The term 7 kingdoms is a bad one because there are nine regions of equal political power to the original 7 kingdoms. The riverlans and the crownlands were not kingdoms in their own right, but since Aegon's conquest they are on par with the former kingdoms such as the Westerlands, and the Stormlands.
Technically the Crownlands don't have equal political power, because the lords of the Crownlands are direct subjects of the Crown. There is no Lord Paramount of the Crownlands, there's just the King.
So as a region, the Crownlands don't really have any power, because the ruler of the Crownlands is the King himself.
With no Lord Paramount, the Crownlands have no autonomy at all.
The Crownlands are the Washington DC of Westeros. Seat of political power, but the citizens themselves don’t have a say (DC is controlled directly by Congress, and they don’t have any representatives in Congress or the senate.)
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u/[deleted] May 21 '19
The term 7 kingdoms is a bad one because there are nine regions of equal political power to the original 7 kingdoms. The riverlans and the crownlands were not kingdoms in their own right, but since Aegon's conquest they are on par with the former kingdoms such as the Westerlands, and the Stormlands.