Princes give me sufficiently if they take nothing from me, and do me much good if they do me no hurt; it is all I require of them.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
He is a king who fears nothing, he is a king who desires nothing!
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The best reason why Monarchy is a strong government is, that it is an intelligible government. The mass of mankind understand it, and they hardly anywhere in the world understand any other.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
I am every day more convinced that we women, if we are to be good women, feminine and amiable and domestic, are not fitted to reign; at least it is they that drive themselves to the work which it entails.
—Queen Victoria (1819–1901) British Royal
I am your anointed Queen. I will never be by violence constrained to do anything. I thank God I am endued with such qualities that if I were turned out of the Realm in my petticoat I were able to live in any place in Christendom.
—Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) British Monarch
All I say is, kings is kings, and you got to make allowances. Take them all around, they’re a mighty ornery lot. It’s the way they’re raised.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.
—George Will (b.1941) American Columnist, Journalist, Writer
Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–93) English Playwright, Poet, Translator
Majesty and love do not consort well together, nor do they dwell in the same place.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
I’d like to be queen of people’s hearts.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
Divine right of kings means the divine right of anyone who can get uppermost.
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English Polymath, Philosopher, Sociologist, Political Theorist
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Don’t forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings.
—Frederick II of Prussia (1712–86) Prussian Monarch
There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The Sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy such as ours, three rights—the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn. And a king of great sense and sagacity would want no others.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
Call me Diana, not Princess Diana.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
We live in what virtually amounts to a museum—which does not happen to a lot of people.
—Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021) Consort of Queen Elizabeth II
Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
A monarchy is the most expensive of all forms of government, the regal state requiring a costly parade, and he who depends on his own power to rule, must strengthen that power by bribing the active and enterprising whom he cannot intimidate.
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) American Novelist
There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
Aspect are within us, and who seems most kingly is king.
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) English Novelist, Poet
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
—Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) Queen of United Kingdom
Kings fight for empires, madmen for applause.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people’s advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
A monarch, when good, is entitled to the consideration which we accord to a pirate who keeps Sunday School between crimes; when bad, he is entitled to none at all.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist