The International Monarchist League (known until the mid-1990s as the Monarchist League) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the monarchical system of government and the principle of monarchy worldwide. It has been active in advocating the restoration of the monarchy in countries that have become republics in the twentieth century, particularly since the Second World War. The League is based in the United Kingdom.
Establishment
John Edward Bazille-Corbin (born Corbin, 1887–1964) founded The Monarchist League as a faux-chivalric body in 1943. Bazille-Corbin was a colourful character, who, according to Peter Anson, while retaining his living as Anglican rector of Runwell St Mary in Essex, also became titular Bishop of Selsey in Mar Georgius' "Catholicate of the West". An avid collector of titles and orders of a questionable nature, Bazille-Corbin used the titles of Duca di San Giaconio and Marquis de Beuvel.Peter F Anson Bishops at Large (London, 1964)
The League eventually developed into a pressure and support group. Celebrating its Silver Jubilee in 1968, The Monarchist editorial said "in the late 50s and the early 60s a great resurgence took place in The League when negative and passive monarchism was turned into positive and aggressive monarchism."The Monarchist, September 1968, no.26, p. 120.
The League is governed by a "Grand Council", which includes some non-British representatives. The Chancellor for at least a decade prior to 1975 was Lieut.-Col. J. C. du Parc Braham, TD (1920–1990).The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring 1991, p. 2, notice of his death and age. Du Parc Braham, an industrious but eccentric personality, kept The League's profile high. He was succeeded by The 6th Marquess of Bristol, who had been a member of The League's Grand Council previous to 1968. Lord Bristol subsidised The League and many of its events until his death in March 1985.
Michael Wynne-Parker had been Principal Secretary from the late 1970s,The Monarchist, January 1979, no.54, p. 1, when he was already in post, having succeeded J. E. Craik sometime in the last two years. and following the Marquess of Bristol's death also became The League's Acting Chancellor until 1987 when Count Nikolai Tolstoy was appointed to that position. Wynne-Parker was then made a Vice-Chancellor, a post which he held until standing down in March 1990.The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring 1990, p. 4
In 1971, The League had numerous peers and notables as high-profile members, including The 13th Viscount Massereene, The 26th Baron Mowbray, and John Biggs-Davison, MP, who was also on The league's 'Council of Honour'.The Monarchist, April/July 1971, no.36/37, p. 8 In 1972, the Chancellor announced he had appointed Mr. Nicholas Parker as "Director of Propaganda".The Monarchist, Winter, 1972, no.39, p. 7. Count Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky joined in late 1975, and Prince Moshin Ali Khan of Hyderabad and Lord Sudeley (Vice-Chancellor from 1985) were both announced as new members in 1980.The Monarchist, Winter/Spring 1975–76, nos.46 & 47, p. 4; January 1980, no.56, p. 19; July 1980, no.57, p. 26.
The League had an active youth wing (under 21s), run in the mid-1960s by David Charlesworth.The Monarchist, September 1968, no.26, p. 121, where his resignation is given due to "frequent absences abroad". In February 1979, Lord Nicholas Hervey was elected as President of the International Youth Association of The League,The Monarchist, July 1979, no.55 and contributed in the July 1981 edition of The Monarchist an article entitled "The Youth Association Spreading its Wings". In 1985 he also became a League Vice-Chancellor, and made the formal toast to the guests, the Prince and Princess of Lippe, at The League's Annual Dinner in the Cholmondeley Room, The House of Lords, on 1 April 1986.The Monarchist, February 1987, no.67. Lord Nicholas Hervey remained active in the league until 1992 when he retired due to ill-health.
Restoration of activities The Monarchist League had become virtually dormant by the mid-1980s, although Michael Wynne-Parker continued to engage in debates on behalf of The League, such as the one in 1982 at Wymondham College, Norfolk, when the motion, proposed by a Mr. Matehall, a member of the Communist Party, was "This House would Abolish the Monarchy". The motion was soundly defeated.The Monarchist, September 1982, no.61, p. 6. Gregory Lauder-Frost, who had joined The League in January 1979, also organised a major dinner at the House of Lords on 9 February 1984, when the guests-of-honour were Prince & Princess Tomislav of Yugoslavia.The Monarchist, February 1984, p. 5. Lauder-Frost is a Life Member (joined January 1979) who was amongst those listed in The Monarchist in July 1981, no.59, p. 3, as "generously" donating funds to The League.
The death of The 6th Marquess of Bristol in March 1985The Monarchist, 1985, No.66, p.3/4 – Obituary. meant the end of any kind of future subsidy and left The League overdrawn at the bank as a result.The Monarchist League Newsletter Autumn 1989 – report by henry von Blumenthal, p. 2 One edition of The Monarchist appeared that year and none at all the following year. It appeared for the last time in February 1987 following which Michael Wynne-Parker retired. He was replaced by Kenneth McLennan Hay, BEM, who served a two-year term as Secretary-General. But he lived in Edinburgh, which was inconvenient for a body based in London.The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring, 1990, pps: 2 and 4, where Kenneth Hay gives this as his main reason for retirement.
