In this volume I have presented a personal selection of great kings and queens, the word “great” implying no moral judgement but used as a simple descriptive label for those whose significance for good or bad has been considerable. Most of them exercised absolute or near-absolute power, for the emergence of the constitutional monarch is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Bagehot, referring to the latter, says he has three rights: the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn. And he adds that a king of sense and sagacity would want no others. For the rest he represents in his person all the dignified trappings of the state and is invested by his subjects with an almost mystical aura. He is the head of society. Even George III was a consecrated obstruction. ..