A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch. Most often, the term royalist is applied to a supporter of a current regime or one that has been recently overthrown to form a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. In the United Kingdom, today the term is almost indistinguishable from "monarchist" because there are no significant rival claimants to the throne. Conversely, in 19th-century France, a royalist might be either a Legitimist, Bonapartist, or an Orléanist, all being monarchists.

United Kingdom

* The Wars of the Roses were fought between the

Yorkists The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

and the Lancastrians * During the English Civil War the Royalists or Cavaliers supported King Charles I and, in the aftermath, his son King Charles II * Following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, the

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

supported the deposed

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

and his Stuart successors to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland * Following the

, the

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

s supported the Williamite dynasty, and after the ascension of George I to the British throne in 1714, the Hanoverian dynasty to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland

Russia

* During the Russian Civil War, the Royalists constituted a part of the White Army.

Yugoslavia

* During and especially towards at the end of World War II in Yugoslavia, the Royalist

Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

supported the exiled king of Yugoslavia.

France

* Legitimists, French royalists upholding

Salic Law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old Du ...

** Chouannerie, a royalist group during the French Revolution ** Ultra-royalists, a 19th-century reactionary faction of the French parliament * Orléanists, who, in late 18th and 19th century France, supported the Orléans branch of the House of Orléans, which came to power in the French monarch July Revolution * Bonapartists, supporters of the Bonaparte imperial line.

Japan

* Nanboku-cho Seijunron ( 南北朝正閏論) - The debate on legitimacy in the Nanboku-cho period. The Southern and Northern dynasties are in conflict; the present emperor is part of the Northern dynasty. *

Tenno Kikan Setsu The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the wi ...

( 天皇機関説,

Emperor Organ Theory An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

) - Based on the theory of state juridical person represented by the German public law scholar Georg Jelinek, the constitutional scholar

Minobe Tatsukichi was a Japanese statesman and scholar of constitutional law. His interpretation of the role of the monarchy in the pre-war Empire of Japan was a source of considerable controversy in the increasingly radicalized political environment of Japan i ...

and others advocated this theory. *

Tenno Shuken Setsu The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the w ...

( 天皇主権説, Imperial Sovereignty Theory) -

Hozumi Yatsuka was a Japanese scholar and lawyer. He was active in characterising the legal systems of the Japanese state, and his writings especially focused on the Meiji Constitution. Education Hozumi entered University of Tokyo at the age of nineteen aft ...

, Uesugi Shinkichi and others opposed the Tenno Kikan Setsu and argued that the sovereignty was with the emperor. * Tennosei ( 天皇制) or kokutai ( 国体) - In modern Japan, all political parties, with the exception of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), recognise the Emperor System. In recent years, even the JCP has weakened its opposition to the emperor system to accommodate the majority of the population who recognise him. * Anti-monarchism () - Some

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

extremists call for the abolition of the emperor system, but most of the Japanese people recognise the emperor and support for this is infinitesimal.

Low countries

Union of Arras The Union of Arras (Dutch: ''Unie van Atrecht'', French: ''Union d'Arras'', Spanish: ''Unión de Arrás'') was an alliance between the County of Artois, the County of Hainaut and the city of Douai in the Habsburg Netherlands in early 1579 during ...

, states of the Netherlands loyal to Philip II * Orangism in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg * Supporters of the return of Leopold III as King of the Belgians after the Second World War, also called Leopoldists

Portugal

* Miguelist, a supporter of King Miguel

Spain

Alfonsism The term Alfonsism refers to the movement in Spanish monarchism that supported the restoration of Alfonso XIII of Spain as King of Spain after the foundation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. The Alfonsists competed with the rival monarchists ...

* Carlist, a Spanish legitimist *

Royalist (Spanish American Revolution) The royalists were the people of Hispanic America (mostly from native and indigenous peoples) and European that fought to preserve the integrity of the Spanish monarchy during the Spanish American wars of independence. In the early years of th ...

