Why Doesn't the Queen of England Need a Passport?

As the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, the commonwealth, and certain other countries that have since declared independence but decided they kind of like having the Queen on their money, Queen Elizabeth II enjoys a number of unique perks not bestowed on any of her subjects. These include being immune from prosecution from any crime she may happen to commit (justice is served in her name); she cannot be compelled to give evidence in court; she owns all of the dolphins, sturgeons and whales found in British waters (she also technically owns all mute swans found on open waters in Britain); she has the ability to declare war on any other nation if she so desires it; and, most pertinent to the present conversation, she doesn’t need a passport to travel abroad. So why not?

The answer lies in the fact that all British passports are issued in the Queen’s name. In fact, if you open up a British passport and turn to the first page, you will find a message that reads:

Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

In a nutshell, because a British passport is partially just a request from the Queen to allow one of her subjects to travel freely beyond the borders of her country, she doesn’t need one- she can just ask that in person.

Of course, a passport also has another purpose- identifying the person in possession of it. As such, the Queen does have to jump through similar hoops as an ordinary person when she travels and is required to give her name, date of birth and occupation (she unsurprisingly usually just answers “Queen”) to officials upon arrival in a foreign country.

This is all made slightly more complicated in that, besides having no passport, the Queen generally does not carry any sort of official picture ID. She gets around potential issues this might otherwise cause by having her aides clear her trips with the various state departments before she arrives. This way her arrival can be fast-tracked and it helps ensure customs officials don’t give her any guff for lack of passport and potentially lack of picture ID- like if they didn’t believe she was actually the Queen. Of course, given her recognisability throughout much of the world and the fact that she often arrives with full entourage in her private plane, this probably wouldn’t usually be an issue even if she didn’t call ahead.

And if you’re curious, all other members of the Royal Family are required to have a passport like anyone else, though their Royal passports contain special instructions detailing their diplomatic status, allowing them to skirt some of the normal security checks.

Speaking of the Queen generally not carrying around any official picture ID, along with being the only person in the UK to not need a passport, the Queen similarly doesn’t need a driver’s license to drive either. This is because, like passports, driver’s licenses are issued in her name. So she’s allowed to simply vouch for her own driving ability in person should she ever be pulled over.

Now, you’d think given her status and wealth, the Queen would never drive anyway, but you’d be wrong. You see, during WW2 the Queen (then a princess) badgered her father to let her do her part for her country and subsequently ended up serving as a mechanic and driver with the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service at the tender age of 18. (She’d actually registered to serve at age 16 but King George wouldn’t allow it).

The Queen took her position incredibly seriously, becoming, by all accounts, a competent mechanic and driver, trained to fix and drive a host of military and suburban vehicles.

Fast-forwarding a bit through history, a humourous story about the Queen’s driving prowess comes from 1998 when she was visited at her estate in Balmoral, Scotland by the then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The story was later revealed to the world by one-time Saudi ambassador Sherard Cowper-Cole.

Knowing Abdullah’s stance on the rights of women and the fact that women are essentially banned from driving in Saudi Arabia (there’s technically no law that says women can’t drive, but licenses are only issued to men), the Queen, demonstrating quintessential British passive aggressiveness, offered the Prince a tour of her palace grounds.

Dutifully, the Prince agreed and the pair headed outside where a large Land Rover bearing the Royal insignia was parked. After waiting for the Prince to climb into the passenger seat where he no doubt assumed a chauffeur would drive the pair around, the Queen then nonchalantly climbed into the driver’s seat and proceeded to drive the car, much to the Prince’s astonishment. According to ambassador Sherard, the Prince was extremely nervous about this arrangement from the start.

Things didn’t get better for him.

The then 72 year old Queen, knowing that Abdullah had never been driven by a woman before and no doubt observing his anxiety, decided to mess with him by purposely driving as fast as possible on “the narrow Scottish estate roads”.

As she sped along at break-neck speeds, the Crown Prince screamed at the Queen through his interpreter to slow down and pay closer attention to her driving. The Queen, ignoring his admonishments completely, continued pleasantly chatting away as if she wasn’t doing her best Fast and the Furious impression.

