The Monarchy

Abstract

This chapter starts from the premise that royal history is not yet properly a part of political history, but ought to be. It first examines who has written about monarchy and how they have done so, suggesting that this work has been distinctive and defective in several respects. It next evaluates how much of the research agenda outlined first by David Cannadine in 2004 has been addressed. The chapter then identifies the area—the study of monarchists and ‘monarchism’—which political (alongside social) historians might most urgently examine. It concludes by presenting preliminary research which indicates how the inclusion of monarchists and monarchism might alter thinking about both the monarchy and its subjects.

Monarchy–Global. Monarchical Self-Assertion in a Republican World

“…In surveys carried out in Great Britain in the 1950s and the 1960s, a sizeable minority of approximately 30 per cent believed that their queen was «specially chosen by God». 111 When enthronement with religious elements took place in African societies, dethronement involving ritual desacralisation was also possible in the case of serious transgressions, the criteria for which were flexible, and in the event of serious illness. 112 One of the common features of monarchy throughout the world is that kings can also be deposed through murder.…”