"League title in the 2010 season, their third in seven years. The Championship was secured by winning away at Stoke's Loomer Road track, with Edinburgh riders Ryan Fisher and Kevin Wölbert going through the card unbeaten. The Monarchs lost out on another League Championship in 2013 losing narrowly to winners Somerset, though took some consolation by securing the Premier League Fours. The 2014 Monarchs had a very successful season winning the Premier League Cup, the Knock Out Cup and the Premier League. Sam Masters and Max Fricke won the Premier League Pairs Trophy. The 2015 Monarchs topped their qualifying section"
"(), fifteen kings and two queens regnant are recognized as the heads of state of sovereign states (i.e. English ""king"" or ""queen"" is used as official translation of the respective native titles held by the monarchs). Most of these are heads of state of constitutional monarchies; kings ruling over absolute monarchies are the King of Saudi Arabia, the King of Bahrain and the King of Eswatini. King King, or king regnant is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, while the title of queen on its own usually refers"
"a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no official political power: under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority. Currently, 45 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. Most modern European monarchies are constitutional and hereditary with a largely ceremonial role, with the exception of the Vatican which is an elective theocracy and the Principalities of Liechtenstein and Monaco where the monarchs exercise unrestricted authority. The monarchies of Cambodia and Malaysia are constitutional with"
"a monarch as head of state. They fall roughly into the following categories: The Pope is the absolute monarch of the ""Vatican City State"" (different entity from the Holy See) by virtue of his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome; he is an elected rather than hereditary ruler and does not have to be a citizen of the territory prior to his election by the cardinals. The ruling Kim family in North Korea (Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un) has been described as a ""de facto"" absolute monarchy or ""hereditary dictatorship"". In 2013,"
"Absolute monarchy Absolute Monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch holds supreme authority and where that authority is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often, but not always, hereditary monarchies. In contrast, in constitutional monarchies, the head of state's authority derives from and is legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic legislatures and other governmental bodies the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Countries where monarchs still maintain absolute power are: Brunei, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Eswatini, Vatican City and the individual emirates composing"
"Modern absolute monarchy was established by Chulalongkorn when he transformed the decentralized protectorate system into a unitary state. On 24 June 1932, Khana Ratsadon (People's Party) carried out a bloodless revolution which ended the absolute rule. The politics of Thailand is conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state. The judiciary is supposed to be independent of the executive and the legislative branches, although judicial rulings are suspected of being based on political considerations rather than on existing law. However, since May 2014,"
"Gyanendra was peacefully deposed in May 2008 and the country became a federal republic. One of the world's oldest monarchies was abolished in Ethiopia in 1974 with the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie. The majority of current monarchies are constitutional monarchies. In most of these, the monarch wields only symbolic power, although in some, the monarch does play a role in political affairs. In Thailand, for instance, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned from 1946 to 2016, played a critical role in the nation's political agenda and in various military coups. Similarly, in Morocco, King Mohammed VI wields significant, but not"
"22 May 2014 coup d'état. According to the now defunct 2007 constitution, the three major independent authorities holding the balance of power are executive, legislative, and judicial. Although the King has little direct power under the constitution and Thailand categorizes itself as a constitutional monarchy, the king is more than a symbol of national identity and unity. The present monarch has a great deal of popular respect and moral authority, which has been used to intervene in political crises and influence the course of the government. The head of government is the prime minister. Under the now defunct 2007 constitution,"
"Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. Oman is led by Monarch Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. The Kingdom of Jordan is one of the Middle East's more modern monarchies is also ruled by a Malik. In Arab and arabized countries, Malik (absolute King) is absolute word to render a monarch and is superior to all other titles. Nepal abolished their monarchy in 2008. Sri Lanka had a complex system of monarchies from 543BC to 1815. Between 47BC-42BC Anula of Sri Lanka became the country's first female head of state as well as Asia's first head of state. In Malaysia's constitutional monarchy,"
"the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She is also the ""longest-reigning sovereign in Canada's modern era"". (King Louis XIV of France reigned over Canada (New France) for longer than Elizabeth.) She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe"
"citing absolute monarchy as preserving natural order as God intended. Absolute monarchy Absolute Monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch holds supreme authority and where that authority is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often, but not always, hereditary monarchies. In contrast, in constitutional monarchies, the head of state's authority derives from and is legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic legislatures and other governmental bodies the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Countries where monarchs still maintain absolute power are: Brunei, Oman,"
"federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states, each of which is an absolute monarchy with its own emir). There have been discussions regarding the future membership of Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen. A 2011 proposal to transform the GCC into a ""Gulf Union"" with tighter economic, political and military coordination has been advanced by Saudi Arabia, a move meant to counterbalance the Iranian influence in the region. Objections have been raised against the proposal by other countries. In 2014, Bahrain prime minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said that current events in the region highlighted"
"Monarchies in Asia Asia has more monarchs than any other continent. The United Arab Emirates consists of seven emirates that are all ruled by absolute monarchs. The President of the United Arab Emirates is an office held by the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and the office of Prime Minister is held by the Ruler of Dubai. The seven Emirates of the UAE are: Note: Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi of Ajman, Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla of Umm al-Quwain, Saud bin Saqr Al-Qasimi of Ras al-Khaimah, and Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi of Fujairah are not pictured. Malaysia, where"
