(First published in Small World Ezine on 3 June 2002)
The people of Great Britain are celebrating the Golden
Jubilee of their Queen. Congratulations!
CNN yesterday said USA has Hollywood, Italy has Opera, and
England has their Royal Family. Well...
Through the country's bad times and good times, Queen
Elizabeth II has proved to be always there for her people.
To most English, she is THE only queen they've known and got
to love. People said Royal Families nowadays are only for
exhibitions. But I don't think so.
Let's have a look into some of the World's contemporary
Monarchy, and how they are coping with the modern world
nowadays.
In Britain, the feelings of the people to their Roayl Family
is kind of mixed. Some are pretty much in love with their
Queen, but some said they could not care less. But I believe
they probably still join in a fight to protect their Queen if
they need to.
Yet, people seem to have fun spreading rumours. The funniest
rumour (Oh I don't know if it's true, but it's still funny)
is probably the one saying Prince Albert Victor, the grandson
of Queen Victoria, being Jack the Ripper! There are several
books written on this particular subject too.
In another European country like France, people are very
against Royalty. But in Spain, monarchy had been
brought back again after decades of republican, and the exiled
king's grandson ascended the throne. King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofia (a Greek princess) have two daughters, Princess
Elena and Princess Cristina, and a son, Crown Prince Felipe,
who is the heir to the throne.
European's most spotlighted monarch is probably the Royal
Family of Monaco. The tiny principality became world famous in
1956 when Prince Rainier married American movie star Grace
Kelly. Her tragic death in a car accident and some scandals
in her daughters' love lives are probably the causes of the
continuing interests.
In Africa, being a King is not something you'll look forward
to. In Ghana's King Yakubu Andani II was savagely murdered in
March during a clash between two rival clans. The king and
chiefs of Swaziland are being accused of using slave labor.
And most of them are facing heavy civil wars in which all of
them are threatened to not only their throne but also their
lives.
The most successful Monarchy of Africa is probably the Royal
Family of Morrocco, the Late King Hassan II, who was widely
credited with maintaining unity in Morocco and working toward
peace in the Middle East. His son Mohammed VI is now the King.
Also, most of the Middle Eastern countries are still under
absolute monarchy. Saudi Arabia's Royal Family is probably the
largest, with thousands of members. But the most loved is
probably the Royalty of Jordan.
I remember when I went to Jordan in the 80s, my Jordanian
friend could not stop talking about their King and his
devotion to the development of the country. Unlike other
Middle-East countries, Jordan does not have oil. They used to
be poor and sad until their king's development projects have
come to save their lives. The late King Hussein of Jordan was
also praised internationally for his attempts to bring peace
to the region.
Though highly loved by the people, extremists founded him
overly sympathetic to the West. During his reign, Hussein was
the target of as many as twelve assassination attempts. In
1958 Syrian jets intercepted Hussein's plane and tried to
force it down. He called this incident "the narrowest escape
from death I have ever had." In 1960, Jordanian palace
officials admitted they had tried to kill Hussein by poisoning
his food and putting acid in his nose drops. And so it went
on, year after year. Yet Hussein always managed to survive.
When he passed away February 1999, the country fell into
heavy grief. His eldest son, Adbullah, is now the King of
Jordan. He and his wife continue working for the peace of the
region.
The most recent tragic fell to Nepalese Royal Family. It is
already a year that almost everybody in the family was
massacred in the palace's dining table by the Crown Prince.
Crown Prince Dipendra shot himself after the massacre, and his
uncle -- Prince Gyanendra became the next king.
Because of doubts in transparancy of the investigation, the
people of Nepal did not believe their much-loved Crown Prince
had committed the crime. There were riots which had led into
a more sesious civil war afterwards. The country is still
under war, and the new King (who's suspected to be involved
somehow) still refuses to move into the palace. **(see Note below)
Largest number of tragedies occurred during the communist
attacks. The rest of them who survived had exiled tried to
return to the throne, but after decades had passed, newer
generations don't care about their royalties anymore. The
King of Laos had died in a commune, where he had to work
hard in the rice field. Chinese Emperror Puyi was kind of
abandoned and when he died in 1967, it was rumored that he
had been murdered by revolutionaries. King Sihanouk of
Cambodia had been into exile for too many times during
Cambodia's several crises. And the last prince of Burma is
still somewhere in exile.
However, there are at least 3 royal Families in Asia, who
manage to keep the love and respect of their people throughout
the bad times and all the crises -- The Royal Family of Japan,
Brunei, and Thailand. And the same key to success applies to
all -- always stay with the people -- never leave.
I will write about the King of Thailand again later (He is the
great-grandson of King Mongkut in "the King and I"). But
today, the spotlight is with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Congratulations... And Long Live the Queen.
More:
Do you know that there used to be a Royal Family in the United
States too? Hawaii is the only U.S. state that was once a
kingdom with its own monarchy. The only real royal palace in
the United States is the Iolani Palace, which was completed in
1882, during the reign of David Kalakaua, the last king of
Hawaii. The palace was used as Hawaii's capitol building until
1969. Today it's a museum.
More readings:
Persian Children of the Royal Family: The Narrative of an English Tutor (1902)
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(Note: The parliament of Nepal has voted to change the system from Kingdom to Republic in 2007.)
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