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HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
There are 43 sovereign states in the world with a monarch as head of state.
There are 13 in Asia, 12 in Europe, 9 in the Americas, 6 in Oceania, and 3 in Africa. (*as of 2024)
HM King Charles III is the monarch of fifteen Commonwealth realms (Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom). They evolved out of the British Empire into fully independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations that retain the same King as head of state, unlike other Commonwealth countries that are either dependencies, republics or have a different royal house. All fifteen realms are constitutional monarchies and full democracies, where the King (or his representative) legally possesses some prerogatives, but fulfills a largely ceremonial role.
There are twelve monarchies in Europe that remain, despite the turbulence of many centuries: these are Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Vatican City and the UK.
There are some smaller European countries which exist due to quirks of both history and monarchy. These are not kingdoms but possess heads of state which form monarchies in the technical sense. These have altered in the light of the twentieth century.
Luxembourg
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg had, and still retains, a Grand Duke as constitutional monarch rather than a king. After centuries of being passed between French, Spanish and German rule, Luxembourg received its independence from France in 1815 following the defeat of Napoleon where it was raised from a Duchy to a Grand Duchy with William I being the first Grand Duke. While the nineteenth century saw the independence of Luxembourg questioned by Belgium, France and Prussia, the Grand Dukes ensured that the national identity was retained with the cry of “Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn!” ("We want to remain what we are!”)
The First World War saw Luxembourg invaded by Imperial Germany as a route into France. While Germany preserved Luxembourg’s independence, a German victory would have seen Luxembourg annexed. Following the defeat of Germany, the Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was accused of collaboration with the Germans and forced to abdicate leading to demands for a republic. The motion to become a republic was defeated in the Chamber of Deputies by 21 votes to 19. Luxembourg enjoyed independence from both France and Germany once more.
This independence was challenged again by World War II when Luxembourg was invaded by the Nazi forces. The war took a great toll on the country which lost a third of its buildings and nearly 3% of its population, yet Luxembourg remained committed to opposing the Nazi regime. Refusing to accede and support the Nazi plans, Grand Duchess Charlotte was exiled to the United Kingdom where she made radio broadcasts to her people enabling the resistance movements to rally. Her son Jean served as a volunteer in the Irish Guards while her sister, Crown Princess Antonia of Bavaria, suffered in the concentration camps of Dachau and Flossenbürg.
After the war, the Grand Duchess worked to raise the profile of Luxembourg, playing the hostess to Pope Pius XII, President Kennedy, Charles du Gaulle and the crowned heads of Europe. Charlotte abdicated in 1964 and her son became Grand Duke Jean until he abdicated in 2000 in favour of his son, Henri.
In 2008, Grand Duke Henri opposed a government bill in favour of euthanasia and formally refused his assent. The government response to this was to remove the requirement of the assent of the Grand Duke for the passing of laws, thus reducing the constitutional power of the monarch. This reduction of the Grand Duke’s constitutional role weakens the country’s claim to be a constitutional monarchy significantly. In 2024, Grand Duke Henri signalled his future abdication by making his son, Guillaume, as Lieutenant Representative, i.e. regent.
Monaco
Monaco is a principality, a sovereign city-state, led by a Prince. In 1612, in return for his support against the Spanish, Honoré Lord of Monaco was given French protection by Louis XIII of France and granted Monaco’s independent sovereignty. As a result, the Lord of Monaco became the Prince of Monaco. The Lords of Monaco have been part of the Grimaldi family since the thirteenth century and, despite the various occupations of Monaco through the centuries, the Grimaldi family have been the longest reigning royal family.
The Prince of Monaco was an absolute monarch until 1911 when a constitution was drawn up following the Monégasque Revolution which protested, among other things, the severe unemployment, the poor reputation of the country and the fact that Prince Albert I was spending his money in France and not in Monaco, compromising the country’s economic integrity. While this constitution was suspended by Prince Albert during the First World War, it was soon re adopted and revised.
The Second World War saw Albert’s successor, Louis II cause conflict within his country over his financial dealings with the Nazi regime and the support of the Italian fascists. This caused a significant family rift between Prince Louis and his heir presumptive, Rainier who firmly supported the Allies.
On the death of Louis in1949, Rainier III became Prince and became one of the longest reigning monarchs of Europe. He sought to repair the damage to the country’s reputation during the war and its economic struggles. In 1962, he ratified a revised constitution which ended his autocratic rule and shared authority with the National Council. The head of Monaco’s government is the Minister of State and the Council, while still requiring the prince’s signature, may act contrary to the prince’s will. While justice is dispensed in the princes’ name, the Supreme Court is an independent juridical body.
