ABSTRACT
The world-wide journeys of the presentroyal family in which they perform valuable diplomatic and political roles by representing the United Kingdom overseas and by symbolizing the unity of the Commonwealth are descendants of a long tradition of a peregrinatory monarchy. The Norman and Angevin kings of England and parts of France spent their lives on the move, incessantly travelling from one part of their dominions to another. Perhaps ‘procession’ or ‘progress’ are better words to use than ‘travels’. Such movement was dictated by various circumstances. The problems of supplying a court numbering several hundred persons which quickly ate its way through food rents stockpiled from royal manors might be eased by keeping on the road. It was a vital political requirement for the king to present himself in person at frequent intervals on both sides of the Channel. Only in this way could he impress his will and display his aura at a time when government was at a relatively personal and primitive level.
