Today is the eightieth birthday of King Albert II, who reigned as King of the Belgians from the death of his brother, King Baudouin, in 1993 until his abdication in favour of his son, the current King Philippe, on 21 July last year.
Unlike his Dutch counterpart, King Albert retains the kingly title, but he and Queen Paola have so far kept a fairly low profile. While Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands is a fixture at all sorts of events, King Albert and Quene Paola carry out few public engagements, although one exception was the canonisations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II on 27 April, when they represented their son.
King Albert and Queen Paola also seem to have found it more difficult than Princess Beatrix to adjust to their new role. There was some rather undignified complaining that his allowance was too low, leaving him short of money for fuel for his yacht, and when their youngest son, Prince Laurent, was recently in a coma in hospital, Queen Paola issued a statement which suggested that the situation was more serious than the royal court claimed. Apparently this lead to King Philippe removing the head of his parents' household, who was, however, soon back in a role of special adviser.
King Albert's eightieth birthday will be marked by an exhibition on his life at the BELvue Museum in Brussels, which will open tomorrow, and King Albert and Queen Paola have given a rare interview to broadcaster RTL, which will air in two parts on Monday and Tuesday.
Friday, 6 June 2014
Thursday, 5 June 2014
On this date: Golden wedding of Princess Désirée and Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld
The King of Sweden's third elder sister, Princess Désirée, and her husband, Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld, celebrate their golden wedding anniversary today.
The Princess and the Baron, who belongs to a family that was ennobled in 1686 and made barons in 1771, married in the Cathedral of Stockholm on 5 June 1964. Theirs was thus the "biggest" of the weddings of the four so-called Haga princesses, but that was not a sign of things to come, for Princess Désirée and Baron Silfverschiöld have lived quitely at his estate Koberg near Trollhättan and only rarely appeared at royal occasions other than family events in Sweden and Norway (they are close to the King and Queen of Norway).
In recent years Niclas Silfverschiöld, who turned eighty last Saturday, has been seriously ill, which caused him to be absent from many events, but he had recovered sufficiently well enough to attend the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill a year ago.
June 1964 was a month of weddings for the Swedish royal family, as Princess Margaretha and John Ambler tied the knot 25 days after the nuptials of Princess Désirée and Niclas Silfverschiöld. However, as John Ambler died in 2008, having separated from Princess Margaretha fourteen years before, there will obviously not be a second golden wedding this month.
The Princess and the Baron, who belongs to a family that was ennobled in 1686 and made barons in 1771, married in the Cathedral of Stockholm on 5 June 1964. Theirs was thus the "biggest" of the weddings of the four so-called Haga princesses, but that was not a sign of things to come, for Princess Désirée and Baron Silfverschiöld have lived quitely at his estate Koberg near Trollhättan and only rarely appeared at royal occasions other than family events in Sweden and Norway (they are close to the King and Queen of Norway).
In recent years Niclas Silfverschiöld, who turned eighty last Saturday, has been seriously ill, which caused him to be absent from many events, but he had recovered sufficiently well enough to attend the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill a year ago.
June 1964 was a month of weddings for the Swedish royal family, as Princess Margaretha and John Ambler tied the knot 25 days after the nuptials of Princess Désirée and Niclas Silfverschiöld. However, as John Ambler died in 2008, having separated from Princess Margaretha fourteen years before, there will obviously not be a second golden wedding this month.
Monday, 2 June 2014
King Juan Carlos abdicates
During a meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the Palace of La Zarzuela this morning King Juan Carlos I abdicated the crown of Spain in favour of his son, Prince Felipe. However, the abdication does not come into effect immediately, but will have to be approved by both houses of parliament. This will, it seems, take at least a couple of weeks.
In a televised speech to his people, the King gave no exact reason for his decision, but stated that his 76th birthday last January made him feel that "the time had come to prepare the handover to make way for someone who is in the best possible conditions to maintain that stability", a stability he believes is "a defining feature of our monarchy" and which he thinks his son "embodies".
The actual reasons are probably a combination of the King's health problems and how the standing of the Spanish monarchy has been severly undermined by a series of scandals during the past two or three years. The most serious has been the court case which has seen Princess Cristina's husband, Iñaki Urdangarín, accused of corruption and embezzlement, a case the rest of the royal family have also been dragged into.
For the King the problems started in April 2012 when he fell and broke his hip while hunting elephants in Botswana with another woman than the Queen. This, which happened shortly after the King had spoken of how Spain's severe economic problems, which have caused an unemployment rate of 25 % (and 50 % for those under the age of 25), kept him awake at night, opened the floodgates for criticism of the monarchy and the King.
As the King's approval ratings and support for the monarchy plummeted Prince Felipe managed to keep out of the storm and it seems things had eventually reached the point where King Juan Carlos had become a problem for the monarchy and the chances for its survival would improve by his stepping aside.
King Juan Carlos can thus be said to have sacrificed himself for the future of the monarchy, but it is an ironic - and tragic - end to the reign of the monarch who steered Spain from dictatorship to democracy following the death of the Facist dicator Francisco Franco, who had hoped Juan Carlos would continue the Francoist regime. It is to be hoped that history will remember King Juan Carlos I for the great contributions he made to his country and to democracy rather than for the disgraceful end to his nearly forty-year reign.
In a televised speech to his people, the King gave no exact reason for his decision, but stated that his 76th birthday last January made him feel that "the time had come to prepare the handover to make way for someone who is in the best possible conditions to maintain that stability", a stability he believes is "a defining feature of our monarchy" and which he thinks his son "embodies".
The actual reasons are probably a combination of the King's health problems and how the standing of the Spanish monarchy has been severly undermined by a series of scandals during the past two or three years. The most serious has been the court case which has seen Princess Cristina's husband, Iñaki Urdangarín, accused of corruption and embezzlement, a case the rest of the royal family have also been dragged into.
For the King the problems started in April 2012 when he fell and broke his hip while hunting elephants in Botswana with another woman than the Queen. This, which happened shortly after the King had spoken of how Spain's severe economic problems, which have caused an unemployment rate of 25 % (and 50 % for those under the age of 25), kept him awake at night, opened the floodgates for criticism of the monarchy and the King.
As the King's approval ratings and support for the monarchy plummeted Prince Felipe managed to keep out of the storm and it seems things had eventually reached the point where King Juan Carlos had become a problem for the monarchy and the chances for its survival would improve by his stepping aside.
King Juan Carlos can thus be said to have sacrificed himself for the future of the monarchy, but it is an ironic - and tragic - end to the reign of the monarch who steered Spain from dictatorship to democracy following the death of the Facist dicator Francisco Franco, who had hoped Juan Carlos would continue the Francoist regime. It is to be hoped that history will remember King Juan Carlos I for the great contributions he made to his country and to democracy rather than for the disgraceful end to his nearly forty-year reign.
