Information Related to "What Lies Ahead for the British Monarchy and Commonwealth?"
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Why does it matter what happens to the British monarchy?
by Melvin Rhodes
or most of this century, the news media have
told the stories of the personalities and scandals of the British
royal family. This is why, understandably, so many people continue
to be fascinated with the royal House of Windsor. The essential
story to know, however, is that of the major international and
historical role of the British monarchy.
The British monarchy is well over 1,000 years old. The queen can trace her ancestry back more than a millennium. But it is only in this century that the monarchy has taken on the role that is familiar to people today.
After a century of turmoil, civil war and revolution, which reduced the powers of the monarchy, Great Britain was left without a royal head of state when Queen Anne died, in 1714. Some proposed that this was again the time for a comparatively liberal, educated and enlightened nation to rid itself of the expense of a monarchy and replace it with a presidency.
But an earlier experience of a republic had not been a pleasant one. After King Charles I had been executed 65 years previously, he was replaced by a republican form of government under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Although Cromwell was a great man in many respects, there were too many abuses of power under his rule for people to forget. Even after Cromwell's death, when Charles I's son was brought back from exile in France to be a constitutional monarch, and a system of checks and balances was in place that left the king some powers, Parliament remained as the real power in the country.
Determined to find an heir to Queen Anne in 1714, the government found a distant relative in the German electorate of Hanover. The king of Hanover, one of the monarchs who elected the Roman emperor, was asked to move to London and become king of Great Britain and its overseas possessions. The present royal family is directly descended from the German king, George. The family name was changed to Windsor during World War I.
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