Introduction

For the English people, the image of the monarch is deeply bound up with the idea of nationhood. It is no accident that the queen's head alone on a postage stamp is understood to be sufficient to represent England, nor that the stamp only needs words or extra symbols if it is issued somewhere else: Scotland, for example. Representations of the sovereign are widespread, even commonplace, but officially even the flimsiest of them are still treated with painstaking marks of respect. Photographs of the queen removed from embassies and other official settings are returned to Buckingham Palace by government curators, presumably lest they should fall into the wrong hands. There is still a commonly held belief that it is an offence to damage an image of the monarch, and whilst this notion may not be so firmly founded as some think, the common law does recognize an offence of contempt of the sovereign, which might possibly encompass such damage. Nonetheless, most images of the monarch in public contexts cannot rely on long-term direct government protection. In effigy, even the most powerful figures are vulnerable. Reputations wax and wane. Individual monarchs, and at times the monarchy in general, have not always been regarded with respect. Debates about royal monuments have often expressed fundamental rivalries and tensions within society.