176 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the King of a person as an Ambassador and that recognition is a Prerogative Right of the King.
The King has also the right to make war and peace whenever he thinks fit to do so. This also is his Prerogative right.
The King possesses the power to make a treaty with any foreign nation. The treaty may be a political treaty or a commercial treaty. It is his Prerogative. The only limitation upon the King’s Prerogative to make a treaty is that he must not in any manner affect the rights of his subjects given to them by law.
There are some questions that arise in connection with the question of the King’s Prerogatives and which it would not be desirable to pass over without some consideration being bestowed upon them. The first question is this. What is the exact relation of the King’s Prerogative to the authority of Parliament ? The second question is what happens if the King becomes incapable of exercising his Prerogative or other Statutory rights ?
Taking the first inquiry for consideration it is necessary to get a clear idea of what is exactly meant when it is said that it is the King’s Prerogative to do this, that or other act. What is meant by this expression, that when the King acts on the authority of his Prerogative, he does not need the sanction of Parliament. His authority is inherent in him and is independent of Parliament. But while it is true that the Prerogative power of the King is inherent and independent of Parliament, it must not be supposed that it is on that account beyond the control of Parliament. On the other hand the Prerogative power of the King can be regulated, amended or abrogated by Parliament, so that the correct position would be that the King possesses Prerogative power so long as Parliament has not by law trenched upon it. A matter which was once a matter of Prerogative if subsequently regulated by law made by Parliament, then the King cannot resort to his Prerogative power, but must act within the law which has superseded the Prerogative. Therefore, so far as the first inquiry is concerned, the conclusion is that the King’s Prerogative is a source of independent power to him so long as Parliament has not interfered with its existence.