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
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
Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
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
Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
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
If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.
—George Will (b.1941) American Columnist, Journalist, Writer
Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crown: that I have reigned with your loves. And though you have had, and may have, many mightier and wiser princes sitting in this seat; yet you never had, nor shall have any that will love you better.
—Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) British Monarch
Kings fight for empires, madmen for applause.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–93) English Playwright, Poet, Translator
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
We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
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
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
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
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
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
They say that kings are made in the image of God. If that is what he looks like, I feel sorry for God.
—Frederick II of Prussia (1712–86) Prussian Monarch
I’d like to be queen of people’s hearts.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
—Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926) Queen of United Kingdom
Vulgarity in a king flatters the majority of the nation.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
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
Call me Diana, not Princess Diana.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
Kings, in this chiefly, should imitate God; their mercy should be above all their works.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
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
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
Kings have many ears and eyes.
—Common Proverb
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
I have nothing against the Queen of England. Even in my heart I never resented her for not being Jackie Kennedy. She is, to my mind, a very gallant lady, victimized by whoever it is who designs the tops of her uniforms.
—Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Novelist
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
If you shoot at a king you must kill him.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones.
—Northrop Frye
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
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
He that can work is born to be king of something.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The foremost art of kings is the ability to endure hatred.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
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
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
Divine right of kings means the divine right of anyone who can get uppermost.
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English Polymath, Philosopher, Sociologist, Political Theorist