Sunday, 1 June 2014
My latest article: Queen's consort
The Prince Consort of Denmark will turn eighty on 11 June and is therefore the subject of my article in the June issue of Majesty (Vol. 35, No. 6), which went on sale last week, in which I in particular consider how he has coped - or not coped? - with the unusual role of consort to a female head of state (the first in Danish history).
Prince Consort Henrik will celebrate his actual birthday privately at his château in France, but tonight a concert will be held in DR Concert House to mark his anniversary and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød is holding an exhibition on his life, which the Prince Consort opened a few days ago.
Prince Consort Henrik will celebrate his actual birthday privately at his château in France, but tonight a concert will be held in DR Concert House to mark his anniversary and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød is holding an exhibition on his life, which the Prince Consort opened a few days ago.
Friday, 30 May 2014
Heir to Monaco expected
The princely court of Monaco has announced that Sovereign Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène are expecting a child at the end of the year. Prince Albert, who is 56 and came to the throne in 2005, married the former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock, now 36, in 2011.
The Principality of Monaco still operates with male-preferred succession, meaning that the child, if a son, will be heir apparent and eventually succeed his father, but if it is a girl she will only be heiress presumptive and will be bypassed by any younger brothers she might have.
The Principality of Monaco still operates with male-preferred succession, meaning that the child, if a son, will be heir apparent and eventually succeed his father, but if it is a girl she will only be heiress presumptive and will be bypassed by any younger brothers she might have.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
On this date: Death of Empress Joséphine 200 years ago
Today is the 200th anniversary of the death of Joséphine, Empress of the French, the first wife of Emperor Napoléon I. The Empress died at Malmaison Palace in Reuil outside Paris on 29 May 1814, aged 50, little more than a month after Napoléon's first abdication.
Born Rose Tascher de La Pagerie on Martinique on 23 June 1763, she was sent to France at the age of 16 to marry Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, an arranged marriage which turned out to be unhappy. While her estranged husband was guillotined in 1794, Rose, who had been imprisoned, was lucky to be alive when the Terror came to an end a few days later.
In 1796 she went on to marry the young and promising General Napoléon Bonaparte, who gave her the name Joséphine. Theirs is often considered one of history's great love stories, but Joséphine seems at first to have been rather cool towards her husband, whose passionate letters often went unaswered. Her infidelity caused him much grief, but with his rise to power the tables were turned and it was Joséphine who found herself having to accept her husband's affairs with other women.
Having been elected Emperor of the French in 1804 Napoléon crowned Joséphine Empress, the scene which is brilliantly captured by David in his famous painting of the coronation. However, Joséphine, who had two children by her first husband, proved unable to bear Napoléon and an heir, thus putting the future of the dynasty in jeopardy. In 1809 the Emperor, at the height of his glory, therefore found that he had little choice but to put his feelings aside and divorce Joséphine. In 1810 he married Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, who the following year bore him the longed-for son, the King of Rome.
Retaining the title of Empress, Joséphine retreated to Malmaison, the château just west of Paris which had been purchased in the early days of her marriage to Napoléon. When Napoléon was forced to abdicate in April 1814 Empress Marie-Louise fled to her native Vienna, taking with her the King of Rome. Joséphine remained at Malmaison, while Emperor Alexander I of Russia set himself up as the protector of the former Empress and her children, Prince Eugène, Viceroy of Italy and Queen Hortense of Holland. During a chilly evening walk with the Russian Emperor Joséphine contracted pneumonia and died within days.
When Napoléon, at that time exiled to Elba, read of her death in a newspaper he shut himself in his room for days. Following his return to France, the Hundred Days and his final defeat at Waterloo in June 1815 it was to Malmaison that he retreated before surrendering to the British and being deported to St Helena, where he died in 1821. While Joséphine's last words are said to have been "Bonaparte...Elba...Marie-Louise", his were allegedly "France...the army...at the head of the army...Joséphine".
One of history's ironies is that while Napoléon repudiated Joséphine in order to sire an heir, that heir died almost a prisoner in Vienna at the age of 21, while it was Joséphine's grandson who restored the Empire as Napoléon III in 1852. Through her son, Empress Joséphine is also the ancestress of the current monarchs of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Belgium.
On Monday a service commemorating the bicentenary of her death will be held in the small Church of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul in Rueil, where the Empress is buried. Despite the continuing appeal of their love story, Joséphine's grave, unlike Napoléon's, attracts no tourists. When I was first there, the day after having visited the Invalides, where tourists crowd around Napoléon's tomb, I found the church entirely empty. The second time I went there someone had left a rose on Empress Joséphine's tomb.
Born Rose Tascher de La Pagerie on Martinique on 23 June 1763, she was sent to France at the age of 16 to marry Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, an arranged marriage which turned out to be unhappy. While her estranged husband was guillotined in 1794, Rose, who had been imprisoned, was lucky to be alive when the Terror came to an end a few days later.
In 1796 she went on to marry the young and promising General Napoléon Bonaparte, who gave her the name Joséphine. Theirs is often considered one of history's great love stories, but Joséphine seems at first to have been rather cool towards her husband, whose passionate letters often went unaswered. Her infidelity caused him much grief, but with his rise to power the tables were turned and it was Joséphine who found herself having to accept her husband's affairs with other women.
Having been elected Emperor of the French in 1804 Napoléon crowned Joséphine Empress, the scene which is brilliantly captured by David in his famous painting of the coronation. However, Joséphine, who had two children by her first husband, proved unable to bear Napoléon and an heir, thus putting the future of the dynasty in jeopardy. In 1809 the Emperor, at the height of his glory, therefore found that he had little choice but to put his feelings aside and divorce Joséphine. In 1810 he married Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, who the following year bore him the longed-for son, the King of Rome.
Retaining the title of Empress, Joséphine retreated to Malmaison, the château just west of Paris which had been purchased in the early days of her marriage to Napoléon. When Napoléon was forced to abdicate in April 1814 Empress Marie-Louise fled to her native Vienna, taking with her the King of Rome. Joséphine remained at Malmaison, while Emperor Alexander I of Russia set himself up as the protector of the former Empress and her children, Prince Eugène, Viceroy of Italy and Queen Hortense of Holland. During a chilly evening walk with the Russian Emperor Joséphine contracted pneumonia and died within days.
When Napoléon, at that time exiled to Elba, read of her death in a newspaper he shut himself in his room for days. Following his return to France, the Hundred Days and his final defeat at Waterloo in June 1815 it was to Malmaison that he retreated before surrendering to the British and being deported to St Helena, where he died in 1821. While Joséphine's last words are said to have been "Bonaparte...Elba...Marie-Louise", his were allegedly "France...the army...at the head of the army...Joséphine".
