Democratic royalism

by William M. Kuhn

In the decades before the First World War no British institution epitomized national identity more forcefully than the monarchy, and no other institution inspired such a universal feeling of loyalty and attachment. The crown reached this position in the half century after 1861 by giving up its residual political power to a more representative House of Commons. At the same time, with renewed emphasis on ceremony, the monarchy was transformed into a powerfully symbolic institution. The politicians who contributed to this transformation in an era of mass politics, mass movements and massive ceremonial displays constituted a cross-section of the political world. What were these individuals doing? What was in their minds as they planned enormous royal spectacles in London? This book focuses on the action of five different men who created the modern monarchy: Walter Bagehot, William Ewart Gladstone, Lord Esher, Randall Davidson and the Duke of Norfolk.