On 9 June 2026, Westminster Abbey's College Garden hosted the launch of Monarchy and Democracy: A History of Leadership, and Regulativ was featured within it. More than 500 attendees gathered for the event, including figures from Parliament, industry and the media, alongside a host of special guests.

The book is a joint production of St James's House and the History of Parliament Trust, one of the UK's most authoritative academic research organisations. It took a team of prominent academics and bestselling authors to write it, among them royal experts Robert Jobson, Russell Myers and Katie Nicholl. Across 750 fully illustrated pages, it traces the roles of Crown and Parliament from the medieval origins of parliamentary power through to the constitutional monarchy of today, and it sits within a wider campaign that also includes documentary, film and digital content.

Inside the launch

The launch featured a panel conversation between contributors Robert Jobson, Russell Myers and Katie Nicholl, followed by speeches and the formal presentation of the book. Dr Jennifer Davey, Director at the History of Parliament Trust, described a publication that traces the shift to a constitutional monarchy while profiling organisations selected for their relevance to leadership, innovation, sustainability and governance. Stephen van der Merwe, a Group Director at the SJH Group, pointed to the in-depth interviews behind the project. He called it a first-hand perspective on how today's organisations are shaping their industries.

The launch was followed by the London Press Club Summer Garden Party, attended by more than 600 guests, including senior figures from the UK's leading media organisations. The event included a tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with speakers including Ailsa Anderson, former Press Secretary to the Queen, and Dickie Arbiter, former Assistant Press Secretary to the Queen.

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"This is a wonderful opportunity to honour Queen Elizabeth II and the historic contribution she made to the nation and the Commonwealth. Hers was a remarkable life, one that continues to inspire generations around the world."

Robert Jobson, Deputy Chair, London Press Club

Why Regulativ features in this book

Democracies rely on laws, and on institutions capable of applying those laws consistently as circumstances change around them. That is the argument Regulativ set out to make within these pages: what we call the regulatory challenge, the idea that lasting leadership, whether monarchical or parliamentary, depends on regulatory frameworks that can adapt as quickly as the risks they exist to contain.

The parallel runs closer than it first appears. A constitutional monarchy holds its authority by adapting, generation after generation, to a democratic system that keeps changing shape around it. The EU AI Act, DORA and the dozens of frameworks Regulativ works with every day ask something similar of the organisations they govern: keep pace with the change, or fall out of step with it. A hundred years of monarchy and democracy is, in that sense, a hundred years of institutions learning to update themselves under pressure, and that is the same problem regulatory technology exists to solve for compliance teams today.

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"Being part of Monarchy and Democracy gave us a rare opportunity to place regulatory technology within a much longer story. A hundred years of constitutional change shows the same pattern we see in AI governance today: institutions that adapt survive, and those that don't fall behind the risks they were built to manage."

Jinal Shah, Co-Founder & CEO, Regulativ

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Where to read it

The publication is available in both print and digital formats, and copies are being distributed to political, institutional and educational audiences across the UK, Europe and the Commonwealth. Regulativ's copies are already in hand, and the digital edition is open to anyone who wants to read it in full, including the pages that feature Regulativ directly.

Read the digital edition of Monarchy and Democracy: A History of Leadership →

A century of constitutional change asks the same question of every institution it passes through: does yours adapt, or does it fall behind? Where does regulatory technology sit in that story for your organisation?

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