Disenchanting the monarchy

The persistence of the British monarchy through the arrival of mass democracy, decline of deference, dissolution of Empire, and a series of Royal scandals is one of the great puzzles of modern British politics. Yet, it has received comparatively little attention. In his 1988 book, The Enchanted Glass, Tom Nairn dissected the paradoxical and almost magical appeal of the British monarchy, but also suggested that it could not long withstand the onset of neoliberal values. By 2011, he had revised this judgement. More recent work has followed his lead in showing that the contradictions and absurdities of monarchy not only conceal its serious political effects, but deepen them. That such an institution, with all its historical and imperial baggage, should remain so under-examined a part of national life is extraordinary. This paper suggests that we follow Nairn in taking it seriously. It has a great deal to tell us about the entwining of affective discourses of pride, nationhood, and nostalgia with those of ordinariness, merit, and inequality. This seems key to understanding our contemporary political moment.