One of history's ironies is that while Napoléon repudiated Joséphine in order to sire an heir, that heir died almost a prisoner in Vienna at the age of 21, while it was Joséphine's grandson who restored the Empire as Napoléon III in 1852. Through her son, Empress Joséphine is also the ancestress of the current monarchs of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Belgium.
On Monday a service commemorating the bicentenary of her death will be held in the small Church of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul in Rueil, where the Empress is buried. Despite the continuing appeal of their love story, Joséphine's grave, unlike Napoléon's, attracts no tourists. When I was first there, the day after having visited the Invalides, where tourists crowd around Napoléon's tomb, I found the church entirely empty. The second time I went there someone had left a rose on Empress Joséphine's tomb.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
On this date: Oslo's 200th anniversary as capital
200 years ago today, on 22 May 1814, King Christian Frederik took up residence in Christiania, as Oslo was then called, an event which might be considered the date when Oslo became the capital of independent Norway. Following the Danish renunciation of Norway on 14 January 1814 Norwegian ministries had begun their work in Christiania on 3 March, and on 19 May, the day he accepted the Crown of Norway, Christian Frederik formally founded the first ministries. With ministries established in Christiania and the King in residence, the town may rightly be called a capital.
Christiania was at that time a small provincial town of some 10,000 inhabitants. Except for the derelict Akershus Castle and the Church of Our Saviour (now Oslo Cathedral) there were few buildings of any significance, but the following years saw Christiania expanded and rebuilt into a capital worthy of an independent kingdom, a process in which King Carl Johan played a decisive role.
Oslo dates from about the year 1000, and grew in importance towards the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century, although it is incorrect, as some amateur historians have argued strongly, that Oslo may be considered the capital of Norway from the year 1314, when King Håkon V Magnusson made the Provost of St Mary's Church his chancellor. At that time the concept of a capital did not yet exist and the monarchy remained peripatetic for another three centuries or so, by which time Norway had lost its independence and become a Danish province.
In 1814 it was not yet the largest city (a qualification which belonged to Bergen), but its proximity to Denmark meant that it had become more important during Danish rule and it was in Christiania that a government commission was set up when communications between Denmark and Norway became very difficult because of the Napoleonic Wars and the British blockade from 1807.
Christiania was at that time a small provincial town of some 10,000 inhabitants. Except for the derelict Akershus Castle and the Church of Our Saviour (now Oslo Cathedral) there were few buildings of any significance, but the following years saw Christiania expanded and rebuilt into a capital worthy of an independent kingdom, a process in which King Carl Johan played a decisive role.
Oslo dates from about the year 1000, and grew in importance towards the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century, although it is incorrect, as some amateur historians have argued strongly, that Oslo may be considered the capital of Norway from the year 1314, when King Håkon V Magnusson made the Provost of St Mary's Church his chancellor. At that time the concept of a capital did not yet exist and the monarchy remained peripatetic for another three centuries or so, by which time Norway had lost its independence and become a Danish province.
In 1814 it was not yet the largest city (a qualification which belonged to Bergen), but its proximity to Denmark meant that it had become more important during Danish rule and it was in Christiania that a government commission was set up when communications between Denmark and Norway became very difficult because of the Napoleonic Wars and the British blockade from 1807.
Saturday, 17 May 2014
On this date: 200 years of independence
Today is the National Day and today the celebrations of the bicentenary of Norway’s independence and the Constitution, which was passed on 16 May 1814 and signed and dated the following day, will reach their climax.
The Constitution is the world’s second oldest which remains in force today (following the American), although it has of course been amended on several occasions to adapt it to changing times. The Constitution and Norway’s independence were both results of the Napoleonic Wars.
The election of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Olav Håkonsson, to King of Denmark following the death of his maternal grandfather in 1376 meant that Norway and Denmark entered a personal union when Olav succeeded his father, Håkon VI Magnusson, as King of Norway in 1380. Norway and Denmark remained separate countries, but the gradual weakening of Norway saw Denmark take a dominant role and in 1536 Christian III abolished the Norwegian Council and decreed that Norway should henceforth be a Danish province on par with Jutland or Zeeland.
Towards the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century the new ideas of the Enlightenment and nationhood saw a growing dissatisfaction with Danish absolutist rule among the Norwegian elite, but things would most likely not have happened so quickly were it not for the Napoleonic Wars.
The British bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of the Dano-Norwegian fleet in 1807 meant that Denmark-Norway entered the Napoleonic Wars on the French side and while other allies deserted Napoléon along with his luck, Frederik VI stuck by his side to the bitter end. Although this has often been lambasted as stubbornness Frederik VI actually had little choice.
After Russia had conquered Finland from Sweden in 1809, the French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte had been elected Crown Prince of Sweden with the name Carl Johan. He turned everything around when he in 1812 joined Napoléon’s enemies and the allied great powers promised him Norway as some sort of compensation for the loss of Finland. For Frederik VI the most important thing was to retain his realm undivided, but the allied promises to Carl Johan meant that he had nothing to win by changing sides. Frederik VI believed that the Napoleonic Wars would end with a negotiated peace rather than a military victory and hoped that Napoléon at this peace conference would help him retain Norway.
This proved a severe miscalculation and after Napoléon’s defeat at Leipzig in October 1813 Carl Johan led his troops northwards and invaded Denmark, thus forcing Frederik VI to cede Norway to the King of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January 1814.
Since the previous year King Frederik’s cousin and heir, Prince Christian Frederik, had been his Lieutenant of the Realm in Norway and he was not willing to agree to the loss of Norway. He originally intended to proclaim himself King by virtue of Frederik VI’s renunciation, but at a meeting at Eidsvoll (80 kilometres north of Oslo) in February a group of advisers persuaded him that Frederik VI’s renunciation meant that the sovereignty had reverted to the people and that it was now for them to decide their future.
Assuming the title of Regent, Prince Christian Frederik convened a Constituent Assembly, which met at Eidsvoll on 10 April. There the 112 founding fathers in little more than a month produced a Constitution that drew on inspiration from, among others, the constitutions of the USA, France, the Batavian Republic and Sweden and that was one of the most radical of its age.
The Constitution was passed on 16 May 1814 and signed and dated the next day, when the assembly unanimously elected Christian Frederik King of Norway. He accepted the crown two days later, but his reign would only last for one summer.
The great powers stuck to their promises to Sweden, and at the end of July Sweden invaded Norway. This, the last of the many wars fought between the Nordic countries (and Sweden’s last war to this day), saw some Swedish victories and some Norwegians, but in the long term Norway would not have been able to resist the much stronger Swedish military. The war ended with a ceasefire agreed in Moss on 14 August 1814, whereby Crown Prince Carl Johan agreed to respect Norway’s Constitution and independence, while King Christian Frederik agreed to abdicate after convening an extraordinary Parliament that would pass a revised Constitution adapted to a union with Sweden.
