Welcome

Welcome to Carolyn Harris: Royal Historian, the place for historical commentary on today’s royal news. This site’s pages also contain links to the print, radio, and television interviews I have done in the past year concerning Prince William’s and Kate Middleton\s wedding, the recent changes to the royal succession, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 visit to Canada and the role of the monarchy in Canadian political life. The 2011 royal weddings and tours combined innovative new approaches with the centuries of traditions surrounding a “royal progress” or the marriage of a member of the royal family. 2012 will be another exciting year in the history of monarchy as Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, only the second in British history. The Queen has presided over an unprecedented period of modernizationand revitalization of the institution of constitutional monarchy and shows every sign of continuing to balance reform with tradition in the seventh decade of her reign. I will provide weekly commentary here about royal history as the jubilee celebrations unfold and also provide reviews of some of the numerous books being published this year about royalty.