I guess Americans got this crazy idea about democracy being the essence of a republic because they used the terms and can't concieve of a republic being anything else than their system of government.

But I guess we Europeans have got to take a little bit of the blame for hanging on to old forms in what are basically are republics. Countries like the UK and The Netherlands may still have their Queens and Kings, but essentially those have long lost any serious government role. Our governments aren't headed by hereditary monarchs but by elected officials.