> Yes, the British monarch is still officially our head of state and is on the coins and things
> like that. We only became a country in 1840, and only stopped being a colony in the 1930s.
> Not a long history there.

Longer than Australia. We only became a country in 1900. (Or was it 1901?)


> We have a Governor General (the title of the monarch's official representative) here too, who
> I *think* is technically higher in rank than our Prime Minister, but I'm pretty sure that's
> mostly a ceremonial position.

Question for the English Rinkies: Is the Queen mostly a ceremonial position? :o)

As the representative of the Queen, the Governor General outranks the Prime Minister; however, as the representative of the Queen, the Governor General isn't allowed to do anything the Queen wouldn't be allowed to do. And it's been centuries since the English monarch was allowed to routinely intervene in the day-to-day ruling of his/her subjects.


Paul