Constitutional Monarchy

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  • Created by: Laura
  • Created on: 12-05-15 20:27
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  • Constitutional Monarchy
    • Reform Act 1832
      • William IV
      • Enfranchised 56 more boroughs
        • Took power away from the Monarch
          • Now the monarch had to consider the will of the people more
    • Bedchamber Crisis 1839
      • Intrigue between Peel, Melbourne and Victoria
        • Inevitability of crisis
          • Chase and Leveson "the Bedchamber crisis was a spectacle that had been waiting impatiently to erupt"
      • Victoria depoliticized her figure by denouncing the political character of her domestic realm
        • Give and take of power - gave hers away to retain domestic position
        • Thoroughly believed she was asserting herself and position
        • Press portrayed her as a young girl dabbling in the world of politics
          • Cemented her public perception as a Whig Queen
    • Albert
      • Philosophy from Stockmor, that Crown should be above Party Politics
        • Encouraged Victoria to engage with the Tories and rise above party factions
          • Also encouraged Victoria to take more an interest in politics, notes after his death she never really was interested in policies
            • Perhaps can see Politics from this perspective as a male domain
              • 'Most astute politician of his age' or a political partnership like The Palmerstons?
      • Represented Victoria in political matters whilst she was pregnant
        • Perhaps can see Politics from this perspective as a male domain
          • 'Most astute politician of his age' or a political partnership like The Palmerstons?
      • Admired Peel in the Corn Laws for putting Country before Party
    • Palmerston
      • Pushed the limits of the constitutional position of the monarchy
        • Constantly went against the advice and disposition of the Crown
          • Napoleon III coup d'état 1851
          • Schleswig Holstein Question 1848 - 1851
          • Revolutions of 1848
        • Despatches Intrigue 1848-1851
        • Still had the ability to construct the dismissal of a politician 1851
          • Napoleon III coup d'état 1851
    • Widowhood
      • Socially accepted time to stay away from politics for a period of time
        • Fulfilling her domestic career or 'lifecycle of a woman'
      • Segregated herself from the arena of politics in London by residing mostly at Balmoral or Osborne
      • Only asked to come back to public life fro her perform her Ceremonial duties
        • Opening Parliament, public events, diplomatic dinners etc.
    • Jubilees 1887 and 1897
      • Cementing Ceremonial position
        • Public saw her as a public display
          • A symbol of the monarchy
        • Commercialisation of Royalty
          • Press
            • Had already largely illutrated her role as turning up to public events etc (Illustrated London News)
          • Goods with royal seal of approval
        • Move to constitutional monarchy doesn't mean NO political power
          • Soft Power
            • Hints of Empire in celebration  - cementing her position as figurehead and ignited patriotic pride and obediance from subjects
    • Female Queen
      • Constitutional Monarchy = Feminized monarchy
      • Innocent female image
        • Necessary against backdrop of Hanoverian Corruption
          • Yet ‘a fantasy that renders her vulnerable even as it glorifies her... her awareness that she is violating codes of proper behaviour only emphasizes her deference to those codes.’ Margaret Homans
        • Dependence on chivalric imagery means if Victoria ‘attempts to establish power she can do so only giving it away’ Homans
      • Idea of Feminized Monarchy
        • Origins  in George III time when he moved the monarchy towards domesticity to quell opposition
          • William IV and Reform Act put the 'monarch in the vulnerable position which women held to men' Chase and Leveson
        • New Queen rubbed of her autonomy to rule
          • ‘Within the long historical logic of parliamentary rise and monarchical decline, the tempest in the bedchamber appears less random and foolish; it suggests the painful locking into place of the “womanly” character of all modern sovereignty' Margaret Homan
        • Female occupying throne gives heightened force to the concept
          • ‘constitutional monarchy [was] in fact emasculated monarchy... deprived of those historic male functions of god, governor and general’ Chase and Leveson
  • Key
    • Evidence
    • Contemporary Opinion / Beliefs
    • Gender Ideas
    • Ideas of Power
    • Insightful Ideas
    • Historiography

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