Why did Pope Pius X abolish the royal veto in papal elections?

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Cardinals of the Catholic Church, dressed in red, sit at long tables in the Sistine Chapel during the 2005 papal election conclave, surrounded by ornate frescoed walls. — papal conclave Cardinals assembled inside the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace for a conclave to elect a new pope; Vatican City, 2005.

Pope Pius X abolished the royal veto—also known as the right of exclusion—to protect the independence and integrity of the papal conclave from secular interference.

Historically, Catholic monarchs claimed the right to block the election of specific candidates for the papacy. This practice was exercised for the final time in 1903, when Austria used the veto to prevent the election of Cardinal Mariano Rampolla. Following his own subsequent election, Pius X formally abolished this right. To ensure the rule was strictly upheld, he mandated that any cardinal who accepted a mission from a government to propose a veto against a candidate would face excommunication.1