Reading Time: 4 minutes Royal families of the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands often make the headlines. The world is pretty familiar with their monarchs, but there are 43 sovereign states around the globe that don’t always occupy the spotlight. While the role of monarchs in many countries is ceremonial, they still hold a special presence in their respective countries.
Royal families of the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands often make the headlines. The world is pretty familiar with their monarchs, but there are 43 sovereign states around the globe that don’t always occupy the spotlight. While the role of monarchs in many countries is ceremonial, they still hold a special presence in their respective countries.
The rapid and spectacular fall of monarchies around the globe was brought on by many factors. Monarchs were popular in the olden times as they symbolized the knitting together of far-flung places in a kingdom. With mass communication and connectivity around the world, this factor was rendered useless. Furthermore, the classism deeply entrenched in the system was finally rejected by the masses. It is the system that puts royal families above the public solely based on hereditary.
The accumulation of wealth by royal families is often done through evil means. Furthermore, a reason for public envy and opposition is that monarchies do not do much in the way to narrow the economic gap between the classes. A good example is the vast wealth enjoyed by the British royal family whilst the British public battles homelessness and starvation. Moreover, the media provided insight into monarchs’ lives and skeletons in their closets which lowered their status in the public eye. Taking another example from the famous royal family, Prince Andrew, son of the longest reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II, was recently in the news as he was involved in the Epstein scandal and was accused of sexually abusing a minor
The following countries are ones where monarchs enjoy public support yet play ceremonial roles:
The Japanese monarchy is headed by the Emperor of Japan, currently Emperor Naruhito, and is the longest hereditary monarchy in the world. According to legend, Jimmu was Japan’s first emperor and founder and was said to be a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu. When Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019, his claim to legitimacy was based on the regalia consisting of a mirror, called Yata-no-Kagami, a sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, and a jewel called Yasakani-no-Magatama. The Imperial House is in crisis as its law only calls for male succession to the throne and the eligible male candidates are far and few between.
Andorra is one of the few diarchies of the world that has two co-princes, the ruler/president of France and the Bishop of Urgell. The first signage of co-sovereignty was in 1095 between the lord of Caboet and the bishop after he asked Lord Arnau de Caboet to help defend the region from the Count of Urgell. The last document drawn up was a constitution in 1993 which contained details of the responsibilities of the two princes. The two princes choose personal representatives to help them carry out their roles in the principality.
It is said to have the last Polynesian monarchy in the region. Tonga consists of 170 islands which, for the first time, were ruled by a monarch in 1845. For a certain time, the archipelago enjoyed being a British protectorate but announced its withdrawal from the agreement in 1970, becoming completely independent. Tonga has a constitutional monarchy that is supported by the public. The pro-democracy movement in the country does not advocate for the abolishment of the monarchy, but rather focuses on reforms and better representation of the common people.
A few countries that made the choice to carry out the abolishment of their monarchies in favor of becoming republics are listed below:
On November 30, 2021, Barbados officially shed its colonial past by removing Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch on its 55th anniversary of independence. In the 1600s, English colonists took over the island. The fuel for the success of the British Empire was partly provided by Barbados for the longest time. After multiple attempts at freedom, Barbados officially became a sovereign state with an independent constitutional monarchy in 1966. If the past slave trade was not evidence enough of the Barbadian monarchy’s merely symbolic and oppressive presence, the complete disregard shown by the U.K. when Barbados’ economy and people were suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic was enough to show that it was time that Barbados left behind colonialism.
The upper Mustang region and its people called Lo-pa, saw its last king’s reign end in 2008 when Nepal put forward a new constitution that ended all monarchies and became a federal democratic republic. The kingdom was once the trade hub between Nepal, India, and China where caravans of salt, barley, turquoise, etc. were seen journeying on the roads. However, it fell into despair after the government sealed the region off after stamping out CIA-led operations in the area. Jigme Singhi Palbar Bista is the son of the last official king and is considered to be the unofficial ruler of the city of Lo Manthang. The state of affairs of the once-famous Buddhist city is deplorable as temples and palaces crumble, the Lo-pa migrate, and centuries-old religious and cultural artifacts waste away.
Unbeknownst to many, Pakistan was ruled by a king and queen, successively, from 1947 to 1956. Upon its independence, it became the Dominion of Pakistan with King George VI as the monarch. While the role of the monarch was symbolic, Pakistan never shirked away from paying due respect to its sovereign as it mourned George VI publicly by closing down businesses, amusement places, and government offices after his death. To celebrate its new queen, Pakistan spent Rs. 482,000 on Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation ceremony and fired a 21-gun salute on her accession to the throne. However, with the constitution of 1956, the country became a republic.
The turn of centuries has seen the rise and fall of many monarchies. Even though monarchies like that of the United Kingdom are admired by a large population, many other monarchies are remarkable with their own history, traditions, culture, myths, and noteworthy royal families that deserve public attention.
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