Diplomacy is a highly complex, multifaceted and often unpredictable profession. By definition, it seeks to overcome differences between and among countries, and those distinctions run the risk of turning into discord, or even conflict, without a playing field that has mutually accepted rules and norms. This is the role of diplomatic protocol, a system of standards, rules and regulations governing the conduct of international relations. It brings order and predictability to the work of diplomats by providing a roadmap or framework, so they can focus on the substance of negotiations and high-stakes decisions. It has been called “the oil in the gears of diplomacy” and credited with creating a “safe space that allows diplomacy to succeed.” While tradition has always had a special place in diplomacy, protocol’s role is hardly limited to old-fashioned pomp and circumstance. It has practical aspects meant to make diplomatic work more effective.

In this chapter, we explore how the transfer of power between the monarch and the prime minister occurred, when it happened, how the monarchy survived, the importance it still has in Britain, and how far the prime minister has effectively become the head of state as well as head of executive. The monarchy continued to exercise real authority for the first 200 years of the prime minister’s existence and beyond, up to today. The rebalancing of power was painful, faltering, and contested. Scratch below the surface, and the relationship between head of state and head of government has been far from settled. The continued existence of an independent prime minister was not a given in the eighteenth century. The continued existence of the monarchy until today has not been a given either. It had been abolished in Britain in 1649, as it was in France in 1792 (and 1848 and 1870), Germany in 1918, and Italy in 1946. It would have been vulnerable in Britain had there been military defeat or successful revolution: its continuation into the future is not assured. Monarchies are going out of fashion. Britain’s has held strong.