A new survey, carried out by a Croatian monarchist group, shows that two-fifths of respondents want their country’s crown to return. Forty-one per cent backed the idea while fifty-eight per cent said they wanted a constitutional parliamentary republic. The poll spoke to 1759 people and was conducted on behalf of the Croatian monarchist group “Consilium Regium Croaticum”.

The group have analysed the result in a statement on their website. They say: “The poll showed that Croats tend to be more a traditional society, which reflects its history since Croatia until the second half of the 20th century was always a monarchy.” The group suggests other reasons for the backing, adding “(there are) a large number of Catholics and traditionalism in regards of religion could favour the monarchy and be against a republic.”

The Kingdom of Croatia was part of the Habsburg Monarchy that existed between 1527 and 1868, also known between 1804 and 1867 as the Austrian Empire. Until the 18th century, the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia included only a small north-western part of present-day Croatia around Zagreb and a small strip of coastland around Rijeka.

The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement. On 29 October 1918, Austro-Hungarian Slavs declared independence and formed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.

In Croatia, there are currently two pretenders to the Croatian throne. They are Crown Prince Karlo Habsburško-Lotarinški and Crown Prince Amedeo Zvonimir of Savoy-Aosta. Most Croatian monarchist movements support the Hapsburg family and want its Crown Prince, Karlo, to be their king.

Karlo Habsburško-Lotarinški, also known as Karl van Hapsburg, is an Austrian politician and the current head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine which ruled the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy. He is the son of Archduke Otto von Habsburg, Crown Prince of Austria and Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, and the grandson of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I. He served as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative Austrian People’s Party between 1996 and 1999.