On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry into Some Strangely Related Families - Softcover

The notable characteristic of the royal families of Europe is that they have so very little of anything remotely resembling true power. Increasingly, they tend towards the condition of pipsqueak principalities like Liechtenstein and Monaco-fancy-dress fodder for magazines that survive by telling us things we did not need to know about people we have hardly heard of. How then have kings and queens come to exercise the mesmeric hold they have upon our imaginations? In On Royalty, renowned BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman examines the role of the British monarchy in an age when divine right no longer prevails and governing powers fall to the countrys elected leaders. What Desmond Morris did for apes, Paxman has done for these primus inter primates: the royal families.

Jeremy Paxman is a journalist, best known for his work presenting BBC's Newsnight and University Challenge. His books include Friends in High Places, The English and The Political Animal. He lives in Oxfordshire, England.