The British Empire may seem something far off, and "once upon a time", but it was only four years ago that the royal yacht Brittania sailed away from Hong Kong's shores, leaving behind the last major island of British imperial rule.
Historian David Cannadine says its time for a review of "empire" suggesting that the hierarchy was not, as we've come to assume, one built on race. Rather he says it was class and social standing that helped cement the Empire together.
Thus it was the transference of royalty, ceremony, and title, what one observer called "all such humbug and flummery" that formed the foundation of the Empire and the world as is it today.
