LONDON: Beginning today, the King's powers are diminished. A Declaration of Rights -- which bars the King from suspending any law, increasing taxes or raising an army without an okay from Parliament -- was read aloud before King William III was crowned. It's a first in English history, and it seems no one can be arrested and jailed without due process of law.

King William of Orange (William III)

Some people are already calling it a Glorius Revolution.

The Declaration is probably the most significant change in the relationships between English monarchs and their subjects since King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215.

William, a Dutch prince, was offered the crown last year by Britain's landed Protestant elite, who were seething with resentment and fear over the intentions of William's father-in-law, King James II, a Catholic. William and his wife, Mary (James' daughter), were invited to "invade" England and seize the throne. They succeeded and James has fled the country.

A parade through London was held to celebrate William's enthronement. An effigy of King James' hated Jesuit adviser, Fther Edward Petre, sat atop a four-story bonfire and was blown up outside Watts Coffee House on German Street.

The Declaration of Rights marks a radical departure from the ancient understanding of the relationship between ruler and ruled.

Until now, the King was seen as the divinely annointed representative of God, whom the people must obey. While kings for centuries have had to fight challengers to keep their thrones, there was widespread agreement that whoever held the throne enjoyed a special status above all others because of the "divine right of kings" -- a right still asserted by other European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France.

The Bill of Rights, however, suggests a much different model; a contract between the King and his subjects, represented by Parliament. While only landed aristocrats have much say in the election of members to the House of Commons, and membership in the House of Lords remains largely a matter of inheritance or selection by the king, the fact that the king has formally agreed to constraints on his power may signal a long term decline in the power of the throne.

William, of course, has his own motives for accepting the Bill of Rights. His real interest lies on the continent, where he has been fighting the French king for years. Now he will fight not just as the ruler of a small, wet Netherlands, but with the resources of Britain -- though first he is expected this year to invade Ireland and take on a Catholic army that supports James.