On Thursday the people of France gathered in massive numbers to celebrate the anniversary of the accession of King Louis VIII in 1223. Yeah, don’t we wish. No, it was of course to mark that horrible republican “tradition” called Bastille Day when the French Republic commemorates the start of the French Revolution that led to the destruction of the Kingdom of France, the murder of hundreds of thousands of people and the plunging of all of Europe and much of the world into a series of disastrous wars. Yes, very well done indeed. Nor was this the only sad anniversary on what is truly a dark day in monarchial history. It was also on July 14 (1958) that revolutionaries led by Abdul Karim Kassem overthrew the Hashemite monarchy of Iraq with the King and all the Royal Family on hand being taken into the palace courtyard and butchered by machine gun fire. And, of course, we all know what a free and peaceful history the people of Iraq have enjoyed ever since.
However, on a (much) brighter note, Thursday was also the birthday of HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden who turned 34 years old. The Mad Monarchist sends HRH congratulations and best wishes for many more birthdays to come for the future Queen of Sweden. Also this week HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Prince consort Henrik have been visiting that largest possession of the ancient Danish crown; Greenland. At one stop the Queen had to put on protective clothing and wade through icy waters to reach a particularly isolated coastal village she was determined to visit. Seeing those pictures I was reminded yet again of why I adore the Queen of Denmark, she is a national treasure and the most powerful presidents on earth are not worthy to hold her ashtray!
On the continent, things have not been looking good for the struggling Kingdom of Belgium. Overcome by debt (good ol’ socialism at work again), still lacking a government, fears that new elections will be called and increasing talk that the country may soon divide and HM King Albert II will be out of a job. And, if that were not bad enough, Her Majesty the Dowager Queen Fabiola (widow of the late King Baudouin) has received another death threat. Yes, another one. This time it is from a lunatic Muslim upset over the Belgian contribution to the NATO war against Libya. What Queen Fabiola has to do with any of that has yet to be explained to me but, I mean … seriously … what the hell is with Queen Fabiola being the favored target of every nut job in Belgium who wants to make a death threat?! Anyway, in other Belgian news, it was announced (not surprisingly) that TIRH Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium, and Archduchess Astrid, Princess of Belgium will represent King Albert II at the funeral of HIRH Archduke Otto of Austria. Archduke Lorenz was the nephew of the late head of the House of Hapsburg.
Royals attending the funeral of the late Archduke include Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden, HRH Infanta Christina of Spain, TRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, HSH Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, TRH the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, HM King Simeon II of Bulgaria and TRH the Duke and Duchess of Braganza.
Funnily enough, we don't actually call it "Bastille Day". That's something the Anglophone world seems intent on calling it. We just call it the "14th of July" or the "National Holiday". And I think it originally was to celebrate the establishment of the Constitutional Monarchy of France on the 14th July, 1790. So it is technically a royalist holiday, even if no-one knows it.
ReplyDeleteI call it the 14th of July in French -but I havn't the slightest idea how to spell that. I can say it, but couldn't spell it to save my life. And, of course, unless I said "Bastille Day" no one would know what I was talking about. I also don't doubt no one knows about the founding of the constitutional monarchy. In fact, I would wager most don't know France was ever a constitutional monarchy. All they know is "big, bad" *absolute monarchy* and then the Revolution and all that liberty humbug.
ReplyDeleteYes, *le quatorze juillet* was originally instituted to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under Louis XVI. Accordingly, King Albert I of the Belgians had his first official state visit to France coincide with the celebration of the 14th of July, and when people remarked on the audacity of the gesture, he reminded them that the French Revolution had originally gone in the direction of constitutional monarchy, something he himself also represented.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, well, I would have guessed *gah-toe shwoo-yay*. Perhaps the only thing I have in common with Napoleon and George Washington -bad speller!
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