Synopses & Reviews
What has been the function of monarchy in the political and social life of Britain?
Synopsis
The monarchy has remained important in British public life long after monarchs ceased, in the early nineteenth century, to govern as well as to reign, and popular legitimacy came to be founded on representation, not the immutability of a sacred hierarchy. This book addresses two fundamental questions about the British monarchy in the modern period. What has been its function in the political and social life of the nation? Why, for much but by no means all of the modern period, has it been so popular with its subjects?
Table of Contents
1. Historians and the modern British monarchy Andrzej Olechnowicz; Part I. 2. Whig monarchy, whig nation: the representative function of modern monarchy since 1780 Jonathan Parry; 3. The feminization of the monarchy since 1780 Clarissa Campbell Orr; 4. The monarchy and Ireland under the Union James Loughlin; Part II. 5. Bagehot's republicanism David Craig; 6. Power and authority in the late-Victorian and Edwardian court Michael Bentley; 7. An upper-class monarchy and popular republicanism Anthony Taylor; Part III. 8. The monarchy and public values, 1900 1953 Philip Williamson; 9. The monarchy and film Jeffrey Richards; 10. 'A jealous hatred': royal popularity and social inequality Andrzej Olechnowicz.