This is a serious question, not meant to bait anyone or to start an argument about republicanism. When was the last time a British King or Queen made an important decision that affected anything beyond the status of the monarchy? I am not talking about high-profile symbolic gestures, like violating norms by allowing Neville Chamberlain to wave to the people from the palace balcony after the Munich Agreement, but actual decisions.
To illustrate, here are two 20th century cases I can think of:
1. George V agreeing to create hundreds of Liberal peers if necessary in order to force the House of Lords to approve the Parliament Act in 1911.
2. George V appointing Stanley Baldwin as Prime Minister in 1923 when there was no real Conservative Party leader and he could have picked Lord Curzon.
I know the King/Queen still appoints the Prime Minister and in theory could withhold assent from a bill, but these are formalities nowadays. Are there any post-1923 examples in which the monarch clearly had discretion and made an important decision?
To illustrate, here are two 20th century cases I can think of:
1. George V agreeing to create hundreds of Liberal peers if necessary in order to force the House of Lords to approve the Parliament Act in 1911.
2. George V appointing Stanley Baldwin as Prime Minister in 1923 when there was no real Conservative Party leader and he could have picked Lord Curzon.
I know the King/Queen still appoints the Prime Minister and in theory could withhold assent from a bill, but these are formalities nowadays. Are there any post-1923 examples in which the monarch clearly had discretion and made an important decision?