Over forty percent of Croatians would love to see a return to a monarchy in the country. According to a new survey carried out by the Croatian monarchist group “Consilium Regium Croaticum” two-fifths of the people questioned were in favour of the country having a royal family again. Forty-one percent of the 1,759 people questioned were in favour whilst fifty-eight percent said they wanted a constitutional parliamentary 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.

The Croatian monarchist group commented on their website that “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.” Adding that “there are a large number of Catholics and traditionalism in regards of religion could favour the monarchy and be against a republic.”

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.