King Christian Frederik signed his abdication on 10 October in the Garden Room at Bygdøy Royal Manor and left Norway forever sixteen days later. (25 years on he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian VIII). Parliament meanwhile entered into negotiations with Swedish commissioners about a constitutional revision and, led by the able Speaker, Wilhelm F. K. Christie, succeeded in maintaining almost all of it, although changes necessitated by the union were obviously made.
On 4 November 1814 Parliament elected King Carl XIII of Sweden King of Norway and the two countries thereby embarked on a union of crowns. However, this was a union completely different from the one with Denmark, as Sweden and Norway were both independent kingdoms in a very loose personal union. There were separate parliaments, constitutions, governments, laws, courts, churches, armies, navies, bureaucracies, royal households and so on; indeed the King and the foreign service were the only shared institutions. This arrangement lasted until 1905, when Norway seceded from the union.
King Christian Frederik was subsequently criticised for his conduct by people who thought it more honourable if more blood had been shed (even today there is a handful of people who proclaim his view), but today the established view is that by choosing negotiations over defeat Christian Frederik saved Norway’s independence and Constitution. In recognition of this a statue of King Christian Frederik was erected outside the Parliament Building today, where it will be unveiled by Queen Margrethe – a huge admirer of his – in the presence of the King and Queen at noon on Sunday.
Today the usual parades of children will take place all over the country followed by a celebration at Eidsvoll that is expected to attract thousands, including the royal family and the Danish and Swedish monarchs. Unlike the King and Queen of Sweden the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark will also be present at the Royal Palace during the children’s parade, but will watch from a window rather than joining the royal family on the palace balcony.
The Constitution is the world’s second oldest which remains in force today (following the American), although it has of course been amended on several occasions to adapt it to changing times. The Constitution and Norway’s independence were both results of the Napoleonic Wars.
The election of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Olav Håkonsson, to King of Denmark following the death of his maternal grandfather in 1376 meant that Norway and Denmark entered a personal union when Olav succeeded his father, Håkon VI Magnusson, as King of Norway in 1380. Norway and Denmark remained separate countries, but the gradual weakening of Norway saw Denmark take a dominant role and in 1536 Christian III abolished the Norwegian Council and decreed that Norway should henceforth be a Danish province on par with Jutland or Zeeland.
Towards the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century the new ideas of the Enlightenment and nationhood saw a growing dissatisfaction with Danish absolutist rule among the Norwegian elite, but things would most likely not have happened so quickly were it not for the Napoleonic Wars.
The British bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of the Dano-Norwegian fleet in 1807 meant that Denmark-Norway entered the Napoleonic Wars on the French side and while other allies deserted Napoléon along with his luck, Frederik VI stuck by his side to the bitter end. Although this has often been lambasted as stubbornness Frederik VI actually had little choice.
After Russia had conquered Finland from Sweden in 1809, the French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte had been elected Crown Prince of Sweden with the name Carl Johan. He turned everything around when he in 1812 joined Napoléon’s enemies and the allied great powers promised him Norway as some sort of compensation for the loss of Finland. For Frederik VI the most important thing was to retain his realm undivided, but the allied promises to Carl Johan meant that he had nothing to win by changing sides. Frederik VI believed that the Napoleonic Wars would end with a negotiated peace rather than a military victory and hoped that Napoléon at this peace conference would help him retain Norway.
This proved a severe miscalculation and after Napoléon’s defeat at Leipzig in October 1813 Carl Johan led his troops northwards and invaded Denmark, thus forcing Frederik VI to cede Norway to the King of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January 1814.
Since the previous year King Frederik’s cousin and heir, Prince Christian Frederik, had been his Lieutenant of the Realm in Norway and he was not willing to agree to the loss of Norway. He originally intended to proclaim himself King by virtue of Frederik VI’s renunciation, but at a meeting at Eidsvoll (80 kilometres north of Oslo) in February a group of advisers persuaded him that Frederik VI’s renunciation meant that the sovereignty had reverted to the people and that it was now for them to decide their future.
Assuming the title of Regent, Prince Christian Frederik convened a Constituent Assembly, which met at Eidsvoll on 10 April. There the 112 founding fathers in little more than a month produced a Constitution that drew on inspiration from, among others, the constitutions of the USA, France, the Batavian Republic and Sweden and that was one of the most radical of its age.
The Constitution was passed on 16 May 1814 and signed and dated the next day, when the assembly unanimously elected Christian Frederik King of Norway. He accepted the crown two days later, but his reign would only last for one summer.
The great powers stuck to their promises to Sweden, and at the end of July Sweden invaded Norway. This, the last of the many wars fought between the Nordic countries (and Sweden’s last war to this day), saw some Swedish victories and some Norwegians, but in the long term Norway would not have been able to resist the much stronger Swedish military. The war ended with a ceasefire agreed in Moss on 14 August 1814, whereby Crown Prince Carl Johan agreed to respect Norway’s Constitution and independence, while King Christian Frederik agreed to abdicate after convening an extraordinary Parliament that would pass a revised Constitution adapted to a union with Sweden.
King Christian Frederik signed his abdication on 10 October in the Garden Room at Bygdøy Royal Manor and left Norway forever sixteen days later. (25 years on he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian VIII). Parliament meanwhile entered into negotiations with Swedish commissioners about a constitutional revision and, led by the able Speaker, Wilhelm F. K. Christie, succeeded in maintaining almost all of it, although changes necessitated by the union were obviously made.
On 4 November 1814 Parliament elected King Carl XIII of Sweden King of Norway and the two countries thereby embarked on a union of crowns. However, this was a union completely different from the one with Denmark, as Sweden and Norway were both independent kingdoms in a very loose personal union. There were separate parliaments, constitutions, governments, laws, courts, churches, armies, navies, bureaucracies, royal households and so on; indeed the King and the foreign service were the only shared institutions. This arrangement lasted until 1905, when Norway seceded from the union.
King Christian Frederik was subsequently criticised for his conduct by people who thought it more honourable if more blood had been shed (even today there is a handful of people who proclaim his view), but today the established view is that by choosing negotiations over defeat Christian Frederik saved Norway’s independence and Constitution. In recognition of this a statue of King Christian Frederik was erected outside the Parliament Building today, where it will be unveiled by Queen Margrethe – a huge admirer of his – in the presence of the King and Queen at noon on Sunday.
Today the usual parades of children will take place all over the country followed by a celebration at Eidsvoll that is expected to attract thousands, including the royal family and the Danish and Swedish monarchs. Unlike the King and Queen of Sweden the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark will also be present at the Royal Palace during the children’s parade, but will watch from a window rather than joining the royal family on the palace balcony.
Friday, 16 May 2014
Strong support for Norwegian monarchy
Amid the celebrations of the independence bicentenary two new opinion polls about monarchy or republic have been published today. Both show strong support for the monarchy, but the results differ strongly.
