German Prince Calls for Restoration

I came across the below article from The Local that brough joy to my heart; a German royal calling for the restoration of the German monarchy. While it would have been better for the head of the House of Hohenzollern to make these statements, I hope that this works to increase interest in German for its own monarchy, eventually leading to its restoration.

Germany should reinstate its monarchy to speak to people’s emotions, make them proud of their country and even encourage them to have babies, according to Prince Philip Kiril of Prussia, great-great grandson of the last Kaiser.

Speaking in Thursday’s edition of Die Zeit newspaper, Philip stressed that a monarch would be financially independent – and so would not be likely to accept presents from friends, such as those which led to Christian Wulff’s resignation from the presidency."

A king is invulnerable to such cases," Prince Philip said. "Either he would have old family property or an Apanage – and it would be beneath his dignity to accept presents from friends."
"And there are no reporters on the level of sniffing around European ruling families,” added the prince, who is a Protestant minister.

Prince Philip said that although successful presidents made their mark with their statements, mentioning Roman Herzog and Richard von Weizsäcker as good examples, he said that words were not enough.

“This level of words is necessary, but they do not move people inside,” he said. “When our hearts are touched, we change. During the past football World Championship there emerged so much uncomplicated national consciousness that nose-wrinkling intellectuals no longer understood their country.

“Emotions are the field on which a royal family can play," he said. "They do not have to think up some programme, it goes to the hearts that they are simply there.”

He said the personal and family lives of politicians were regarded as private – but that those of royals were legitimately public.

“Of course a king should have a happy marriage. Of course the heir to the throne should marry,” he said.

And even the question of royal children was a legitimate matter for the public, he said. “When, as now in Sweden, a member of the royal family is born, what a joy goes through the country! Even the prime minister spoke of a happy day. The heart has a much more intensive influence than the appeal of the family minister for better framework conditions to combine family and career.”

The collapse of royal marriages can even be good for the country, he suggested, because the media scandalises bad behaviour conducted by royals. The collapse of a politician’s marriage is regarded as private, he said, or seen as part of a modern family.

The lives of a royal family lend a country stability, he said. “They are not thrown out by a vote of confidence or swept from office by their immunity from prosecution being lifted. That does a country good.”

He suggested that German politicians would even vote for a royal family to be reinstated, if it came to a vote – nearly a century after the last Kaiser was removed from the throne in 1918. Even left-wingers would be in favour, he suggested, pointing to Sweden where he said some socialists were also royalists.

But even if the German royal family were to be reinstated, Prince Philip would not sit on the throne – that honour would go to Prince Georg Friedrich von Preußen, who is the direct heir and has said he would not want to see a royal restoration.
The Local/hc

A New Constitution for Hungary

I was alerted to the new Hungarian constitution by the blog Rorate Caeli (see their article here, including a link to the entire Hungarian constitution in English). Among the changes are: invoking God's blessing upon the Hungarian people; stating pride in king St. Stephen; recognizing Christianity as the foundation of their nation; dropping the word "republic" from the nation's official name; recognizing the dignity of life at conception; and protecting marriage as an institution between one man and one woman. While I have not read the entire constitution, these few changes are welcome indeed. I hope the tens of thousands of people reported by the media as protesting in the streets go home soon, sit down and read their new constitution and learn from it. A step towards the restoration of a Hungarian monarchy? Who knows.

Europe's Crumbling Economy

I heard an interesting commentary the other day whilst driving home from work on NPR. The commentator was remarking at how America was transfixed by Hurricane Irene, despite the fact that in the realm of hurricanes it did relatively little damage. I have to say I watched a little bit of the media coverage myself--it was weird to see Times Square totally empty. The commentator went on to decry the fact that we will have 24 hour coverage of a natural event, but little to no coverage of a human event: the European debt crisis. America was glued to its collective television sets when European leaders are making one bad decision after another. If they don't do something, the commentator said, the state of Europe will be far worse than any Hurricane Irene.

I have to admit that as I listened to this report I found myself saying aloud "I wish" to the commentator's dire predictions that the Euro-zone would collapse. If the Euro-zone collapses, will it be bad? Yes, yes it will. If the Euro fails as a viable currency, will it mean terrible (even more terrible?) economic conditions for the European people? Yes, perhaps. If the Euro fails, will it effect the world at large? Yes, perhaps. But will the European people be better off without the European Union, without the Euro as their currency? Yes, most definitely yes! Why? The European Union and the Euro has effected to strip the European peoples from their individual national sovereignty, identities, and to some degree even their cultures. Only if the E.U. fails will Europe be able to redeem itself culturally and morally.

