Monarchy is Britain's oldest institution, older than Parliament, older even than our Law Courts. British royalty can claim the oldest dynastic heritage in Europe. The ability of the British constitutional monarchy to blend mystical appeal with practical politics has always been fascinating but during the second half of the twentieth century criticism of the Monarchy increased. The Monarchy and Its Future, originally published in 1969, presents a number of widely differing opinions as they examine the monarchy's role in the future and question whether the traditions and loyalties of the past can survive in a world of mass media and what the Crown means to people in Britain, the Commonwealth, Europe and America.