Prince Rainier died in 2005 and was succeeded by Albert II. Prince Albert is an environmentalist, conservationist and investor in sustainable development. His heir presumptive is his son Jacques.
Liechtenstein
The nobles of Liechtenstein possessed many tracts of land but did not constitute a region that qualified for a role in the government of the Holy Roman Empire. The first Prince of Liechtenstein, Karl I, was given his principality by King Matthias of Hungary in 1608 in response helping Matthias gain the crown. It was only on the acquisition of Schellenberg and Vaduz that the Liechtensteins became eligible for an Electorship and, in 1719, Emperor Charles VI united Vaduz and Schellenberg into the Principality of Liechtenstein. The role of Prince of Liechtenstein continues to be passed to the firstborn male heir following the tradition of the Electors, the same tradition which denied Queen Victoria of Britain the inheritance of the Electorship of Hanover from her uncle William IV.
In 1858, Joseph II was crowned Prince of Liechtenstein and would rule for seventy years, almost as long as Elizabeth II of Britain. He introduced the first constitution for the country in 1862 in response to the revolutions against absolute monarchy in the German provinces in the mid nineteenth century and which threatened his father, Aloys II. This constitution established the Landtag – the parliament of Liechtenstein – and established the first civil liberties in the country.
In response to the First World War, Joseph II revised the constitution in 1921. This constitution lowered the voting age and abolished the seats in the Landtag appointed by the person of the prince. It wasn’t until 1984 that women were allowed to vote following a national referendum.
In 2003, the constitution was revised again by a referendum introduced by Prince Hans-Adam II. These revisions gave the prince power to dismiss the government, nominate judges and veto legislation, in effect expanding the prince’s power back towards absolute monarchy. Given, that Hans-Adam stated that he would leave the country if his referendum wasn’t backed, critics have said that he morally blackmailed Liechtenstein to approve the extension of his constitutional power.
In response to the proposed legalisation of Abortion in 2011, Prince Regent Alois vetoed the law prompting a further referendum on the power of the Prince of Liechtenstein to veto government legislation. The country voted not to restrict the power of the princely veto, again with the Alois threatening to resign if it passed. As of 2024, the Prince of Liechtenstein is Hans-Adam II since 1989, with his son Alois being regent since 2004.
Andorra
In terms of constitutional monarchy, Andorra is unique having two princes. Autonomy of government was, traditionally, given by Charlemagne to the Andorran people in response to their assistance fighting the moors. Thus, Andorra was led by the Count of Urgell within the feudal system. In 988, however, Count Borrell of Andorra exchanged the country for land in Cardanya with the Bishop of Urgell and, as a result, the bishops of Urgell have ruled Andorra ever since. In the eleventh century and in exchange for military protection, the bishop of Ugell agreed to share authority with the counts of Foix and, following twelfth century disputes between count and bishop, in 1278, the Duke of Aragon mediated a treaty between them guaranteeing a shared principality.
The title of Count of Foix passed into the kings of Navarre, and when King Henry III of Navarre became King Henry IV of France, he issued an edict making the kings of France joint ruler with the bishops of Urgell. With the defeat of Napoleon and the subsequent republic, the president of France now rules with the bishop.
Technically, the Vatican City is also a monarchy: an elective monarchy ruled by His Holiness The Pope. Most of the rest of Europe has at one time or another also been ruled by emperors, monarchs, princes, dukes or other aristocratic rulers.
Absolute monarchs remain in Brunei, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates and are classified as mixed, meaning there are representative bodies of some kind, but the monarch retains most of his powers.
Bhutan, Cambodia, Japan, and Thailand have constitutional monarchies where the monarch has a limited or ceremonial role. Thailand changed from traditional absolute monarchy into a constitutional one in 1932, while Bhutan changed in 2008. Cambodia had its own monarchy after independence from the French Colonial Empire, which was deposed after the Khmer Rouge came into power. The monarchy was subsequently restored in the peace agreement of 1993.
Tonga in the Pacific is a constitutional Monarchy.
Morocco, Eswatini, and Lesotho are Monarchies.
There are also Non-sovereign monarchies.
A non-sovereign monarchy or subnational monarchy is one in which the head of a particular geographic territory or an ethnic group, are subject to a sovereign state. The non-sovereign monarchies of Malaysia (which number some 9 monarchies) , the emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Sulu, Afro-Bolivian monarchy, Order of Malta, Traditional Chieftaincies of Nigeria, Ghana and kingdoms of Uganda are examples of these.