Unlike other governments of the time, which frequently operated on royal whim or upon the accumulation of personal power, the Melcene government was rigidly departmentalized.

"They see a future now, where their grandchildren can expect to grow up without fear of being murdered on a royal whim."

The gardens of Versailles, the result of centuries of grooming and planning to satisfy royal whim, look more like a logging camp these days than a place where nobles in satin pumps liked to stroll.

(And royal whim is one reason no Saudis want to be quoted by name when discussing their rulers.)

Save in written descriptions, this glittering scheme had entirely vanished - sacrificed to royal whim.

Similarly, marmalade did not begin with a royal whim.

But age was one thing-a somewhat arbitrary milestone that easily might be set aside for reasonable cause, even royal whim.

In the early period, the fortunes of the State Library rose and fell on royal whims.

As for this week's vaunted Saudi visions in Beirut, "full normalization" could be rescinded on a royal whim overnight; "full withdrawal" is forever.

To some, this seems like a royal whim, the shadowy wish of a weak queen.