"the Commonwealth that recognise the Queen as their monarch. When the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become Head of the Commonwealth. However, at their meeting in April 2018, Commonwealth leaders agreed that Prince Charles should succeed his mother as head. The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members, the majority of which (31) are republics, and five have monarchs of different royal houses (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga). The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth heads of government, including (amongst"
"absolute power. Liechtenstein is a democratic principality whose citizens have voluntarily given more power to their monarch in recent years. There remain a handful of countries in which the monarch is the true ruler. The majority of these countries are oil-producing Arab Islamic monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Other strong monarchies include Brunei and Swaziland. Absolute monarchy stands as an opposition to anarchism and, additionally from the Age of Enlightenment, liberalism, and communism. Otto von Habsburg advocated a form of constitutional monarchy based on the primacy of the supreme judicial function, with hereditary"
"political powers are lapsed powers. There are currently 43 monarchies worldwide. Constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises authority in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. Constitutional monarchy differs from absolute monarchy (in which a monarch holds absolute power) in that constitutional monarchs are bound to exercise their powers and authorities within the limits prescribed within an established legal framework. Constitutional monarchies range from countries such as Morocco, where the constitution grants substantial discretionary powers to the sovereign, to countries such as Japan and Sweden where the monarch retains no formal"
"supporters of constitutional monarchy, however, the experience confirmed the value of the monarchy as a source of checks and balances against elected politicians who might seek powers in excess of those conferred by the constitution, and ultimately as a safeguard against dictatorship. In Thailand's constitutional monarchy, the monarch is recognized as the Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, Upholder of the Buddhist Religion, and Defender of the Faith. The former King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, was the longest reigning monarch in the world and in all of Thailand's history, prior to passing away on 13 October 2016. Bhumibol has reigned"
"heads of state is the President of the French Republic in the form of a Co-Prince. This is the only instance in the world where the monarch of a state is elected by the citizens of a different country. Appointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan. It also was used in Imperial Russia; however, it was changed to semi-Salic soon, because the instability of the appointment system resulted in an age of palace revolutions. In this system, the monarch chooses the successor, who is always his relative. Currently there are 44 nations in the world with"
"In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure (e.g. most modern constitutional monarchies) real leadership does not depend on the monarch. A form of government may in fact be hereditary without being considered monarchy, such as a family dictatorship. Monarchies take a wide variety of forms, such as the two co-princes of Andorra, positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgel (Spain) and the elected President of France (although strictly Andorra is a diarchy). Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a"
"Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in which Queen Elizabeth II is the reigning constitutional monarch and head of state. Each realm is independent from the other realms. As of 2018, there are 16 Commonwealth realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom. All 16 Commonwealth realms are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states. Elizabeth II is Head of the Commonwealth. In 1952,"
"one is a kingdom (Perlis), one an elective monarchy (Negeri Sembilan), while the remaining four states and the federal territories have non-monarchical systems of government. The head of state of the entire federation is a constitutional monarch styled Yang di-Pertuan Agong (In English, ""He who is made lord""). The Yang di-Pertuan is elected to a five-year term by the Conference of Rulers, made up of the nine state monarchs and the governors of the remaining states. A system of informal rotation exists between the nine state monarchs. On 12 July 2011, the Parliament of Montenegro passed the Law on the"
"Monarchies in the Americas There are 13 monarchies in the Americas (self-governing states and territories that have a monarch as head of state). Each is a constitutional monarchy, where in the sovereign inherits his or her office, usually keeping it until death or abdication, and is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers. Ten of these monarchies are independent states, and equally share Queen Elizabeth II, who resides primarily in the United Kingdom, as their respective sovereign, making them part of a global grouping known as the Commonwealth realms, while the remaining three are dependencies of"
"the United Arab Emirates, which itself is a federation of such monarchies – a federal monarchy. In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh wielded absolute power over the country and was considered a living god by his people. In ancient Mesopotamia, many rulers of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumer were absolute monarchs as well. In ancient and medieval India, rulers of the Maurya, Satavahana, Gupta and Chalukya Empires, as well as other major and minor empires, were considered absolute monarchs. In the Khmer Empire, the kings were called ""Devaraja"" and ""Chakravartin"" (King of the world), and exercised absolute power over the empire and"
"which originated as colonies of the British Empire. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated the United Kingdom as a ""full democracy"" in 2017. The British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the chief of state of the United Kingdom. Though she takes little direct part in government, the Crown remains the fount in which ultimate executive power over government lies. These powers are known as royal prerogative and can be used for a vast amount of things, such as the issue or withdrawal of passports, to the dismissal of the Prime Minister or even the declaration of war. The powers are"
"the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The Supreme Lord of the Federation) is ""de facto"" rotated every five years among the nine Rulers of the Malay states of Malaysia (those nine of the thirteen states of Malaysia that have hereditary royal rulers), elected by ""Majlis Raja-Raja"" (Conference of Rulers). Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, the Sultan of Brunei is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers, since 1962. The Prime Minister of Brunei is a title held by the Sultan. As the prime minister, the Sultan presides over the cabinet. Cambodia has been a kingdom since the 1st century."
