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→Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey: description in law |
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King [[Henry III of England]] renounced the title of Duke of Normandy by that treaty, and none of his successors ever revived it. The Channel Islands continued to be governed by the Kings of England as French fiefs, distinct from Normandy, until the [[Hundred Years' War]], during which they were definitively separated from France.
At no time did the Channel Islands form part of the Kingdom of England, and they remained legally separate, though under the same Crown, through the subsequent unions of Scotland and England (1707), and Ireland (1801). [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]] reigns over the Channel Islands directly, and not by virtue of her role as monarch of the United Kingdom. No specific title is associated with her role as monarch of the Channel Islands, however; she is popularly referred to (even on a Buckingham Palace website) as "Duke of Normandy" <ref name=page2601>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page2601.asp |title=Royal Insight October 2003 |accessdate=2008-07-23 |year=2008 | publisher=The official website of the British Monarchy}}</ref> (not "Duchess")<ref name=page5744>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5744.asp |title=Royal Insight January 2007 |accessdate=2008-07-23 |year=2008 | publisher=The official website of the British Monarchy}}</ref> but this anachronistic title has no basis in law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jerseylaw.je/publications/jerseylawreview/June99/le_rouai.aspx|title=Lé Rouai, Nouot’ Duc}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/royalstyle_uk.htm|title=Royal Styles and Titles in England and Great Britain}}</ref> The monarch has been described, in Jersey, as the "Queen in right of Jersey"
A unique constitutional position has arisen as successive monarchs have confirmed the liberties and privileges of the Bailiwicks, often referring to the so-called ''Constitutions of King John'', a legendary document supposed to have been granted by King John in the aftermath of 1204. Governments of the Bailiwicks have generally tried to avoid testing the limits of the unwritten constitution by avoiding conflict with British governments.
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