Editing Head of state (section)

===Commonwealth realms===
{{Main|Governor-general#Modern Commonwealth}}
[[File:King Charles III (July 2023).jpg|thumb|232x232px|Charles III, who currently serves as Head of State separately in each of the commonwealth realms]]
The [[Commonwealth realm]]s share a monarch, currently [[Charles III]]. In the realms other than the United Kingdom, a governor-general (''governor general'' in Canada) is appointed by the sovereign, usually on the advice of the relevant prime minister (although sometimes it is based on the result of a vote in the relevant parliament, which is the case for [[Politics of Papua New Guinea|Papua New Guinea]] and the [[Politics of Solomon Islands|Solomon Islands]]), as a representative and to exercise almost all the [[royal prerogative]] according to established constitutional authority. In Australia the present king is generally assumed to be head of state, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as his "representatives".<ref>Constitution, s 2;  Australia Act 1986 (Cth and UK), s 7.</ref> However, since the governor-general performs almost all national regal functions, the governor-general has occasionally [[Australian head of state dispute|been referred to as head of state]] in political and media discussion. To a lesser extent, uncertainty has been expressed [[Monarchy of Canada#Head of state|in Canada]] as to which officeholder—the monarch, the governor general, or both—can be considered the head of state. New Zealand,<ref name="new zealand" /> [[Papua New Guinea]],<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=199188#LinkTarget_1841| author=Elizabeth II| title=Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea| id=Part 5, Division 1, (1)(a)| location=Port Moresby| date=1975| publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization| access-date=25 May 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526010341/http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=199188#LinkTarget_1841| archive-date=26 May 2015| url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Tuvalu]]<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.paclii.org/tv/legis/consol_act/cot277/| author=Elizabeth II| title=Constitution of Tuvalu| id=48(1)| location=Funafuti| date=1978| publisher=Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute| access-date=25 May 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828063609/http://www.paclii.org/tv/legis/consol_act/cot277/| archive-date=28 August 2015| url-status=live}}</ref> explicitly name the monarch as their head of state (though Tuvalu's constitution states that "references in any law to the Head of State shall be read as including a reference to the governor-general"<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets| Elizabeth II| 1978| loc=51(2)}}</ref>). Governors-general are frequently treated as heads of state on state and official visits; at the [[United Nations]], they are accorded the status of head of state in addition to the sovereign.<ref name="unprotocol" />{{multiple image
 | footer =  <br />[[John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir|The Lord Tweedsmuir]] (left) was [[Governor General of Canada]] from 1935 to 1940;<br />Sir [[Paulias Matane]] (right) was [[Governor-General of Papua New Guinea]] from 2004 to 2010
 | image1 = btweedsmuir2.jpg
 | width1 = 111
 | image2 = Sir Paulias Matane.jpg
 | width2 = 134
}}

An example of a governor-general departing from [[constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]] by acting unilaterally (that is, without direction from ministers, parliament, or the monarch) occurred in 1926, when [[Governor General of Canada|Canada's governor general]] [[King–Byng Affair|refused the head of government's formal advice]] requesting a dissolution of parliament and a general election. In a letter informing the monarch after the event, the Governor General said: "I have to await the verdict of history to prove my having adopted a wrong course, and this I do with an easy conscience that, right or wrong, I have acted in the interests of Canada and implicated no one else in my decision."

Another example occurred when, in the [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis]], the governor-general unexpectedly dismissed the prime minister in order to break a stalemate between the House of Representatives and Senate over money bills. The governor-general issued a public statement saying he felt it was the only solution consistent with the constitution, his oath of office, and his responsibilities, authority, and duty as governor-general.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whitlamdismissal.com/1975/11/11/kerr-statement-of-reasons.html|title=Kerr's Statement Of Reasons|access-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416042105/http://whitlamdismissal.com/1975/11/11/kerr-statement-of-reasons.html|archive-date=16 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> A letter from the queen's [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|private secretary]] at the time, [[Martin Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield|Martin Charteris]], confirmed that the only person competent to commission an Australian prime minister was the governor-general and it would not be proper for the monarch to personally intervene in matters that the Constitution Act so clearly places within the governor-general's jurisdiction.<ref>Kerr, John (1978), Matters for Judgment, Macmillan, {{ISBN|978-0-333-25212-3}}</ref>

Other Commonwealth realms that are now constituted with a governor-general as the [[List of viceregal representatives of Elizabeth II|viceregal representative of Charles III]] are: [[List of Governors-General of Antigua and Barbuda|Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Governor-General of the Bahamas|the Bahamas]], [[Governor-General of Belize|Belize]], [[Governor-General of Grenada|Grenada]], [[Governor-General of Jamaica|Jamaica]], [[Governor-General of New Zealand|New Zealand]], [[Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Kitts and Nevis]], [[Governor-General of Saint Lucia|Saint Lucia]], and [[List of Governors-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]].