The poll conducted by Norstat for the state broadcaster NRK (external link) shows an overwhelming 82 % in support of the monarchy, which is the highest level measured in the present reign (if I recall, a poll showed 87 % around the time of King Olav's death in 1991). NRK does not say how the remaining 18 % divide between those who support a republic and those who are uncertain.
The poll carried out by Infact and published in the tabloid newspaper VG (external link) shows that 65.4 % say no to the suggestion that the royal house (sic) should be abolished. 19 % agree that it should, while 15.6 % are uncertain. When the same agency two years ago asked if Norway should remain a monarchy, 74.6 % agreed, while 14.8 % disagreed and 10.5 % were uncertain. This shows a decline in the support for the monarchy of nearly 10 %, but the fact that the question has been turned around since two years ago ought perhaps to be taken into consideration.
The poll conducted by Norstat for the state broadcaster NRK (external link) shows an overwhelming 82 % in support of the monarchy, which is the highest level measured in the present reign (if I recall, a poll showed 87 % around the time of King Olav's death in 1991). NRK does not say how the remaining 18 % divide between those who support a republic and those who are uncertain.
The poll carried out by Infact and published in the tabloid newspaper VG (external link) shows that 65.4 % say no to the suggestion that the royal house (sic) should be abolished. 19 % agree that it should, while 15.6 % are uncertain. When the same agency two years ago asked if Norway should remain a monarchy, 74.6 % agreed, while 14.8 % disagreed and 10.5 % were uncertain. This shows a decline in the support for the monarchy of nearly 10 %, but the fact that the question has been turned around since two years ago ought perhaps to be taken into consideration.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra makes parliamentary debut
Today (or by now rather yesterday) Parliament held a special meeting to commemorate the bicentenary of the Constitution, which was passed on 16 May 1814 and signed and dated the following day. For this occasion the MPs were joined by the royal family, the members of the cabinet and the Supreme Court and the speakers of the parliaments of Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.
The King and Queen were accompanied by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Princess Astrid. Prince Sverre Magnus had apparently been excused, while Princess Märtha Louise, who lives in London, had chosen not to travel to her native land for this important occasion. For Princess Ingrid Alexandra this was her first appearance in Parliament which she, unless the Constitution is changed, will open every year when she succeeds to the throne.
The Constitution bars the King from being present while Parliament is sitting, but as no parliamentary deliberations took place today his presence was "tolerated". Similar meetings have been held in the presence of members of the royal family to commemorate other important occasions, including the 175th anniversary of the Constitution 25 years ago, the 50th, 75th and 100th anniversaries of the dissolution of the personal union with Sweden in 1905 and the 100th anniversary of the introduction of parliamentarianism in 1884, as well as after the terrorist attacks directed against the Labour Party by a right wing extremist in 2011.
Today speeches were given by the Speaker of Parliament, Olemic Thommessen (Conservative), as well as the speakers of the Danish and Swedish parliaments, Mogens Lykketoft and Per Westerberg. Following the meeting the King and Queen hosted a reception at the Palace for nearly all the mayors of the 428 municipalities, while a sparsely attended "people's party" was held in Eidsvoll Square outside the Parliament Building.
The King and Queen were accompanied by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Princess Astrid. Prince Sverre Magnus had apparently been excused, while Princess Märtha Louise, who lives in London, had chosen not to travel to her native land for this important occasion. For Princess Ingrid Alexandra this was her first appearance in Parliament which she, unless the Constitution is changed, will open every year when she succeeds to the throne.
The Constitution bars the King from being present while Parliament is sitting, but as no parliamentary deliberations took place today his presence was "tolerated". Similar meetings have been held in the presence of members of the royal family to commemorate other important occasions, including the 175th anniversary of the Constitution 25 years ago, the 50th, 75th and 100th anniversaries of the dissolution of the personal union with Sweden in 1905 and the 100th anniversary of the introduction of parliamentarianism in 1884, as well as after the terrorist attacks directed against the Labour Party by a right wing extremist in 2011.
Today speeches were given by the Speaker of Parliament, Olemic Thommessen (Conservative), as well as the speakers of the Danish and Swedish parliaments, Mogens Lykketoft and Per Westerberg. Following the meeting the King and Queen hosted a reception at the Palace for nearly all the mayors of the 428 municipalities, while a sparsely attended "people's party" was held in Eidsvoll Square outside the Parliament Building.
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
President Peres on controversial state visit to Norway
President Shimon Peres of Israel is currently on a two day state visit to Norway, which has, unsurprisingly, caused some controversy because of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and related issues. The fact that Prime Minister Erna Solberg and all other officials in order to please the Chinese dictatorship refused to meet another former Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Dalai Lama, during his visit to Norway last week has added to the controversy.
State visits are decided by the government, so it is the current coalition of the Conservative Party and the far right-wing Progress Party that has initiated this state visit, but the fact that state visits are officially on the invitiation of the King, who plays host, has seen some criticise the King for receiving President Peres, while others have been deluded into believing that the state visit means that the King supports and endorses Israel. Both views are obviously nonsense, as the King, as a constitutional monarch, is bound by the government's decision in such matters.
The King yesterday hosted a state banquet at the Royal Palace (for which President Peres made the odd choice of wearing a starched white shirt and a white bow tie with an ordinary grey suit), while the governments holds a dinner at Akershus Castle tonight. The President, who is ninety years old and will retire next month, have also called on the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. Having shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late Yitzhak Rabin and the late Yassir Arafat, President Peres also gave a lecture at the Nobel Institute.
Strangely the Queen, who was until the start of the state visit yesterday listed as attending all events, is not present during the state visit, which the Palace explains with her being on a "longer, planned foreign trip". As no such foreign trip is listed this must be a private visit and it seems odd that the Queen, who is known to be duty conscious and has never missed a state visit before, should be on a private holiday during an incoming state visit. Nevertheless her absence left the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid to do the honours together with the King.
State visits are decided by the government, so it is the current coalition of the Conservative Party and the far right-wing Progress Party that has initiated this state visit, but the fact that state visits are officially on the invitiation of the King, who plays host, has seen some criticise the King for receiving President Peres, while others have been deluded into believing that the state visit means that the King supports and endorses Israel. Both views are obviously nonsense, as the King, as a constitutional monarch, is bound by the government's decision in such matters.
The King yesterday hosted a state banquet at the Royal Palace (for which President Peres made the odd choice of wearing a starched white shirt and a white bow tie with an ordinary grey suit), while the governments holds a dinner at Akershus Castle tonight. The President, who is ninety years old and will retire next month, have also called on the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. Having shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late Yitzhak Rabin and the late Yassir Arafat, President Peres also gave a lecture at the Nobel Institute.
