Monarchy has been the predominant form of governance throughout recorded history, and its hegemony extended well into the twentieth century. On the eve of World War I, only four nations in Europe, and none of any consequence (France, Portugal, San Marino, and Switzerland), were not monarchies. Today, however, democracy reigns, and monarchs are widely seen, in the words of the American writer Austin O'Malley, as “a vermiform appendix: useless when quiet; when obtrusive, in danger of removal” (quoted in Esar 1962, 140), or even as the capstone of a sinister conspiracy. “The Royal Family stands at the pinnacle of the class system, and its wealth is linked to the creation of poverty and need,” charges British Marxist Mark Kirby (1998, 37). For antimonarchists, the crown is not only a symbol but also a source of centuries-old class domination, social injustice, and imperialism, a wasteful frippery at best (Came 1998) and a malignant atavism at worst (Nairn 1994).

Thus, the forces of blond egalitarianism have humbled the Nordic royalty by replacing their horse-drawn carriages with bicycles, and the British have reduced their nobility to guiding hordes of T-shirted, gumsnapping American tourists through their ancestral homes in order to make ends meet. In Australia, “progressive” forces have succeeded in scheduling a referendum in 1999 on whether the current head of state, Queen Elizabeth, should be replaced by an illustrious Australian—if one can be found.

Though an endangered species, monarchs are by no means extinct.