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As the keystone of the constitutional architecture, the British monarchy was unlikely to escape the ordeal of two world wars. But the imperial dimension of the monarchy stood comforted: Dominions and colonies alike displayed an unflagging loyalism (with the exception of the neutrality of Ireland in 1939) and the 1931 Statute of Westminster expressly mentioned a “common allegiance to the Crown” as the cement of Imperial unity. Above all, the Royals knew how to present themselves as sharing the burdens of the people. George V and George VI were real “father figures” and all of the members of the Royal family had to fulfill an increasing number of public engagements that the media scrupulously advertised. The “people’s war” gave birth to a “people’s monarchy”, the legacy of whichstill perdures today.