In 1831, King William IV put on his crown, entered the Chamber in the House of Commons and promptly dissolved parliament.

William had been urged by Prime Minister Lord Grey to dissolve parliament and force an election after the defeat of his First Reform Bill. William was hesitant. There had been a general election just the year before – and he was concerned that another would lead to social unrest.

In the end, it was a sense of royal pride that led William to shut down parliament. Grey's Tory opposition was pushing against dissolution – something that William saw as a challenge to his power.

Clearly, times have changed since William's day. But the question remains: could it happen today?

What powers does King Charles have?

In British political life, it's a truism that the monarch stays away from the business of parliament. MPs are elected to represent the public and their actions aren't influenced by the unelected monarch.

Even so, the monarch does have sweeping powers – at least notionally. They have to give "royal assent" to any new piece of legislation, for instance, and they set out the government's plan for the parliamentary session at each State Opening of Parliament. And – yes – they also have the power to dissolve parliament and force a general election, just like William IV.

The key point to make here is that while these powers exist, they haven't been used in modern times against the wishes of the Prime Minister. The royal assent is more like a rubber stamp – the last time it was refused was in 1708. The speech they read at the State Opening of Parliament is written for them by the government. And the dissolution of parliament takes place on the advice of the elected Prime Minister – never on a royal whim.

The question for some is whether these powers should exist. If they're only notional, it's argued, then there's no reason for them to exist. But while they do exist, there's a chance – however small – that they'll be exercised by a future monarch.

What is the dissolution of parliament?

Simply put, dissolution means bringing parliament to a close. This isn't the same as the long summer recess. It signals a general election and a change of government.

Until 2011, the monarch dissolved parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister. But since then, dissolution has been automatic after five years.

Parliament can be dissolved if the Prime Minister loses the support of the House of Commons, or if two-thirds of the House of Commons vote for an early election (as in 2017). In these cases, the monarch dissolves parliament – but on the advice of the Prime Minister.

In practice, the dissolution of parliament means that the House of Commons becomes empty. Members of Parliament are no longer able to refer to themselves as MPs. The Speaker loses their seat and has to stand for re-election. However, government ministers and the House of Lords continue to operate.

What happens to unfinished parliamentary business?

In the UK, no parliament can "bind" its successor. Any legislation introduced by one government can be repealed by the next. This means that if legislation is unfinished at the time of dissolution, it's scrapped.

Because of this, governments will aim to get as much work done as possible before the election is called. This is known as the "wash-up period".

One consequence of this is that bills sometimes get watered down to increase their chances of passing. When Theresa May called a general election in 2017, the government deleted just over half the clauses in the Finance (No 2) Bill to make sure it got voted through.

How likely is it that a monarch would dissolve parliament early?

It seems unlikely – but there's a grey area. The spectre of "no confidence" haunted Conservative governments after Brexit – and there were speculations that Queen Elizabeth would have to ask another leader to form a government. 

How is dissolution different from prorogation?

Prorogation hit the headlines in August 2019 when Queen Elizabeth ordered parliament to be prorogued – or suspended – on the advice of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This was later ruled unlawful by the supreme court (the highest court in the UK).

This is different from dissolution. After prorogation, the same parliament reconvenes with the same MPs. After dissolution, an election is called and a new parliament is formed.

Could King Charles influence parliament in other ways?

While dissolution hasn't been used against the Prime Minister's wishes in modern times, we have seen royal interventions of a different kind.

As Prince of Wales, Charles was notorious for his vocal political interventions. He weighed in on subjects including architecture, herbal medicine and climate change.

But he also privately lobbied senior government in his "black-spider memos" – so-called because of his scrawled handwriting. In these, he urged the government to act on everything from military equipment in Iraq, to the availability of herbal medicine, to the fate of the Patagonian toothfish.

When Charles became King, there were speculations as to whether he would continue to intervene in this way. If he did, it would be a markedly different reign from that of his mother.

But Charles has said that he won't "meddle" as a monarch, telling the BBC, "The idea, somehow, that I’m going to go on in exactly the same way, if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because the two – the two situations – are completely different".

The short version

The monarch, then, has the power to dissolve parliament. But the power is notional and exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister in order to call a general election. Whether there will ever be an attempt to exercise this power unilaterally remains to be seen.

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