the keeping of the Lord Chancellor.1 So for
every Act a Minister is responsible. If an act is thought unwise
those who think so can criticise the Minister; if it is illegal, the
Minister can be prosecuted. It is no defence, for an illegal act,
that it was done at somebody's orders, even the King's. Danby,
one of Charles IFs Ministers, got a written statement from
Charles that certain illegal acts were being performed by Royal
command, but it did not save him. The King himself is not
criticised nor can he be prosecuted. Thus, in the old phrase,
"the King can do no wrong"; but he cannot do anything in
Government without his Ministers—and they can do wrong and
be brought to account for it. The phrase further means that
whatever the Bang, as a person, does, he cannot be prosecuted.
In Shakespeare's play, Henry V, when Prince of Wales,
committed an assault and was dealt with by the Lord Chief
Justice. When he was King, he could have beaten the Lord
Chief Justice to his heart's content and no court could have
tried him. This is an odd situation: but since no one expects the
King to take advantage of it, it is left alone. In the last resort
the King can be removed by an Act of Abdication, to which he
must give his Assent as to all other Acts, if his Ministers advise.
The word "Prerogative" can be defined as the sum total of
powers belonging to the Crown. In earlier times the Crown was
supreme, except for the checks imposed by the customs of the
feudal system. The gradual writing down and altering of these
customs has given certain powers to Parliament and left the rest
with the Crown; this remainder forms the "Prerogative". Even
this is exercised through Ministers, The final conclusion must be
that the King as a person has the right to discuss policy freely with
his Ministers; it is the Kipg as King—as an institution or part
of the Government—who exercises the Royal Prerogative. The
word "Crown" is often used to describe the King as an institution;
it has the convenience that it will serve also for Queen, when there

1 One Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham, used to make pancakes in
it: but this was not a Constitutional usage.