The eagle and the crown

the long version

"The Eagle and the Crown tells the absorbing story of a nation that overthrew British rule but created a system of government that drew heavily on the monarchical traditions of the mother country. Frank Prochaska shows that the American Founding Fathers were more monarchical in their thinking than is widely assumed. They created what Theodore Roosevelt later called an 'elective king' in the office of president, conferring quasi-regal status on the occupant of the White House." "Examining American attitudes towards the monarchy from the Revolutionary period to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the book illuminates the royal legacy in American politics, culture, and national self-image. It is not only the Constitution and political custom that have been influenced by the British monarchy. With exquisite paradox Americans fell in love with the transcendent glamour of a hereditary royal family from the lofty heights of republican virtue." "Monarchy is the fount of celebrity, and Prochaska reveals that members of the British royal family have been central to the emergence of America's obsession with fame, offering an aristocratic contrast to the instant creations of the media. For their part the royal family has understood their relationship to America to be an integral part of their public image. Over centuries America's complex relationship with the British monarchy has been a feature of both nations' conversation about themselves, a conversation that The Eagle and the Crown explores with wit and panache."--Jacket.