1 European sovereigns and their empires 'beyond the seas' - Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery
2 The British royal family and the colonial empire from the Georgians to Prince George - Miles Taylor
3 Two Victorias? Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria and Melbourne, 1867-68 - Cindy McCreery
4 Kaiser Wilhelm II and the limits of the royal prerogative in German South-West Africa - Matthew P. Fitzpatrick
5 Orangists in a red empire: salutations from a Dutch queen's supporters in a British South Africa - Susie Protschky
6 Sultans and the House of Orange-Nassau: Indonesian perceptions of power relationships with the Dutch - Jean Gelman Taylor
7 The return of the throne: the repatriation of the Kandyan regalia to Ceylon - Robert Aldrich
8 Kingitanga and Crown: New Zealand's Maori King movement and its relationship with the British monarchy - Vincent O'Malley
9 The Maharani of Kutch and courtly life before and after Indian independence - Jim Masselos
10 Colonies, monarchy, empire and the French ancien régime - François-Joseph Ruggiu
11 Napoleon III and France's colonial expansion: national grandeur, territorial conquests and colonial embellishment, 1852-70 - Emmanuelle Guenot
12 The British, the Hashemites and monarchies in the Middle East - Matthieu Rey
13 An empire for a kingdom: monarchy and Fascism in the Italian colonies - Alessandro Pes
14 'So brave Etruria grew': dividing the Crown in early colonial New South Wales, 1808-10 - Bruce Baskerville
15 A new monarchy for a new commonwealth? Monarchy and the consequences of republican India - Harshan Kumarasingham
16 Waiting to die? The British monarchy in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, 1991-2015 - Mark McKenna
Index

Crowns and colonies explores the multiple connections between European monarchs and their overseas colonies, from Queen Victoria and her dynasty's deep concern about the British empire and Emperor Napoleon III's grand ambitions for the French empire, to the German Kaiser Wilhelm's relative lack of interest in his African possessions. Issues concerning the constitutional role of the crown in empire - from old-regime France, through the period of decolonization, and on to the contemporary Commonwealth - are highlighted.

The symbolism of monarchy is examined through royal tours in Australia, the regalia of the last king of Ceylon, and ceremonial letters sent by Afrikaners to the Dutch queen. Chapters on East Asian sultans, the Maori king movement, the Iraqi monarchy and a peripatetic Indian maharani look at the place of non-European royals in European empires. The uneasy relationship between the Italian monarchy and the Fascist government is the subject of another chapter. Republican and monarchism in the recent history of Australia provides insight into the post-colonial history of imperial monarchies. An introductory chapter offers an overview of the historiography and theoretical perspectives on this key link that bound many metropoles to the colonial world, though one that has hitherto received little scholarly attention.

Written by distinguished scholars drawing on the history of the British, French, Dutch, German and Italian empires, the volume will be of interest to students and scholars of colonial studies, the history of monarchism and international relations.