Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements
1: The Holy Family: an introduction
2: 'The Pivot of Empire': Monarchy and the Commonwealth, 1918-1945
3: 'A Common Act of Will': The Making of the New Commonwealth, 1945-1952
4: 'A Personal and Living Bond': Accession, Coronation, and Commonwealth Tour, 1952-1954
5: Winds of Change and the Royal Family
6: 'A poor sort of courtesy to Her Majesty': Republics, Realms and Rebels, 1960-1970
7: 'A Fragile Flower': Britain and the Headship of the Commonwealth
8: 'A Royal Duty': Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in the 1970s
9: 'De-Dominionisation' in the 1970s
10: 'On Her Own': The Queen and the Commonwealth in the 1980s
11: The Fall and Rise of the Royal Commonwealth
Bibliography

About the Author

Philip Murphy is Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London.

Reviews

`a carefully researched and beautifully presented book that chronicles the relationship between the monarchy, the UK government, and the decolonisation of the British Empire'
Ruth Craggs, Reviews in History
`Professor Murphy's book by a country mile the most important and well-informed to have been written about the contemporary British monarchy'
Peter Oborne, The Telegraph
`Philip Murphy's book makes a strong case for the importance of analysing the role, self-image, and global perception of the monarchy in any book about British politics or foreign policy in the twentieth century ... an interesting, well-written, and extremely important contribution to the fields of British royal, political, imperial, and commonwealth history.'
Charlotte Lydia Riley, 20th Century British History
`splendid'
Peter Boyce, American Historical Review