, a supporter of continued Spanish rule during the Latin American wars of independence

Italy

* During World War II the royalists were Italians who supported Victor Emmanuel III and the government of Pietro Badoglio after the Fascist dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

was overthrown.

China

Chinese Empire Reform Association The Chinese Empire Reform Association (), or Baohuang Hui () in short, was an organization active mostly outside of Qing China that intended to support the Guangxu Emperor in his return to power in the Chinese Empire, which had been taken in a ...

(Royalist Society) in the late Qing dynasty, an organisation that supported the pro-reform Guangxu Emperor and advocated constitutional monarchy as a peaceful political reform, against both the conservative rulers (such as the Empress Dowager Cixi) who opposed any reform and the Tongmenghui which sought to overthrow the Chinese monarchy and establish the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

) *

Royalist Party The Royalist Party, officially the Society for Monarchical Constitutionalism, was a monarchist political party and militant organization active in China during the early Republican Era. Supported by the Empire of Japan, its members sought to res ...

: This militant party was established during the Xinhai Revolution, and was vehemently opposed to the new Republic of China. It tried to use politics and later violence in order to restore the Qing dynasty or at least some form of monarchy, but failed.

Cambodia

The FUNCINPEC Party ( km, ហ្វ៊ុនស៊ិនប៉ិច; french: Front uni national pour un Cambodge indépendant, neutre, pacifique et coopératif), National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia is a royalist political party in Cambodia founded in 1981. The party draws its inspiration from the political legacy of the former King of Cambodia,

Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...

Iran

The

Constitutionalist Party of Iran The Constitutionalist Party of Iran–Liberal Democrat ( fa, حزب مشروطه ايران–لیبرال دموکرات, ''Hezbé Mashruté Iran-Liberal Demokrat'') is an Iranian exiled Monarchism in Iran, monarchist political party. The party co ...

(CPI) ( fa, حزب مشروطه ايران) is a liberal democratic party founded in 1994 (originally as the ''Constitutional Movement of Iran'') and is based in exile. The party favors a constitutional monarchy in Iran but isn't opposed to a republic based on referendum. It also supports returning of current ''Crown Prince''

Reza Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi may refer to: * Reza Shah (1878–1944), Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran from 1925 until 1941 * Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah * Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pah ...

as the next shah of Iran.

United States

* Loyalists during the American Revolution (and the ensuing American Revolutionary War) were

American colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

opposed to seceding from the Kingdom of Great Britain and instead remained loyal to the British Crown. After the war ended in independence for the Thirteen Colonies, many loyalists emigrated north to British North America (Present-day Canada), referring to themselves as the United Empire Loyalists.

Malaysia

* Johor Royalists Club is a non-governmental organization which was founded in the State of Johor, within the Federation of Malaysia, on 23 March 2015. Its mission is to restore the "Order", and its objectives are to support the monarchy of Johor; to create awareness of the heritage of the monarchy of Johor; and to close up racial relations through the monarchy of Johor. Its membership is open to pure Johoreans (Anak Jati Johor) who, and both of whose parents, were born in Johor, and are loyal (and only loyal) to the

Sultan of Johor The Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the sovereign ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a ''bendahara''. Currently, the role of ''bendahara'' has been take ...

. It operates in the form of a people's congress, and has a standing committee to manage the day-to-day affairs.

Nepal

The

Rastriya Prajatantra Party The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (; ne, राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी, lit=National Democratic Party; , ( ne, राप्रपा)) is a constitutional monarchist and Hindu nationalist politic ...

was founded on the principles of democracy, constitutional monarchy, nationalism and economic liberalization. When the monarchy was abolished in 2008 and Nepal was declared a

secular state A secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a State (polity), state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens ...

, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal changed its constitution to support monarchy and the re-establishment of the

Hindu state Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

References

{{Authority control Monarchism Monarchy Conservatism