I don’t care how much “real” power they have. If you actually believe in a meritocracy how can you defend someone getting a job because of their lineage, attending real political events and ceremonies and influencing policies that way? And let’s not forget that in many cases, they ACTUALLY have institutional powers they just don’t use because they don’t have to, the institutions serve their interests all the same.
Sorry for the pointless rant. It just happens way too often.
very important
that we keep these powerless
figureheads
The monarchy is institutionalized parasitism, it should have gone extinct when the middle ages ended.
“Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
~ attributed to Denis Diderot
Its precisely because the monarchies and their wealth were never fully destroyed in these countries.
These royals have a lot of power in their local economies because in a lot of cases they still own a ton of estates and land (not to mention investments, connections and as you said institutions).
It is in the interest of the local bourgeois to at least support the continued existence of the royal family as that gives them potential access to these resources.
The royals also create a shitton of propaganda, so some people see them as a needed part of the countries culture or some historical artifact in need of maintaining. A “living monument” or something like that.
Note how in historiography being powerless is actually THE heaviest accusation historians can have towards a monarch. But it change when the current ruling class coming onto the scene and into power, then it’s suddenly became just a cute tradition.
Not only do most of these monarchs have actual institutional power, but they also typically derieve incredible wealth and income at taxpayer’s expense. But liberals love parasites, so this is not too surprising.
