Editing Monarchy of the United Kingdom (section)

===Shared monarchy===
[[File:British Empire 1921.png|thumb|upright=1.75|right|The British Empire at its territorial peak in 1921]]
During the twentieth century, the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] evolved from the [[British Empire]]. Prior to 1926, the British Crown reigned over the British Empire collectively; the [[Dominion]]s and [[Crown Colonies]] were subordinate to the United Kingdom. The [[Balfour Declaration of 1926]] gave complete self-government to the Dominions, effectively creating a system whereby a single monarch operated independently in each separate Dominion. The concept was solidified by the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]],<ref>{{Citation |title=Statute of Westminster 1931 |date=11 October 2001 |url=http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/westmins.htm |publisher=Government of Nova Scotia |access-date=20 April 2008 |archive-date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110220056/https://beta.novascotia.ca/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which has been likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries".<ref>Justice Rouleau in [http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html O'Donohue v. Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627231349/http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html |date=27 June 2013 }}, 2003 CanLII 41404 (ON S.C.)</ref>

The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, although it is often still referred to as "British" for legal and historical reasons and for convenience. The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, [[Monarchy of Canada|Canada]], [[Monarchy of Australia|Australia]], [[Monarchy of New Zealand|New Zealand]], and so forth; one person reigning in multiple distinct sovereign states, in a relationship likened to a [[personal union]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zines |first=Leslie |title=The High Court and the Constitution |date=2008 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-691-0 |edition=5th |location=[[Annandale, New South Wales]] |page=314 |author-link=Leslie Zines}}; {{Citation |last=Corbett |first=P.E. |title=The Status of the British Commonwealth in International Law |journal=University of Toronto Law Journal |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=348–359 |date=1940 |doi=10.2307/824318|jstor=824318 }}; {{Citation |last=Scott |first=F.R. |title=The End of Dominion Status |date=January 1944 |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=34–49 |doi=10.2307/2192530 |jstor=2192530 |s2cid=147122057}}; ''R v Foreign Secretary; Ex parte Indian Association'' (1982). QB 892 at 928; as referenced in [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html High Court of Australia: Sue v Hill HCA 30; 23 June 1999; S179/1998 and B49/1998] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115130315/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html |date=15 January 2016 }}</ref>

George V's death in 1936 was followed by the accession of [[Edward VIII]], who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American [[Wallis Simpson]], even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcees. Accordingly, Edward announced his intention to [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdicate]]; the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request. Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession, and the Crown went to his brother, [[George VI]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31061|title=Edward VIII|access-date=20 April 2008|last=Matthew|first=H. C. G.|author-link=Colin Matthew|date=September 2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31061}}</ref> George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II, making morale-boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and areas bombed by [[Nazi Germany]]. In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title ''Emperor of India'', although remaining head of state of the [[Dominion of India]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33370|title=George VI|access-date=20 April 2008|last=Matthew|first=H.C.G.|date=September 2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33370}}</ref>

At first, every member of the Commonwealth retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but when the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950, it would no longer share in a common monarchy. Instead, the British monarch was acknowledged as "[[Head of the Commonwealth]]" in all Commonwealth member states, whether they were realms or republics. The position is purely ceremonial, and is not inherited by the British monarch as of right but is vested in an individual chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government.<ref name="Boyce">{{Cite book |last=Boyce |first=Peter John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kY-Tk0-quyoC&pg=PA41 |title=The Queen's Other Realms: The Crown and Its Legacy in Australia, Canada and New Zealand |date=2008 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=9781862877009 |page=41 |access-date=31 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="hoc">{{Citation |title=Head of the Commonwealth |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706045334/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/ |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |access-date=26 September 2008 |archive-date=6 July 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Member states of the Commonwealth that share the same person as monarch are informally known as [[Commonwealth realm]]s.<ref name="Boyce" />