"and Freedom House ranks all EU states as being totally free electoral democracies. All but 4 are ranked at the top 1.0 rating. However, the exact political system of a state is not limited, with each state having its own system based on its historical evolution. Half of member states—14 out of 28—are parliamentary republics, while seven states are constitutional monarchies, meaning they have a monarch although political powers are exercised by elected politicians. Most republics and all the monarchies operate a parliamentary system whereby the head of state (president or monarch) has a largely ceremonial role with reserve powers."
"back to ascend to the throne. Mswati was introduced as Crown Prince in September 1983 and was crowned king on 25 April 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, and thus making him the youngest reigning monarch until the ascension of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan on 14 December 2006; he was also the youngest head of state until Joseph Kabila took office on 26 January 2001 as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The king and his mother, whose title is ""Indlovukati"" (""Great She-Elephant""), rule jointly. Today King Mswati III is Africa's last absolute monarch"
"Asia. King Bhumibol was the world's longest reigning monarch at the time of his death in October 2016. He died on 13 October 2016 at the age of 88. Since c. 2000, the role of the Thai monarchy has been increasingly challenged by scholars, media, observers and traditionalists, and as more educated pro-democracy interests began to express their speech. Many deemed that a series of laws and measures relating to lèse majesté in Thailand are hindrances to freedom of expression. Dozens of arrests, hundreds of criminal investigations and multiple imprisonments have been made based on these laws. King Bhumibol Adulyadej's"
"most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated. Government is dominated by the royal family. The Basic Law specifies that the king must be chosen from among the sons of the first king, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and their male descendants subject to the subsequent approval of leaders (the ulama). In 2007, an ""Allegiance Council"" was created, comprising King Abdulaziz's surviving sons plus a son of each his deceased sons, to determine who will be the heir apparent (the Crown Prince) after the previous heir apparent dies or accedes to the throne. Prince Mohammad bin Salman is the current"
"is also customary in some circles to refer to the extended relations of a deposed monarch and his or her descendants as a royal family. A dynasty is sometimes referred to as ""the House of ..."". As of July 2013, there are 26 active sovereign monarchies in the world who rule or reign over 43 countries in all. A royal family typically includes the spouse of the reigning monarch, surviving spouses of a deceased monarch, the children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and paternal cousins of the reigning monarch, as well as their spouses. In some cases, royal family membership may extend"
"absolute monarchy, since 1970. Sultan Qaboos is the longest-serving current ruler in the Middle East, and third-longest current reigning monarch in the world. Oman is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It has sizable oil reserves, ranking 25th globally. Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. A significant portion of its economy involves tourism and trade of fish, dates, and certain agricultural produce. This sets it apart"
"700,000,000 people in twenty-four member nations worldwide. In 2008, King Juan Carlos I was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America. The Spanish monarchy has its roots in the Visigothic Kingdom founded in Spain and Aquitania in the 5th century, and its Christian successor states which fought the Reconquista following the Umayyad invasion of Hispania in the 8th century. A dynastic marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon united Spain in the 15th century. The last pretender of the Crown of the Byzantine Empire, Andreas Palaiologos, sold his imperial title to Ferdinand II of Aragon"
"Professor S Abdallah Schleifer. The top spot went back to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, due to his being the ""absolute monarch of the most powerful Arab nation."" The list accords him the place in light of Saudi Arabia being home to Islam's two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, which millions of Muslims visit throughout the year, as well as the kingdom's oil exports. Rounding out the top three are Dr Muhammad Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University and grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The top nine are all political"