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Monarchism
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A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch. Most often, the term royalist is applied to a supporter of a current regime or one that has been recently overthrown to form a republic.

In the United Kingdom today, the term is almost indistinguishable from "monarchist," because there are no significant rival claimants to the throne. Conversely, in 19th-century France, a royalist might be either a Legitimist, Bonapartist, or an Orléanist, all being monarchists.

In the United Kingdom

• The Wars of the Roses pitted the Yorkists against the Lancastrians
• During the English Civil War, the Royalists or Cavaliers supported King Charles I (and later King Charles II).
• The Jacobites are supporters of the deposed James II and his line after the Glorious Revolution
• The Williamites or Orangemen supported William III against James II
• The Loyalists are supporters of the post-Glorious Revolution monarchy and/or the British Empire

In France

• Legitimists, French royalists upholding Salic Law
  • Chouannerie, a royalist group during the French Revolution
  • Ultra-royalists, a nineteenth-century reactionary faction of the French parliament
• Orléanists, who, in late 18th- and 19th century France, supported the Orléanist branch of the French royal family, which came to power in the July Revolution
• Bonapartists, supporters of the Bonaparte imperial line

In the Low Countries

• Orangism in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg
• Supporters of the return of Leopold III as King of the Belgians after the Second World War, also called Leopoldists

In Portugal

• Miguelist, a supporter of King Miguel

In Spain and the Spanish Empire

• Carlist, a Spanish legitimist
• Royalist (Spanish American Revolution), a supporter of the Spanish Empire during the Spanish American wars of independence