Lauder-Frost was called in to become Publications Editor (March 1987– December 1992), and Henry von BlumenthalStarke, C. A., publishers, Genealogisches Handbuch de Adels, Aderlige Hauser A Band XVIII, Limburg an der Lahn, 1985, p. 20. became Treasurer. Major re-organisation by this duo of The League and its finances took place in 1988, Lauder-Frost emphasising that "we are not just a social group, but a serious pressure group carrying out a very demanding role in the face of much opposition."The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring, 1989, p. 2, – comment by Kenneth Hay on the reorganisation; and Autumn 1990, Editorial. In Autumn 1989, Kenneth Hay stated that The League was "indebted" to Lauder-Frost, his publications for The League being "received with enthusiasm", mentioning "the letters of appreciation" he had received "from members and non-members alike."Monarchist League Newsletter Autumn 1989 & Spring 1990, p. 2 Also that year, von Blumenthal began developing a system of collaboration with other monarchist organisations, and compiled The Monarchists' Directory and which was published by Lauder-Frost in The League's Newsletter for the first time in 1989. Von Blumenthal also attempted to develop a monarchist ideology; his article "The Royalist Reasoning" is the basis for The League's current manifesto. This led to a number of important reforms, chief of which were the establishment of a UK branch network and re-activation of the branches in the United States and Australia. One of the most successful UK branches, in Kent, was led by von Blumenthal, who had recruited Don Foreman as its secretary.
Kenneth Hay was able to report in Autumn 1989 that "The League is forging ahead". He stood down at the end of 1989 and was replaced by Lauder-Frost whom he described as having an "active mind and restless energy, who has edited the Newsletter and Policy Papers with success".The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring, 1990, p. 2, Kenneth Hay's final report. He died 22 September 1992 following a heart attack. Meanwhile, Anthony J. Bailey and W. Denis Walker both joined the Grand Council as Ordinary Members in March 1990,The Monarchist League Newsletter Spring 1990, p. 2 Bailey serving for three years. Lauder-Frost served a two-year term as Secretary-General of the League, whilst continuing in his longer dual role as its Publications Officer. He stood down as Secretary-General on 31 December 1991, praised "for the high profile the League achieved under his guidance" and was replaced by Don Foreman, Secretary of the Kent Branch,The Monarchist League Newsletter, January 1992, p. 3. who remained in post until 2002.
Events
From 1988, The League stepped up functions as a way of bringing in new members and raising funds. The July 1988 Annual Dinner took place in Dartmouth House, Mayfair, with Guests-of-Honour being Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and the Duke of St. Albans. Jacqueline, Lady Killearn hosted a reception at her home in Harley Street, London, in April 1989, for members and their guests.The Monarchist league Newsletter, Spring, 1989, p. 4 1990 was a busy year for functions, with a House of Lords Dinner in MarchThe Daily Telegraph, Court & Social Columns, 14 March 1990, p. 20 and over 100 members and guests at a summer reception, hosted by Conservative MP Neil Hamilton, in Westminster Hall on 17 July. Lord Sudeley and Gregory Lauder-Frost represented The League (at their own expense) at a major fund-raising dinner in New York City on 15 June 1990, which had been organised by New York member David Evans, and the Reverend (now Canon) Dr. Kenneth Gunn-Walberg.The Monarchist League Newsletter, Autumn 1990, report p. 2 On 8–9 December that year Lauder-Frost also represented The League at the European Monarchist Conference in Warsaw, Poland, which attracted over 350 delegates from Europe, and several from North America.The Guardian, 10 December 1990The European, 14 December 1990The Melbourne Age (Saturday Extra), 23 February 1991.Pro Fide Rege et Lege (magazine) Warsaw, Poland, no.10, 1999, proceedings and speeches of the European Monarchist Congress. He returned immediately for The League's Christmas reception at London's Lansdowne Club on the 10th. A League seminar followed on 26 January 1991 addressed by Dimitri Dostoevsky, a great-grandson of the author. This event was filmed for a BBC documentaryThe Monarchist League Newsletters, Autumn 1990 and Spring 1991 where all these events are reported on. entitled Dostoevsky's Travels, broadcast on BBC2 TV on 9 October 1991. Under Don Foreman's auspices, a new South-Eastern Counties branch was inaugurated in September 1991, and Lauder-Frost organised another dinner at the House of Lords on 30 November 1992, with the Guest-of-Honour being HRH Prince Shwebomin of Burma.The Monarchist League Newsletter, February 1993, p. 2 The functions strategy, coupled with publications, was shown to be paying off by Spring 1992, when it was announced that in the previous three months alone 95 new members had joined.The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring 1992, p.3
Today The current Chancellor is Nikolai Tolstoy, who took up the post in late 1987. The Administrator and Treasurer since about 1993 until his death in January 2024 was Denis Walker who was introduced onto the Grand Council on 14 March 1990 by Gregory Lauder-Frost, seconded by Lord Sudeley.The Monarchist League Newsletter, Spring, 1990, p. 4 In March 2002 a company limited by guarantee was formed, The Monarchist Movement Trust Limited, of which Walker was the Company Secretary and a Director. After being based for 50 years in central London, The League is now based at an office in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.
Affiliated organisations