Monarchy, Magic and Democracy

The monarchy has remained important in British public life long after monarchs ceased to govern as well as to reign. Until the 1980s academic historians largely ignored the monarchy as an object of research but the decisive change came with David Cannadine's celebrated work on the monarchy's 'invention of tradition', and since then the subject has prospered. This volume examines the monarchy's role in the political, religious and social life of the nation from the accession of Victoria in 1837 to Elizabeth II: why has it been extremely popular with its subjects for most of this period? Does the monarchy continue to be invested with 'magical' qualities - not only by the people but also by royalty itself? It presents and critically examines the existing monographic literature; advances current perspectives by the presentation of new research; proposes and develops new perspectives on the basis of new archival and other research; and explores these themes not over the course of a single reign but over the period 1837 to the present day.