There are currently 14 Commonwealth Realms in addition to the UK where the King is their head of state.
PhD student Ms de Koening said "the royals are often overlooked when it comes to influence".
She told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "It seems like they are just stamping decrees, but they are actually very involved as diplomatic players.
"I'm hoping to change that perspective, that you can see there are way more links between the colonial and the monarch than ever have been investigated, or have ever been noticed, so we can flip that around."