Few Westerners put much stock in royalty. The lives of the British royals have become a source of gossip rather than respect. We have been raised to treasure the spirit of democracy. But democracy, at least on any large scale, is a recent development in human history. People in other eras were accustomed to kings. For good or evil, kings and emperors left their mark on daily life. Thus when a new king came to power, whether through natural succession or through defeat