A controversy has arisen about this: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or vice versa. My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved. ibid. XVI
A Prince, therefore, if he is enabled thereby to forbear from plundering his subjects, to defend himself, to escape poverty and contempt, and the necessity of becoming rapacious, ought to care little though he incur the reproach of miserliness, for this is one of those vices which enable him to reign. ibid. XVII
And when he is obliged to take the life of any one, to do so when there is a proper justification and manifest reason for it; but above all he must abstain from taking the property of others, for men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. ibid.
For of men it may generally be affirmed, that they are thankless, fickle, false studious to avoid danger, greedy of gain, devoted to you while you are able to confer benefits upon them, and ready, as I said before, while danger is distant, to shed their blood, and sacrifice their property, their lives, and their children for you; but in the hour of need they turn against you. ibid.
Be it known, then, that there are two ways of contending, one in accordance with the laws, the other by force; the first of which is proper to men, the second to beasts. But since the first method is often ineffectual, it becomes necessary to resort to the second. ibid. chXVII
And here it is to be noted that hatred is incurred as well on account of good actions as of bad; or which reason, as I have already said, a Prince who would maintain his authority is often compelled to be other than good. For when the class, be it the people, the soldiers, or the nobles, on whom you judge it necessary to rely for your support, is corrupt, you must needs adapt yourself to its humours, and satisfy these, in which case virtuous conduct will only prejudice you. ibid. XIX
For a Prince is exposed to two dangers, from within in respect of his subjects, from without in respect of foreign powers. Against the latter he will defend himself with good arms and good allies, and if he have good arms he will always have good allies. ibid.
I was much an enemy to monarchies before I came to Europe. I am ten thousand times more so, since I have seen what they are. There is scarcely an evil known in these countries, which may not be traced to their king, as its source, nor a good, which is not derived from the small fibres of republicanism existing among them. Thomas Jefferson, letter to General Washington 2nd May 1788
Power makes you a monarch, and all the fancy robes in the world won't do the job without it. Laurell K Hamilton, Narcissus in Chains
A prince who gets a reputation for good nature in the first years of his reign, is laughed at in the second. Napoleon Bonaparte, letter 1807
Princes that would their people should do well
Must at themselves begin, as at the head;
For men, by their example, pattern out
Their imitations, and regard of laws:
A virtuous court a world to virtue draws. Ben Jonson, Cynthia's Revels V iii
A prince without letters is a Pilot without eyes. All his government is groping. Ben Jonson, Discoveries, Illiteratus, Princeps
They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a Prince as soon as his groom. ibid.
A prince, the moment he is crown’d,
Inherits every virtue sound,
As emblems of the sovereign power,
Like other baubles in the Tower:
Is generous, valiant, just, and wise,
And so continues till he dies. Jonathan Swift, On Poetry @191
Who hath made thee a prince and a judge over us? Exodus 2:14
Put not your trust in princes. Psalms 146:3
Man is insatiable for power; he is infantile in his desires and, always discontented with what he has, loves only what he has not. People complain of the despotism of princes; they ought to complain of the despotism of man. Joseph de Maistre
The most part of all princes have more delight in warlike manners and feats of chivalry than in the good feats of peace. Thomas More
Royalty is completely different than celebrity. Royalty has a magic all its own. Philip Treacy
You can’t treat royalty like people with normal perverted desires. Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
There is something behind the throne greater than the King himself. William Pitt, House of Lords 1770
In elective monarchies, the vacancy of the throne is a moment big with danger and mischief. Edward Gibbon, 1737-94, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ch3
Of the various forms of government that have prevailed in the world, a hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule. ibid.
On October 5th 1795 crowds of Parisians stormed through the streets alongside national guardsmen bent on restoring the monarchy. Empires: Napoleon I: To Destiny, PBS 2000
I would like a monarchy that has more contact with its people. Diana, televised interview Martin Bashir
The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods. James I, speech to parliament 21st March 1610
The king is truly parens patriae, the politique father of his people. ibid.
Matters were come to such a head that the monarchy must be either more absolute or quite abolished. James II, to brother Charles II
Four centuries ago the law itself would be put on the rack. At one end was the king’s law and at the other the common law. Which system would win and which would snap? For over a decade parliament’s doors were locked. The king ruled alone and supreme. The Strange Case of the Law II: The Story of English Justice: The Pursuit of Liberty BBC 2012
Russia has two generals in whom she can confide – Generals Janvier [January] and Fevrier [February]. Nicholas I
A few days ago I received a peasant from the Tobolsk province. He made a remarkably strong impression on Her Majesty and me. Tsar Nicholas II
The Imperial family was suddenly slaughtered in this room. The new Soviet government had decided they were too dangerous to be left alive. Great Crimes & Trials: The Massacre of the Tsar and the Royal Family
The autocracy of the Tsars was strongly upheld by the Russian Orthodox Church which was controlled by a government department. ibid.
The Tsar’s divorce from reality was made worse by the arrival at court of an illiterate holy man, Rasputin. He was a drunkard with a scandalous sex life. But the Tsarina became convinced that he could help control Alexander’s haemophilia. And he was soon her trusted adviser and closely involved with the family. ibid.
In July 1918 the last Tsar of Russia and his family who had been held captive for over a year by the leaders of the Russian Revolution vanished from their prison in Siberia. Eleven lives gone without a trace. Royal Inquest: The Remains of the Romanovs, 2009
In 1991 a discovery of three buried skulls re-opened a missing persons’ case that had captivated the world for most of the twentieth century. What was the fate of the Russian Royal Family, the Romanovs, last seen as prisoners early on the 17th July 1918? ibid.
In 1924 Nikolai Sokolov published findings he hoped would solve the mystery of what happened to the Romanovs after their disappearance six years earlier. He believed that the entire family had been murdered. But a woman in Berlin disagreed. She lived her life in a haze of mystery and rumour. She was demanding, tempestuous, mischievous, and above all regal. She called herself Anna Anderson. ibid.
Finally, after seventy-five years one of the biggest mysteries of the twentieth century had been solved. Almost. Nine sets of recovered remains had been identified. But two bodies were still missing. ibid.
In 1979 doctors had removed some of Anna’s intestines, and a standard procedure saved a sample ... On 5th October 1994 Dr Gill revealed the results ... ‘They did not match’. ibid.
After many decades the mystery was solved. And at long last the family could be reunited. ibid.
The Royal Family was imprisoned. Exiled to Siberia under house arrest in Yekaterinburg. But their popularity among the masses presented a problem for the fledgling Soviet administration. Romanovs: The Missing Bodies, National Geographic 2010
As the smoke cleared, the myth began. Could anyone really have escaped this carnage? ibid.
The dig revealed a shallow grave, skulls, bones, full skeletons, but something was missing. The Tsar, Tsarina, three of their daughters, and four attendants are identified. But two of the royal children aren’t among the dead. ibid.
Incredibly, eye-witness accounts agree that the duchesses seemed to be protected by jewelled corsets that acted like bullet-proof vests. ibid.