Strangely the Queen, who was until the start of the state visit yesterday listed as attending all events, is not present during the state visit, which the Palace explains with her being on a "longer, planned foreign trip". As no such foreign trip is listed this must be a private visit and it seems odd that the Queen, who is known to be duty conscious and has never missed a state visit before, should be on a private holiday during an incoming state visit. Nevertheless her absence left the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid to do the honours together with the King.
Friday, 9 May 2014
Norway's Constitution bicentenary coming up
Norway celebrates the bicentenary of its independence this year and next week will be filled with events to mark the bicentenary of the Constitution, which was passed at Eidsvoll on 16 May 1814 and signed and dated the following day, when Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark was elected King of Norway.
The main events will obviously take place on 17 May. In addition to the usual National Day celebrations there will be a televised gala from the park at Eidsvoll Manor, where the Constituent Assembly was held. For this event the King and Queen and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess will be joined by the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark and, very reluctantly, the King and Queen of Sweden. For a few hours this day the original Constitution, which is usually kept under lock and key in the Parliamentary Archives, will be brought back
Two days prior, at noon on 15 May, Parliament will hold a special commemorative meeting. This will be one of the rare occasions when the King is present in Parliament (the Constitution forbids his presence during parliamentary deliberations, a remnant from the days the King might try to coerce Parliament into doing what he wanted), and the King will be accompanied by the Queen, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid. At previous such events the children of the royal family have also attended, but it remains to be seen whether Princess Ingrid Alexandra and perhaps also Prince Sverre Magnus will make a first appearance in Parliament. Afterwards a public celebration will take place in Eidsvoll Square in front of the Parliament Building (while the King and Queen host a reception for mayors from across the country at the Palace).
On 18 May a statue of King Christian Frederik by the sculptor Kristian Blystad will be unveiled in Eidsvoll Square by Queen Margrethe in the presence of the King and Queen and Prince Consort Henrik.
Among other events is a banquet in the City Hall of Oslo on 14 May and an ecumenical service in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 20 May, as well as several exhibitions at museums in Oslo as well as other places.
The main events will obviously take place on 17 May. In addition to the usual National Day celebrations there will be a televised gala from the park at Eidsvoll Manor, where the Constituent Assembly was held. For this event the King and Queen and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess will be joined by the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark and, very reluctantly, the King and Queen of Sweden. For a few hours this day the original Constitution, which is usually kept under lock and key in the Parliamentary Archives, will be brought back
Two days prior, at noon on 15 May, Parliament will hold a special commemorative meeting. This will be one of the rare occasions when the King is present in Parliament (the Constitution forbids his presence during parliamentary deliberations, a remnant from the days the King might try to coerce Parliament into doing what he wanted), and the King will be accompanied by the Queen, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid. At previous such events the children of the royal family have also attended, but it remains to be seen whether Princess Ingrid Alexandra and perhaps also Prince Sverre Magnus will make a first appearance in Parliament. Afterwards a public celebration will take place in Eidsvoll Square in front of the Parliament Building (while the King and Queen host a reception for mayors from across the country at the Palace).
On 18 May a statue of King Christian Frederik by the sculptor Kristian Blystad will be unveiled in Eidsvoll Square by Queen Margrethe in the presence of the King and Queen and Prince Consort Henrik.
Among other events is a banquet in the City Hall of Oslo on 14 May and an ecumenical service in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 20 May, as well as several exhibitions at museums in Oslo as well as other places.
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Two popes canonised
Three monarchs were present at an open air mass in St Peter's Square in the Vatican City this morning as the late popes John XXIII and John Paul II were canonised by the current Pope.
John Paul II, who reigned from 1978 till his death in 2005, was beatified in 2011 and his canonisation is the fastest since saints ceased being declared by local acclamation and became the exclusive prerogative of the reigning pontiff nearly a thousand years ago. John XXIII, whose pontificate lasted from 1958 to his death in 1963, was beatified in 2000.
The Catholic Church normally requires two so-called "miracles" for someone to be declared saints, but Pope Francis chose to waive this rule in the case of John XXIII, as he has done in other recent cases. It is assumed that Pope Francis may feel some sort of identification with the folksy, easy-going, much-loved John XXIII.
It is the first time that two popes have been canonised at the same time and it has been suggested that Pope Francis chose to canonise the progressive John XXIII together with the conservative John Paul II, whose canonisation he "inherited" from his predecessor, in order to appeal to progressives as well as conservatives, although this has been denied by the Vatican, which insists that they do no make such political considerations.
The canonisation mass drew huge crowds to the Vatican, and among the guests were members of several Catholic royal families. The King and Queen of Spain, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the Sovereign Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein headed the guest list, while the King of the Belgians was represented by his parents, King Albert and Queen Paola. It was interesting to note that Queen Paola, like Queen Sofía and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, exercised the privilège du blanc, which gives the wives of Catholic monarchs the right to wear white rather than black in the presence of the Pope. However, Queen Paola wore black for a private audience with Pope Francis yesterday (while her daughter, Princess Astrid, wore a white jacket over a black dress). Princess Marie of Liechtenstein wore black, indicating that the privilege has still not been extended to the consort of the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein.
The only Protestant royal house represented was the British (although Britain is officially a Protestant country there are now almost more Catholics than Anglicans in Britain), which sent the Duke of Gloucester, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were accompanied by their daughter-in-law, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, and two of their sons, Louis and Sébastien. Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, who is his country's ambassador to the Holy See, attended with his Luxembourgian wife Margaretha (their was the last marriage between two reigning European royal houses), their son Josef-Emanuel, and one of their daughters (Maria-Anunciata, I believe).
Also in attendance were Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland and his predecessor but one Aleksander Kwasniewski, and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
John Paul II, who reigned from 1978 till his death in 2005, was beatified in 2011 and his canonisation is the fastest since saints ceased being declared by local acclamation and became the exclusive prerogative of the reigning pontiff nearly a thousand years ago. John XXIII, whose pontificate lasted from 1958 to his death in 1963, was beatified in 2000.
The Catholic Church normally requires two so-called "miracles" for someone to be declared saints, but Pope Francis chose to waive this rule in the case of John XXIII, as he has done in other recent cases. It is assumed that Pope Francis may feel some sort of identification with the folksy, easy-going, much-loved John XXIII.
It is the first time that two popes have been canonised at the same time and it has been suggested that Pope Francis chose to canonise the progressive John XXIII together with the conservative John Paul II, whose canonisation he "inherited" from his predecessor, in order to appeal to progressives as well as conservatives, although this has been denied by the Vatican, which insists that they do no make such political considerations.
