The conditions of royal rule: British and Australian socialist and labour attitudes to the monarchy, 1901-1911

Kirk, Neville (2005) The conditions of royal rule: British and Australian socialist and labour attitudes to the monarchy, 1901-1911. Social history, 30 (1). 64-88.. ISSN 1470-1200

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Abstract

The various ‘crises’ and scandals that have recently gripped the royal family and the royal household have reawakened serious questions about the future health of the monarchy and the renewed potential for the appeal of republican ideas in Britain and the Commonwealth. They have also been a factor in the growing interest in what has traditionally been a neglected topic of historical research: the behaviour of, and popular attitudes towards, the monarchy in the past. Offered as a contribution to this renewed interest, this article examines similarities and differences in Australian and British socialist and labour attitudes to the monarchy between the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the coronation of George V in 1911 – attitudes that have barely figured in the published historical record for the period in question.