Monarchies of Europe

As an Australian, when I think about monarchy, I think of the British monarchy. Without a doubt, the British monarchy is the most famous monarchy in the world. During the colonial period the British Empire invaded and conquered their way around the globe, coming to rule almost a quarter of the worlds population.

Today the Queen of the United Kingdom is also the Queen of the Commonwealth realms. There are 16 Commonwealth realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, 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.

To reiterate, the Queen of the United Kingdom is the Queen of Australia, the Queen of Canada, and Queen of New Zealand!!! These 16 Commonwealth realms are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, of which there are 53 member states. The Commonwealth of Nations comprises of countries which were once territories of the British Empire, but have since become 34 republics and 5 monarchies.

Commonwealth Realms & Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth

So while the British monarchy gets most of the attention, we very rarely hear about any other European monarchy. Are there even any other monarchies in Europe? Yes, in fact today there are 12 monarchies in Europe!

Some of these monarchies are extremely surprising! Besides the United Kingdom, the other monarchies are: Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Vatican City. While it didn’t surprise me so much that countries like Spain, Luxembourg, and Monaco where monarchies, it surprised me years ago when I learned Denmark and Netherlands were, though I was astounded when I learned Belgium, Norway, and Sweden were still monarchies! Its not something you’re taught in school or ever hear about in the news, I only realised these monarchies existed when I visited those countries.

Monarchies of Europe

Monarchies of Europe

Monarchs of Europe

While monarchies still exist in Europe, today they have limited power and endure mainly out of tradition. Each country has a fascinating history pertaining to their monarchies, its something interesting to learn about when visiting these places. Maybe you’ll chance on seeing a royal while you visit one of these countries, or maybe that dream of meeting a prince or princess isn’t as just a far fetched as you thought.

In 2000, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark was visiting Australia for the 2000 Olympics. He met Tasmanian Mary Donaldson at a pub in Sydney. The rest, as they say, is history. She in now the first Australian born princess, and will one day become the Queen of Denmark.