A new innovative method for evaluating monarchies (crowns): A cost‒benefit analysis via social and mass media in a commonwealth country

Background : In recent years, there has been opposition to the value of constitutional monarchies around the world. Some have argued that monarchies are no longer relevant in the 21 st century. Others have argued that queens and kings are unelected and undemocratic and inadvertently symbolize past histories of colonialism. Methods : In this evaluation, using the social media coverage of the head of the commonwealth (“the royal family”) on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) as a proxy for its popularity, the economic benefits of the royal household are estimated versus the cost using mathematical models. Moreover, newspaper discussions of the royal family in Canada via the Canadian Newsstream database are used in the cost‒benefit ratio of the model. Results : Based on conservative estimations, the cost-to-benefit ratio of the head of the commonwealth in Canada alone is 7.443 trillion:1. Based on the social media baseline estimates, on YouTube, there were 6,953 videos, which generated a total of 2.58 billion views. On X, there were 108,750 posts, 83.992 billion views, 32.610 million comments, 129.326 million reposts and 1.146 billion likes. In newspaper coverage in Canada since 1970, among the total articles, there were 1.868 million newspaper articles, 2,596 magazine articles, and 551,066 other articles, demonstrating the level of outreach in every Canadian household. The royal family, as the head of the commonwealth, has possibly reached billions worldwide as a positive force for the common good of humanity and generated a quadrillion dollars in direct and indirect economic benefits for global and local economies since the inception of faster modes of communications and transportation after WWII. Conclusion : The value that monarchies add to nations and the world as institutions is unparalleled. In some countries, the national unity of different nations/regions/lands/provinces/ territories, the fragile balance of confederations, and the constitution are directly linked to the continuity of the crown. It is recommended that countries that revolted or voted against the monarchy in the past (e.g., Iran and Greece) reinstate the institution. Countries that are currently governed by some form of monarchy should not only maintain these institutions due to their extreme cost-effectiveness, cost-benefits, intangible benefits, efficiency, and superiority to other governing systems but also establish the supreme council of a king and queen and their representatives to give greater voice and urgency to issues facing humanity. Trial registration: Not applicable