A crowned republic, also known as a monarchial republic, is an informal term that has been used to refer to a system of monarchy where the monarch's role may be seen as almost entirely ceremonial and where nearly all of the royal prerogatives are exercised in such a way that the monarch personally has little power over executive and constitutional issues. The term has been used by a small number of authors (below) to informally describe governments such as Australia and the United Kingdom, although these countries are classified as constitutional monarchies. The term "crowned republic" may also refer to historical republics which had a doge as their head of state, most particularly Venice and Genoa, and is sometimes used to describe the current Republic of San Marino.
A 1871 caricature of the French president Adolphe Thiers by Touchatout, alluding to his 1830s defense of the July Monarchy as a “hereditary presidency”. Thiers symbolically replaces the Phrygian cap, a symbol of the French Revolution and especially of jacobinism, with a crown on a personnification of Liberty commonly used as an allegory of the French Republic.
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. Constitutional monarchies differ from absolute monarchies in that they are bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework.
The three constitutional monarchs of the Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Norway & Denmark gathered in November 1917 in Oslo. From left to right: Gustaf V, Haakon VII & Christian X.
A meeting in the Japanese privy council in 1946 led by Hirohito.