A Defence of Monarchy: Catholics under a Protestant King

A Defence of Monarchy: Catholics under a Protestant King

Joseph Shaw, Ed.

186 pages

Angelico Press, Brooklyn, NY, 2023

A Defence of Monarchy is one of the shorter books on Catholic political philosophy that I have recently read,  but it certainly is one of the best written, most colorful in its language and most challenging in its arguments. It was prompted by two events. First, the ceremony of the  coronation of Charles III elicited a  favorable reaction worldwide. Once again, we saw a demonstration of the power of ancient symbols to reach a modern audience. It is an understanding which the modern Roman Catholic Church has largely lost. The second inspiration for this book was the publication of articles by Theo Howard and Alan Fimister, (both “integralists” or integralist sympathizers)who denounced the alleged participation (or even collusion) by the late Queen Elizabeth II in the introduction by legislation of all kinds of societal evils, specifically abortion.

When integralists challenged liberal political doctrines of the United States,  the IHE (Institute for Human Ecology) at Catholic University  and  Russell Hittinger sprang into action, blindly defending the status quo both of the United States and of Roman Catholic political thought since Vatican II.  A Defence of Monarchy also responds, in part, to an integralist critique but does so in a much more nuanced manner.

The first part of this book addresses directly the allegations regarding the “complicity” of Queen Elizabeth II in the promulgation of anti-Christian legislation. The authors point out that the British monarch since 1688 has had no power to reject legislation that has been passed by parliament. Therefore, the notion that Queen Elizabeth II participated in evil when, for example, the UK implemented legislation authorizing abortion,  is inaccurate.

The second part of the book deals with the coronation ceremony of King Charles. It offers a close analysis of aspects of the ritual and its texts. From it we obtain a better understanding of the Christian foundation of this ceremonial and indeed of the British monarchy. These texts have not been immune from corruption  – Peter Day-Milne analyzes examples of textual tinkering since prior coronations that has robbed some texts of much of their significance.  Nevertheless, he emphasizes “the richness of the traditional coronation prayers, all of which come directly from, or have been built upon,  the medieval Catholic liturgical tradition.” He observes that the very qualities that make these prayers so moving and memorable are also characteristic of the prayers found in the ongoing Catholic liturgical tradition, especially in its more authentic, extraordinary form. He compares, for example,  one of the coronation prayers with the prayers during the vesting of a priest in the Old Rite, showing a common derivation. Those who appreciated the coronation will find here a guide to a deeper understanding of what they saw and heard. 

The third part of the book is a broader and more philosophical analysis of the institution of monarchy and its role today. The authors militantly summon Catholics to support and cherish the current English monarchy, imperfect as it may be. The British monarchy is, first of all, in accord with the national tradition.  The cultural situation in the UK today is hardly  perfect, but it would be much worse under a republic. The authors contrast the situation in the UK with the secular Irish Republic which has moved aggressively towards the radical elimination of Christianity. James Bogle even argues – more audaciously but probably correctly – that Hitler could never have seized power if the German monarchy had remained. Charles Coulombe, Sebastian Morello, and James Bogle recall for us (deliberately) forgotten facts regarding the Jacobite tradition, royal legitimacy, and the history of the Loyalists during the American revolution. 

More profoundly, the British monarchy does preserve, if only in an attenuated form,  the connection of the state with the divine. Sebastian Morello writes of the “dignified” as opposed to the “efficient “ role of government – preeminently that of a monarch. The function of the monarch goes far beyond the mere ordering of the physical affairs of a commonwealth. The English monarchy is, in form, the last Christian sacral monarchy. In a tradition going back to the Roman empire  – and later the Holy Roman Empire – the monarch is God’s representative on earth, a mediator between God and Man.  Joseph Shaw writes:

The authority over temporal things exercised by temporal rulers also derives from God and is exercised under divine authority.  The notion of the king as a viceregent, a deputy, of God elevates the dignity of earthly power and also subordinates it firmly to the Law of God: though not to the holders of spiritual authority.(p. 161)

Thus, to a certain extent, the authors of A Defence of Monarchy do exhibit kinship with the ideas of the integralists and their rejection of the liberal model for society.  Of course, they do not share their model of direct papal control over secular states (which the integralists seem to assume to be republics). James Bogle pointedly criticizes similar clerical deviations which had made their way into the liturgy in the 20^th century:

The prayers for the emperor were no longer said after 1918, with the fall of the Austro- Hungarian empire, but remained part of the Roman rite until 1956 at which time a new prayer for rulers in general  – pro omnibus res publicas moderantibus , “for those in public office” – was substituted. This prayer was changed again following the Second Vatican Council and placed right at the end of the intercessions, behind the prayers for unbelievers and atheists, signifying the complete lack of importance that a clericalist and Modernist like Archbishop Bugnini now attributed to the laity and to the lay temporal power… . (p. 130, ftn 20)

Did not the late Thomas Molnar often write of the need to preserve the link between politics and the sacred (he cited the continuing role in the Hungarian political tradition of the crown of St. Stephen). Did not the Catholic writer Cristina Campo (writing of the last Russian tsar (Saint) Nicholas II) have thoughts parallel to those of the authors of this book concerning the spiritual (“dignified” in secular terms)vocation of the monarch:

In a famous photograph of the last emperor of Russia dressed in the clothes of his saintly ancestor, Alexey the Quietest, the haughty symmetry of the wide purple sleeves is mysteriously replicated on his chest by the golden wings of the two-headed eagle and crowned by the perfect, monastic, warlike circle of the collar. All of this, unexpectedly enlivened by the jaunty tilt of a fine black-martin cap, tells us more than any history book about the mystic audacity of that ill-starred sovereign, the last purely Muscovite tsar, who attempted with no intellectual weaponry or political genius or help from a single human being to lead the Enlightenment autocracy of the Petersburg Romanovs back to the traditional Russian religious destiny.  … Empires crumble when the education of princes yields to bourgeois lethargy with its scrupulous, superstitious ignorance of the spiritual roots of all power. 1)

I applaud the authors’ willingness to respond to attacks on both the monarchy and specifically on Queen Elizabeth II. My attitude towards the British monarchy, however, is more ambivalent. I understand the authors’ reverence for this British institution. I too appreciate the royal family, not so much for any Christian devotion they may have exhibited, but for Queen Elizabeth’s many years of devoted service and  for the creative (and traditional) ideas in art and architecture championed by King Charles. The British monarchy, however, has invested too heavily over the years in very modern public relations stunts,  starting with the creation of the new houses of “Windsor” and “Mountbatten” during World War I. Some of these gambits, such as Princess Di and Meghan Markle,  have backfired disastrously.  And despite the example of the monarchy,  the society of the UK today is every bit as woke and corrupt as the other states of the West – perhaps even more so.  Emmanuel Todd has recently argued that the United Kingdom is an extreme example in Western Europe of the “nation zero,”  exhibiting  economic, social, and political collapse – all of which derive from religious disintegration.2)

Yet A Defence of Monarchy does demonstrate that the monarchy – primarily but not exclusively the British monarchy – remains an essential symbol, nationally and even spiritually. The monarchy retains this status,  independent of its actual power and influence. The monarchist reader will find here a treasure chest of resources. And those interested in the more general issues of the relation of Church and State, of the common good and the secular order,  will discover a handbook full of perceptive insights.

1. Campo, Cristina, “With Light Hands,” in The Unforgiveable at 88 (Alex Andriesse, Trans.)(New York Review Books, New York,  2024)
2. Todd, Emmanuel, La Défaite de L’Occident, 194-229 (Éditions Gallimard, 2024)