The canonisation mass drew huge crowds to the Vatican, and among the guests were members of several Catholic royal families. The King and Queen of Spain, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the Sovereign Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein headed the guest list, while the King of the Belgians was represented by his parents, King Albert and Queen Paola. It was interesting to note that Queen Paola, like Queen Sofía and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, exercised the privilège du blanc, which gives the wives of Catholic monarchs the right to wear white rather than black in the presence of the Pope. However, Queen Paola wore black for a private audience with Pope Francis yesterday (while her daughter, Princess Astrid, wore a white jacket over a black dress). Princess Marie of Liechtenstein wore black, indicating that the privilege has still not been extended to the consort of the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein.
The only Protestant royal house represented was the British (although Britain is officially a Protestant country there are now almost more Catholics than Anglicans in Britain), which sent the Duke of Gloucester, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were accompanied by their daughter-in-law, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, and two of their sons, Louis and Sébastien. Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, who is his country's ambassador to the Holy See, attended with his Luxembourgian wife Margaretha (their was the last marriage between two reigning European royal houses), their son Josef-Emanuel, and one of their daughters (Maria-Anunciata, I believe).
Also in attendance were Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland and his predecessor but one Aleksander Kwasniewski, and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
Saturday, 26 April 2014
My latest article: Union of Crowns
The May issue of the British monthly magazine Majesty (Vol. 35, No. 5) has gone on sale in Britain and will soon also be on sale in major European cities and North America, and this month I write about the union of crowns between Norway and Sweden, which lasted from 1814 to 1905.
The article is occasioned by the bicentenary of Norway's independence and the upcoming Scottish referendum about whether to become an independent state in a monarchical union with Britain, which is fairly similar to arrangement Norway entered into with Sweden after achieveing independence in 1814. Perhaps there may be some lessons to learn for the Scots from the Swedish-Norwegian union?
The article is occasioned by the bicentenary of Norway's independence and the upcoming Scottish referendum about whether to become an independent state in a monarchical union with Britain, which is fairly similar to arrangement Norway entered into with Sweden after achieveing independence in 1814. Perhaps there may be some lessons to learn for the Scots from the Swedish-Norwegian union?
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Royal christening at Drottningholm on 8 June
The Swedish royal court has announced that the christening of Princess Leonore will, as expected, take place in the chapel at Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm on 8 June, her parents' first wedding anniversary.
Inspired by Rome's Pantheon, this domed chapel in the baroque style from the early eighteenth century, which is the work of the architects Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Carl Hårleman, is one of the two circular buildings that form the extremes of the long palace façade. It can only seat a limited number of guests, which is the reason why it has been rarely used for royal occasions, although it was the scene for the wedding of Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian on 7 December 1976.
The splendid Drottningholm Palace, located on an island some ten kilometres west of Stockholm, was built for the Dowager Queen Hedvig Eleonora, the widow of King Carl X Gustaf, who was a great builder, collector and patron of the arts. The current King and Queen made it their home in 1981 and it was there that Princess Madeleine was born the following year and where she grew up. It was also where her and Christopher O'Neill's wedding banquet was held last year. Given Princess Madeleine's attachment to Drottningholm and its association with Queen Hedvig Eleonora and thus the name Leonore it seems a very fitting choice of venue for the christening of the young Princess.
It has not yet been decided if the christening will be televised.
Inspired by Rome's Pantheon, this domed chapel in the baroque style from the early eighteenth century, which is the work of the architects Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Carl Hårleman, is one of the two circular buildings that form the extremes of the long palace façade. It can only seat a limited number of guests, which is the reason why it has been rarely used for royal occasions, although it was the scene for the wedding of Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian on 7 December 1976.
The splendid Drottningholm Palace, located on an island some ten kilometres west of Stockholm, was built for the Dowager Queen Hedvig Eleonora, the widow of King Carl X Gustaf, who was a great builder, collector and patron of the arts. The current King and Queen made it their home in 1981 and it was there that Princess Madeleine was born the following year and where she grew up. It was also where her and Christopher O'Neill's wedding banquet was held last year. Given Princess Madeleine's attachment to Drottningholm and its association with Queen Hedvig Eleonora and thus the name Leonore it seems a very fitting choice of venue for the christening of the young Princess.
It has not yet been decided if the christening will be televised.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Israeli state visit to Norway
The President of Israel, Shimon Peres, will pay a state visit to Norway on 12 and 13 May. The news has already sparked some controversy in Norway and is likely to lead to further protests related to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. While state visits are undertaken on the invitation of the King it is of course the government which actually makes the decisions about state visits.
It will be the first state visit ever exchanged between Norway and Israel, although there were plans for the King and Queen to pay a state visit to Israel in 2000, a trip which was cancelled due to the outbreak of the second intifada.
It will also be the first incoming state visit to Norway since the visit of President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and his wife Jenni Haukio in October 2012. While there used to be on average two state visits abroad and two incoming state visits per year recent years have for unknown reasons seen a decline in the number of state visits.
The King and Queen will receive another foreign head of state on 30 April, when King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians make a so-called introductory visit to Oslo, but this will not be a state visit.
It will be the first state visit ever exchanged between Norway and Israel, although there were plans for the King and Queen to pay a state visit to Israel in 2000, a trip which was cancelled due to the outbreak of the second intifada.
It will also be the first incoming state visit to Norway since the visit of President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and his wife Jenni Haukio in October 2012. While there used to be on average two state visits abroad and two incoming state visits per year recent years have for unknown reasons seen a decline in the number of state visits.
The King and Queen will receive another foreign head of state on 30 April, when King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians make a so-called introductory visit to Oslo, but this will not be a state visit.
Monday, 31 March 2014
My latest article: Scotland, Norway and unions
Yesterday I had a short article in the Scottish newspaper Sunday Herald (external link) in reply to a claim made in the same newspaper last Sunday (external link) by seventeen mainly Norwegian authors (Jon Fosse, Jostein Gaarder et al) that the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union in 1905 is an argument for why Scotland should vote for independence from Britain in the referedum on 18 September.
Unfortunately the editor has distorted the first paragraph so that it does not make sense, but the point is that the events of 1905 are a poor argument for a yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum, as the arrangement the Scottish government proposes after the referendum is similar to the one between Norway and Sweden before 1905, i.e. a union of crowns between two independent states. However, there may be other lessons to be learned by the Scots from the Norwegian experience which such a loose union.
The Swedish-Norwegian union of crowns will by the way also be the topic of my article in the May issue of Majesty, occasioned both by the bicentenary of Norway's independence as well as the upcoming Scottish referendum.
Unfortunately the editor has distorted the first paragraph so that it does not make sense, but the point is that the events of 1905 are a poor argument for a yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum, as the arrangement the Scottish government proposes after the referendum is similar to the one between Norway and Sweden before 1905, i.e. a union of crowns between two independent states. However, there may be other lessons to be learned by the Scots from the Norwegian experience which such a loose union.
