How do monarchies use ceremonies to strengthen the authority of the state?

Monarchies utilize ceremonies and pageantry as essential tools to reinforce state authority, project power, and solidify their cultural and political legitimacy. These practices serve several key functions:12

• Symbolic Legitimacy: Ceremonies such as coronations and royal accessions are designed to elevate the monarch above ordinary citizens, often connecting their rule to supernatural or divine authority. By using specific regalia—such as the throne, crown, and sceptre—monarchs visually manifest their dignity and right to rule.3
• Historical Continuity: In modern constitutional monarchies, ceremonies function as national assets that symbolize historical continuity, providing a sense of stability and unity even when the monarch has transferred actual political power to elected officials.4
• Social and Political Cohesion: Ceremonies and "court societies" create a web of personal bonds between the monarch and the elite, helping to manage social structures. In traditional monarchies, such as those in the Persian Gulf, rituals and public events help maintain the ruling family's position by building alliances and managing tribal frameworks.14
• Projection of Identity: Pageantry allows a state to reify its cultural identity and project it to both its own citizens and outsiders. Whether through military parades or state visits, these spectacles serve to assert social prestige and legitimize political actions.152