Heads of state today mark their rites of passage with splendid ceremonial, from Reagan's inaugural to Andropov's funeral. Such spectacles continue to be a prominent part of modern political systems, of varied ideological hue, but their precise meaning and importance often remain unclear. These specially commissioned essays address the central problem in the understanding of royal rituals, the relation between power and ceremonial. These contributions, from historians and anthropologists, examine a wide range of societies.