The Swedish-Norwegian union of crowns will by the way also be the topic of my article in the May issue of Majesty, occasioned both by the bicentenary of Norway's independence as well as the upcoming Scottish referendum.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Saudi king appoints deputy crown prince
I have never heard of a deputy crown prince before, but that was the title given to Prince Muqrin of Saudi Arabia on Friday, thus making him second in line to the throne after his older half-brother, Crown Prince Salman.
There is no fixed succession in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but the King appoints a crown prince with the agreement of a council of princes, called the Allegiance Council. Since the death of King Abdul-Aziz (better known as Ibn Saud), the founder of Saudi Arabia, in 1953, the crown has passed among his many sons. Prince Muqrin is the 35th and youngest surviving son of King Abdul-Aziz, which seems to imply that the shift to the next generation - the many grandsons of King Abdul-Aziz, will occur after his future reign.
The current King, Abdullah, who is believed to turn ninety this year, succeeded his elder brother Fahd in 2005. He has already outlived two crown princes: Sultan, who died in 2011, and Nayef, who died in 2012. His third crown prince, Salman, appointed in 2012, is believed to be 78.
Born on 15 September 1945, Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin is considered to be a close ally of King Abdullah, who appointed him director general of the intelligence agency after his accession in 2005. He stepped down from that post in 2012, but was appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister on 1 February 2013 (the King is Prime Minister, the Crown Prince First Deputy Prime Minister).
There is no fixed succession in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but the King appoints a crown prince with the agreement of a council of princes, called the Allegiance Council. Since the death of King Abdul-Aziz (better known as Ibn Saud), the founder of Saudi Arabia, in 1953, the crown has passed among his many sons. Prince Muqrin is the 35th and youngest surviving son of King Abdul-Aziz, which seems to imply that the shift to the next generation - the many grandsons of King Abdul-Aziz, will occur after his future reign.
The current King, Abdullah, who is believed to turn ninety this year, succeeded his elder brother Fahd in 2005. He has already outlived two crown princes: Sultan, who died in 2011, and Nayef, who died in 2012. His third crown prince, Salman, appointed in 2012, is believed to be 78.
Born on 15 September 1945, Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin is considered to be a close ally of King Abdullah, who appointed him director general of the intelligence agency after his accession in 2005. He stepped down from that post in 2012, but was appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister on 1 February 2013 (the King is Prime Minister, the Crown Prince First Deputy Prime Minister).
Monday, 24 March 2014
At the road’s end: Adolfo Suárez (1932-2014), Spain’s first democratically elected PM
“My grief is great. My gratitude is ever-lasting”, said King Juan Carlos I of Spain in a televised speech last night after the death at the age of 81 of Adolfo Suárez, the country’s first democractically elected Prime Minister, who partnered the King in the transition of Spain into a democracy following the end of the Franco dicatorship.
Born on 25 September 1932, Adolfo Suárez González studied law and came to hold several high posts in the Francoist government and the Francoist party, the National Movement. He came to know Prince Juan Carlos while he worked in the state broadcasting company TVE, whose general director he became in 1969, the same year as the Prince was appointed Franco’s successor.
Following Franco’s death and Juan Carlos’s accession to the throne in November 1975, the King made the bold move of appointing Suárez Prime Minister in July 1976. The appointment of a moderate member of the Francoist party caused anger both to the left and the right of the political spectre, but Suárez managed to find a way that made room for reforms without provoking a military reaction from Francoist hardliners.
A democratic general election in June 1977 was won by his centrist alliance, the Union of the Democratic Centre. The transition continued with the introduction of a democractic Constitution, passed by both houses of parliament in October 1978 and in a referendum the following December.
Suárez won another general election in March 1979, but in the ordinary circumstances that now reigned Suárez distanced himself from everyday politics and rarely appeared in Parliament.
He was, however, present in Parliament on 23 February 1981, a month after his resignation as Prime Minister, when the chamber was stormed by armed soldiers in a military coup that failed, and drew admiration as one of only three MPs who refused to obey the putschists’ order to lie down on the floor and remained in his seat.
The year after his resignation, Suárez formed a new parti, the Democractic and Social Centre, but won only two seats in Parliament in the next election. He retired from politics in 1991. During the past decade he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was, according to his son, unable to remember that he had been Prime Minister.
King Juan Carlos showered honours over the man who led Spain’s transition to a democracy. He received the Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III in 1978 and was created Duke of Suárez and a Grandee of Spain upon his resignation in 1981. In 2007 he was made a Knight of the ancient Order of the Golden Fleece and was posthumously awareded the Grand Cross Collar of the Order of Carlos III when King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofía and Princess Elena paid their respects at his lying-in-state in the Parliament building in Madrid earlier today.
Born on 25 September 1932, Adolfo Suárez González studied law and came to hold several high posts in the Francoist government and the Francoist party, the National Movement. He came to know Prince Juan Carlos while he worked in the state broadcasting company TVE, whose general director he became in 1969, the same year as the Prince was appointed Franco’s successor.
Following Franco’s death and Juan Carlos’s accession to the throne in November 1975, the King made the bold move of appointing Suárez Prime Minister in July 1976. The appointment of a moderate member of the Francoist party caused anger both to the left and the right of the political spectre, but Suárez managed to find a way that made room for reforms without provoking a military reaction from Francoist hardliners.
A democratic general election in June 1977 was won by his centrist alliance, the Union of the Democratic Centre. The transition continued with the introduction of a democractic Constitution, passed by both houses of parliament in October 1978 and in a referendum the following December.
Suárez won another general election in March 1979, but in the ordinary circumstances that now reigned Suárez distanced himself from everyday politics and rarely appeared in Parliament.
He was, however, present in Parliament on 23 February 1981, a month after his resignation as Prime Minister, when the chamber was stormed by armed soldiers in a military coup that failed, and drew admiration as one of only three MPs who refused to obey the putschists’ order to lie down on the floor and remained in his seat.
The year after his resignation, Suárez formed a new parti, the Democractic and Social Centre, but won only two seats in Parliament in the next election. He retired from politics in 1991. During the past decade he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was, according to his son, unable to remember that he had been Prime Minister.
King Juan Carlos showered honours over the man who led Spain’s transition to a democracy. He received the Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III in 1978 and was created Duke of Suárez and a Grandee of Spain upon his resignation in 1981. In 2007 he was made a Knight of the ancient Order of the Golden Fleece and was posthumously awareded the Grand Cross Collar of the Order of Carlos III when King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofía and Princess Elena paid their respects at his lying-in-state in the Parliament building in Madrid earlier today.
Friday, 21 March 2014
My latest article: Fredensborg
The April issue of Majesty (Vol. 35, No. 4) went on sale yesterday and this month I write about the history and architecture of Fredensborg and the changing fortunes of this baroque palace - Frederik IV's Marly, gathering place for European royalty in the reign of Christian IX and now the favourite residence of the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark, but at one stage reduced to army barracks and almost sold as an abandoned palace.
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