Rethink...modern monarchy

Of the 195 widely-recognized sovereign countries in the world, only a quarter are monarchies.

And of those 43 monarchies, 15 of those have the same King. That’s Charles III, who’s head of state for Commonwealth territories as large as Australia and Canada, and as far apart as the UK and Tuvalu in the South Pacific.

In the other 28, the ruling monarchs can be called Kings, Emirs, Sultans, and there’s an Emperor on the Chrysanthemum throne in Japan.

Of course, there are also Queens - but some modern monarchies such as Japan and Lichtenstein still don’t allow female succession. In others, eldest daughters are passed over for their younger brothers - and this still happens in Spain and Monaco.

If this all seems a bit medieval, that's because it is! Monarchy is a system of governance that developed hundreds - or in the case of Japan - more than 1000 years ago, so it can look outdated through a 21st century lens.

But it's enduring, and opinion polls suggest it can be popular. So what does monarchy mean in the modern age? Which royal families are not only surviving, but are expanding their spheres of power and influence, and why the newest "monarchies" in the USA, Russia and China are not even royal at all.

Presenter: Professor Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Damon Rose

Contributors:
Dr Craig Prescott, specialist in UK Constitutional Law, Royal Holloway, University of London
Adam Hanieh, MBI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London.
Stacie Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost, Wellesley College, Massachusetts.
Abe Newman, Professor and John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy, Director, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC