palace coup
Leadership change within
A palace coup is a sudden overthrow of a leader by insiders—typically members of the same government, court, or ruling circle rather than outside forces or popular uprising.
The term evokes political intrigue within royal courts, where advisors or family members might seize power: The CEO was ousted in what employees called a palace coup.
Unlike revolutions, palace coups leave the broader power structure intact while simply replacing who sits at the top.
- inner circleExclusive group of confidants
- subversionUndermining established authority
- regimeSystem of governance
- overthrowForcible removal from power
- usurpationWrongful seizure of power
takeover · hostile takeover · tyrannicide · imperial succession · succession crisis · cabal · smoke-filled room · clandestine · power struggle · power vacuum · regime change · regency · changing of the guard · underhandedness · ruling elite · political assassination · dynastic struggles · sedition
- takeovertakeover, take over, seize power, seizure, hostile takeover
- Imperial ChinaHan dynasty, emperor, dynasties, emperors, Three Kingdoms
- Catherine IICatherine the Great, empress, autocrat, Romanov dynasty, Potemkin
- coupsoverthrow, ousting, dethronement, putsch, dethroning
- political intrigueintrigue, conspiracy, treason, plot, collusion
- power grabshostile takeover, overthrow, putsch, seizure, takeover
palace coupmass uprising
popular uprising · popular revolt · democratic revolution · peasant revolt · proletarian revolution