So as the E.U. continues to pressure debt-strapped nations within the Euro-zone to enlarge their austerity measures and as the citizens in individual nations continue to protest (as is the case in Spain the day of this writing), a paradigm shift is taking place: individuals are moving further away from a continental-centralized-supranational government to what is traditionally thought of as the old Europe. And here is the heart of the matter: only within an old Europe can monarchy be restored as the government of choice among nations. So the sooner the E.U. collapses from its own debt, the better I say!

Another Royal Wedding!

And this time it's a German one. On Saturday August 27, HIRH Georg Friedrich von Preußen married Princess Sophie von Isenburg. I wish them a long and happy marriage with many gracious children. I also hope that this wedding will have effected a greater interest in the abdicated monarchy among the German people. It is high time the Germans bring back their Kaiser!

Rules of Succession

I have been thinking lately about the various rules of succession, both historically and presently within monarchies. Some monarchies allow only legitimate male heirs to ascend the throne, while others allow legitimate females as well. Some of the monarchies that allow female heirs do so only if there is no male heir, while others dictate that the eldest child regardless of gender ascend the throne. The common thread among the different rules of succession is succession by blood, but what about adoption?

I must confess that I have been thinking about adoption and succession for a very selfish reason: my wife and I have been unable to conceive and are in the process of adopting a baby. What if I were born a royal and unable to have a biological child? There are certainly enough historical examples of childless royals to make one think about the possibility of adopted heirs. Perhaps many succession disputes (even armed disputes) could have been avoided had a royal couple been allowed to adopt a child and name that child the heir to the throne. It was done in ancient Rome (although the emperor usually adopted a nephew and named him heir), so there is some historical precedent.

I am not one to pay attention to gossip magazines or the tabloids, but when I am in the check-out stand at the grocery store it is hard not to notice them (especially due the the fact that I am an Archie comics fan, and the great Archie Double Digest is often sold right next to the tabloids). I have noticed several tabloids since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married alluding to the royal couple having fertility problems. All these rumours may be false, but it does make one think about the topic of royal succession.

So I ask you, my readers, what do you think about royal succession by adoption?

Congratulations!

I would like to wish the their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a very happy and life-long marriage! May God bless them with many wonderful children, and may God bless them and guide them throughout their marriage and eventual reign.

The State of Europe

I recently read a couple of articles about the political climate in Europe. One article describes how the Swiss are increasingly becoming weary of foreigners in their nation, especially Muslims. The other article tells us that thirteen per cent of modern Germans would welcome a Führer (no, not a return of Hitler but rather a strong leader who can and will stop the Muslim tide from overtaking Germany). And then I found this video (insert hyperlink) of an Austrian MP criticizing Turkey for its inaction over the murder of a Catholic archbishop in Turkey at the hands of a Turkish Muslim. The common theme within these article and video is an increasing hostility among Europeans towards Islam, non-Western culture, and status quo of modern European tolerance.

I am not a fan, nor have I ever been a fan of the European Union. It is my opinion that the EU breaks down national sovereignty and destroys a sense of ethnic and cultural cohesiveness at the national level. It also makes it harder for the various monarchies of Europe (those that still exist that is) to reassert their sovereign power and overcome the anti-monarchical democratic trend spreading throughout Europe. The EU also makes it harder for former monarchies, in my opinion, to resurrect themselves.

Europe seems to be on the brink of continental wide bankruptcy. The Euro no longer seems to be as indestructible as it used to, and the people of Europe are beginning to wake up to what forty years of increasing tolerance to non Christian and non European thought and culture has done to their homelands. I hope that the theme common within these articles and video continue and multiply.

Willing Heirs?

A reader recently asked me (specifically about Germany) if the solution to the problem of non-reigning monarchies truly lies in the past, i.e. are current legitimate heirs willing to assume the thrones of their ancestors should the occasion arise. While I am loyal to the legitimate heir to the German Empire, HIRH Georg Friedrich von Preußen, I would not necessarily be opposed to someone else ascending the throne of a new German Empire if the restoration of the old one was impossible.

I find it most prudent to restore legitimate reigns with legitimate heirs, but far too often in Europe the "pretenders" to various thrones have little to no support from the populace, or even have no desire to work towards a restoration of the monarchy. If heirs do not work for a restoration of monarchy, and some charismatic figure should come along and do it himself, I see no reason to deny that individual the opportunity to found a new Christian monarchy in place of an old one.

A Royal Wedding

I would like to offer my congratulations to Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden and her new husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland on their recent marriage (the wedding took place on June 19). From an American monarchist, I offer the royal couple a happy and long marriage!