The death of the Queen of England He raised monarchies. Kings and queens lived together saeculum horribilis: In 1900 there were monarchs ruling the destinies, often with an iron fist, of 150 countries in the world, but at the beginning of this century there were only about forty left and, in general, with a power more ceremonial than real. However, at present, monarchies hardly fall. The blue bleeding has stopped. Because?

Precisely because so many crowned heads rolled (sometimes literally), those that survived developed a special immunity, based on the principle of minimizing the power of kings and maximizing their symbolism. The further removed the Crown is from legislative, executive and judicial powers, the greater its chance of perpetuating itself in a democratic society. It is not that the king or queen is above political struggle, as was the case in the past, or as those who they demand a militant interpretation of Felipe VI of the constitutional prescription that the monarch “arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of institutions”. On the contrary, they should be on the side of partisan discord, without appearing to help a favorite. And here there is room for improvement in Spain, where we can move the monarch further away from the investiture process, as recommended. expert Ignacio Molina. In this way, we would avoid repeating scenes that, unfortunately, will be more frequent in our fragmented politics: Who should the king call to form a government? To the leader of the most voted list or to the one who is supposed to have the best parliamentary support?

For Victor Lapuente

In the photo, of victoria jones For AFP, Elizabeth II attends the opening ceremony of the British Parliament in 2019, accompanied by her son Charles of England.

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