The Royal Families Of Europe

Recounts the history of present and former ruling families of continental Europe and speculates on the role of monarchy in the future.

Monarchy, Europe's oldest system of government, continues to attract the world's attention. Ex-kings such as Constantine II of Greece, Michael II of Romania and Simeon of Bulgaria retain their titles and followers still hope for their restoration. Of the 15 members of the European Union 7 are monarchies. Of these, the Spanish king saved that country's democracy from military coup in the 1980s; the Belgian monarchy is a vital factor in the survival of that fractured nation; the Dutch royal house is immensely popular. History and historical gossip are part of the tradition of monarchy and neither are neglected in this account. The young Windsors, of course, have their place in the book but the focus, both of narrative and scandal, is on the colourful, sometimes controversial world of Continental monarchy. Geoffrey Hindley's lively new book speculates on the prospects of the institution after the year 2000.

An anecdotal, behind-the-scenes look at the royal families of Britain, Norway, Monaco, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein traces the history of each of the ten monarchies.

LINES OF SUCCESSION was first published in 1981 and is now available in paperback for the first time. It presents a comprehensive account of both the heraldic and the genealogical history of European Royalty and is fully illustrated throughout.Beginning with heraldry in the eleventh century, the two experts who collaborated to make the book present the heraldic shields as well as the genealogy of all the Royal families of Europe, past and present. The genealogical tables provide detailed family trees, country by country. The coat-of-arms representing the various matrimonial alliances show how heraldic devices evolved and developed from simple symbols to complex quarterings. Additional tables highlight the most important historical events involving dynastic succession. The text describes the historical background to each Royal family tree, and shows how such events are reflected in the make-up of the Royal coat of arms.

This book is the first basic tool in English to trace the origins of Chinese surnames. At the heart of the work are three principal chapters. Chapter 1 describes the history of Chinese surnames, the research on Chinese surnames in literature, and reasons surnames have changed in Chinese history. Chapter 2, by far the largest of the chapters, delivers a genealogical analysis of more than 600 Chinese surnames. Chapter 3 consists of an annotated bibliography of Chinese and English language sources on Chinese surnames. The work concludes with separate indexes to family names, authors, titles, and Chinese-character stroke numbers (one mechanism used for grouping Chinese characters).

How much power does a monarch really have? How much autonomy do they enjoy? Who regulates the size of the royal family, their finances, the rules of succession? These are some of the questions considered in this edited collection on the monarchies of Europe. The book is written by experts from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It considers the constitutional and political role of monarchy, its powers and functions, how it is defined and regulated, the laws of succession and royal finances, relations with the media, the popularity of the monarchy and why it endures. No new political theory on this topic has been developed since Bagehot wrote about the monarchy in The English Constitution (1867). The same is true of the other European monarchies. 150 years on, with their formal powers greatly reduced, how has this ancient, hereditary institution managed to survive and what is a modern monarch's role? What theory can be derived about the role of monarchy in advanced democracies, and what lessons can the different European monarchies learn from each other? The public look to the monarchy to represent continuity, stability and tradition, but also want it to be modern, to reflect modern values and be a focus for national identity. The whole institution is shot through with contradictions, myths and misunderstandings. This book should lead to a more realistic debate about our expectations of the monarchy, its role and its future. The contributors are leading experts from all over Europe: Rudy Andeweg, Ian Bradley, Paul Bovend'Eert, Axel Calissendorff, Frank Cranmer, Robert Hazell, Olivia Hepsworth, Luc Heuschling, Helle Krunke, Bob Morris, Roger Mortimore, Lennart Nilsson, Philip Murphy, Quentin Pironnet, Bart van Poelgeest, Frank Prochaska, Charles Powell, Jean Seaton, Eivind Smith.