We can only imagine Abdullah’s reaction if the Queen had mentioned to him that she never got her driver’s license.

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SWEDEN SHOCKER! Police release FIVE MUSLIM MIGRANTS who gang-raped a wheelchair-bound woman because the woman “didn’t try to run away”

A gang of 5 Muslim invaders brutally raped a wheelchair-bound woman for hours, forcing their handicapped victim to suffer through the most debauched torture imaginable. Just days after police arrested the rapists, however, they were released without any charges for one unbelievable reason: She didn’t fight back hard enough or try to run.

The five men suspected of a gang rape against a wheelchair-bound woman have been released. The prosecutor’s decision is based on a legal technicality which basically is about that the wheelchair-bound woman has not shown enough resistance, something that has been difficult, if not impossible, as she has to use a wheelchair.
Thanks to legislation pushed by leftists to prevent the media from publishing the identities of vile criminals like these men, Swedish newspapers have only been allowed to circulate blurred images and nondescript details.

Sweden was shocked when national headlines revealed that a handicapped woman in her 30s was overtaken by a group of at least 5 men who had forced their way into her house over the weekend in Visby. Aftonbladet reports that the woman shared a taxi with one of the men on a ride home from the pub before the suspect asked to use her restroom. It was after she let him in that his friends burst into the home and took turns raping her for several hours.
Her version is supported by one of the men, the prosecution says to Aftonbladet. He admits that he had sexual intercourse with the woman, but he claims that, despite the circumstances, it had been voluntary. At a toilet. With unknown men. And further, Aftonbladet writes that the investigation strongly suggests that some of the other men had intercourse with the woman.

She says that she said no before each new assault. But since the men deny that they committed any crime, it is a “word against word” situation. The prosecutor has to prove that she really did not want to have sex right there and then, with five unknown men at a toilet somewhere in Visby.
This means that the woman’s disability, that she did not have the physical ability to do more resistance, is a contributory factor to the men now being released. Prosecutor Mats Wihlborg, who took the decision to release the men, said to Aftonbladet:

“The act is not based on violence or threats but having exploited her special situation. The woman’s story is not so robust that it can be the basis for an arrest. It differs too much from the suspects’ story. Overall, I decided that it does not hold up for the arrest, he told the newspaper.”
The woman has completely broken down after the rape and is now receiving professional help. Under Sharia law, rape victims have to provide four witnesses to the rape, or the victim risks being accused of adultery. This decision, in Sweden, is not far behind.

She is always at the church premises by 6am wearing some faded jeans, an old T shirt and some slippers. She always comes to clean the seats, arranging them, decorating the pulpit and clean the place when ever it is dirty

He was impressed that a lady who looked quite good even in the old cloths and a scarf over her hair could be so dedicated to her work in church. He thought within himself that this was an unfortunate lady who probably had not gotten anyone to take care of her schooling and now she would probably be an orange seller or some petty trader struggling to make ends meet. He watched and within his heart he felt he now knew what God wanted him to do. When he had felt a compulsion to come very early to church he had not understood but now he thought he did.

He went back to his car and took out two $50 notes and when the lady finished her work and was about to leave he called her and commended her for her service and gave her the notes.

She respectfully declined the gift but he insisted pressing it into her hands. He asked if she lived close by or if he could go drop her so she would not be late for the morning devotion.

She thanked him and told him that her car was out side, but he did not comprehend or even try to understand what she had just said. He walked her out determined to find out all he could about this lady that God wanted him to help change her level.

They walked out of the church with him telling her where he worked and how God had asked him to come early to church that day and how he believed God is directing him to help make a big difference in her life. He was so busy talking he had not realized they had walked directly to a BMW car parked under some trees in the parking lot.

The car made his one year old Benz look like a worn out wheel barrow.

The lady opened the driver’s door stepped in and handed over her card to the man and said, “I believe God sent you here for a purpose, but I do not think it was to change my level, May be it was to change yours.”