One of the last great riddles of the British political system was solved yesterday when the powers wielded by the government in the name of the monarchy were set down on paper for the first time.
The "veil of mystery" surrounding the royal prerogative was lifted when a list of them was published in a move intended to encourage greater transparency.
The prerogative, which includes the power to declare war, is handed from monarchs to ministers and allows them to take action without the backing of parliament.
In a move intended to encourage greater accountability, the Commons public administration committee (PAC) published a list of the little-understood powers which it persuaded Sir Hayden Phillips, permanent secretary to the Department of Constitutional Affairs, to supply.
"Over the years when people have asked the government to say what prerogative powers there are, they have always refused to do so," said the committee's chairman, Labour MP Tony Wright.
"It tells us largely what we know, but it is a small victory to have the government say at least what it thinks they are."
The PAC wants parliament to be given a say in how the powers are used. Although MPs were given a vote on the war in Iraq, there is no obligation on the government to let them have a say.
The powers include those that allow governments to regulate the civil service, issue passports, make treaties, appoint and remove ministers and grant honours.
They also include the prerogative of mercy, which is no longer used to save condemned men from the scaffold but can be exercised to remedy miscarriages of justice which are not put right by the courts.
In its paper the government said new prerogative powers could not be invented and that some "have fallen out of use altogether, probably forever", such as the power to press men into the navy. But it said there were still "significant aspects" of domestic affairs in which the powers could be used, despite legislation.
And it accepted that the "conduct of foreign affairs remains very reliant on the exercise of prerogative powers" and that they can "still to some extent adapt to changed circumstances".
It also set out ways in which parliament and the courts have limited the powers through control of the supply of money, new laws and judicial review.
Mr Wright said: "It should be a basic constitutional principle that ministers would be required to explain to parliament where their powers come from and how they intend to use them."
The committee is looking at proposals for an act which would force ministers to seek authorisation from parliament before they exercised some of the powers, which were "sometimes in effect powers of life and death". These include the power to declare war.
The government said it was not possible to give a comprehensive catalogue of prerogative powers.
So there was scope for the courts to identify prerogative powers which had little previous recognition.
In a case about whether the home secretary had power to issue baton rounds to a chief constable without the consent of the police authority, the court held that the crown had a prerogative power to keep the peace within the realm.
Lord Justice Nourse commented: "The scarcity of references in the books to the prerogative of keeping the peace within the realm does not disprove that it exists. Rather it may point to an unspoken assumption that it does".
Full list of those powers
Domestic Affairs
The appointment and dismissal of ministers;
The summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament;
Royal assent to bills;
The appointment and regulation of the civil service;
The commissioning of officers in the armed forces;
Directing the disposition of the armed forces in the UK;
Appointment of Queen's Counsel;
Issue and withdrawal of passports;
Prerogative of mercy. (Used to apply in capital punishment cases. Still used, eg to remedy errors in sentence calculation)
Granting honours;
Creation of corporations by Charter;
Foreign Affairs
The making of treaties;
Declaration of war;
Deployment of armed forces overseas;
Recognition of foreign states;
Accreditation and reception of diplomats.