Here’s my long awaited ramble about why I love constitutional monarchism. I’m almost entirely referring to the British monarchy here because I am British and live in Britain.
In a constitutional monarchy, your monarch is a figurehead. A unifying figure for the people of the nation. The monarch is like a living embodiment of centuries of your nation’s history. So on and so forth. King George VI stayed in London during the Blitz for example, showing solidarity with his people and acting as a symbol of Britain’s unwavering determination in WWII. The king is still in London, we are still in London. Here we are still, facing the music. Et cetera. The monarch is a non-partisan figure, acting as a unifying figurehead when partisan politics become increasingly divisive. I like constitutional monarchism in particular because I feel that the monarchy and the government have this symbiosis wherein they both ensure the other is acting constitutionally. Say some undemocratic group tried to coup the government, the king could dissolve parliament. The constitution limits the monarch so society remains democratic. Constitutional monarchy is this combination of the best parts of democracy and the best parts of monarchy in my opinion. Heads of government can come and go but a monarch remains as long as they live.
So why a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic? In a republic, the president represents their party, not the nation. Their allegiance belongs to the party. Their allegiance belongs to securing reelection, protecting their image, and so on. However, the monarch represents the nation. The monarch’s non-partisan alignment allows them to act a figurehead for the whole country, not just the Labour Party for example. Thus ensuring stability. When Britain faces its darkest hours, the people can look to the monarch as a symbol of British identity and so on (again George VI during WWII). The roles of head of state and head of government are separated under a constitutional monarchy. This removes some of the burden for holders of both of these roles. Governments can be volatile (like Liz Truss’ disastrous premiership). However, the monarchy is infallible. When the monarch rises to the throne, they swear an oath to serve their nation for life. Hardly a legitimate point but it’s more fun than a republic. The pomp of it all is fun. It looks amazing. The coronations and the crowns and the palaces and everything looks so cool.
The heir is raised to take the throne when their parent dies. Thus, they spend their life preparing to take on this role. They are raised knowing that they have a great responsibility to fulfil. They know the role that will one day fall upon them, so they are trained for this role.
Now, the cost. The Sovereign Grant funds the maintenance of royal residences and the official duties of the head of state. In exchange, the monarch sacrifices revenue from the Crown Estate. In 2022-23, the total Sovereign Grant amounted to £86.3 million, around £1.29 per person in the U.K. Here is the royal family’s financial reports for 2022-23. As of 2024, the Sovereign Grant is set at 12% of the Crown Estate’s revenue. The Crown Estate amassed £1.1 billion net profit in 2023-24. Here is parliament’s website about the monarchy’s finances. The net recurring benefit of this is estimated to be £197 million annually and the non-recurring benefit to be £761 million (https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9807/CBP-9807.pdf)
Furthermore, I think a constitutional monarch maintains democracy through acting as a figurehead and the power to dissolve parliament in the event of figures in parliament threatening democracy. Here is The Economist’s Democracy Index. Notice that quite a few of the highest ranking nations are constitutional monarchies (so Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands).
Another thing I would like to add is that generally members of the royal family engross themselves in charities and the like. HM King Charles III, for example, is a staunch environmentalist and has been for many decades. He’s campaigned for things like the environment and sustainability and walkable cities and so on. For example, the town of Poundbury in Dorset and his founding of Duchy Originals (now partnered with Waitrose) - whose profits go The Prince’s Charities. Furthermore, Prince William also founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020 which awards £1 million to winners that contribute towards environmentalism. The royal family also funds the arts, for example, King Charles III is a patron of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
To conclude, I believe constitutional monarchy is the most beneficial system of government because of the continued stability it offers to a nation. The monarch is a non-partisan head of state and thus the people unite under the monarch as a symbol of the nation and its rich history and traditions. Both democracy and monarchy work together in this symbiosis to uphold each other. The constitutional monarchy is the culmination of centuries of history, it has evolved and grown from autocracy to the modern day’s liberal democracy.
#I started waxing poetical towards the end. #I may have missed some things that I wanted to say. I evidently have a lot of thoughts on the subject #monarchism#constitutional monarchism#pro monarchy
