November 20

Today is not only the 62nd wedding anniversary of HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, but also the 97th birthday of HI&RH Archduke Otto of Austria-Hungary, son and heir of Emperor Bl Charles I, who if there were any justice in modern Europe would be internationally recognized as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. This is a particularly significant birthday for AD Otto because it means he has reached a higher age than even his mother Empress Zita (9 May 1892 - 14 Mar 1989) did.

On other blogs:
http://wilsonrevunplugged.blogspot.com/2009/11/archduke-otto-97.html
http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/2009/11/many-years.html
http://sergesblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-birthday-archduke-otto-holy-ghost.html

God Save the Queen and God Bless her Consort! Gott erhalte Otto den Kaiser!

French Royal Birth

Congratulations to Jean d'Orléans, Duc de Vendôme, and his wife Philomena on the birth of their son Gaston in Paris today. For French monarchists who accept the Utrecht renunciations, this little boy now represents the future of French royalism. Even for those who do not, he is still a Capetian prince. Vive le Roi!

Obama and the Emperor

The tiresome uproar over President Obama's apparent bow to the Emperor of Japan is a perfect illustration of why I hold that monarchists who happen to live in the United States should not necessarily identify with the American "Right." Not only are bows standard greetings in the Orient, but presidents of republics are still commoners, and it's entirely appropriate for commoners to bow to royalty, especially the world's only remaining Emperor. I am reminded of the Vatican's excellent seating arrangements for the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, when as Fr Brian Harrison observed, royal guests, no matter how small their countries, sat in the front row, while republican representatives, no matter how powerful theirs, were firmly relegated to places behind them. It's also worth noting that Obama has been a head of state for less than a year, whereas Akihito has reigned for 20 years and is a generation older. While I disagree with Obama on many issues, his appropriate gesture of respect for a senior world leader and ally is not one of them, and for it to be considered an "issue" at all reflects not so much on him as on the pathetic infantilism of knee-jerk Americanists.

King of Tonga surrenders power

In yet another triumph for "Democracy" and defeat for tradition, King George Tupou V of Tonga has agreed to relinquish his executive powers in favour of the development of a Western-style parliamentary constitutional monarchy in which politicians will presumably be the real rulers. While unlike the most hardline sort of reactionary monarchists I prefer a "figurehead" monarchy to none at all, I am sorry to see yet another king reduced to a powerless symbol. Note the article's arrogant tone of inevitability. Nothing in politics is truly inevitable, yet the great triumph of the forces of "Progress" has been to convince many people that their agenda is.

Lone monarchist challenges republican mob

Kudos to Suzanne Reny who defiantly stood up to Quebeçois republicans protesting the visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Monarchists need more of this defiant spirit. Relentlessly sneered at by the media as in this New York Times article, Canadians who value their country's monarchical constitution--an integral part of the heritage of American Loyalists who sacrificed everything to remain loyal to the Crown and from whom many Canadians are descended--need to make their voices heard, as the heroic Monarchist League of Canada knows very well.

November 11

Yesterday, widely known as Armistice or Veterans' Day, was also the anniversary of two tragic (and in the first case, closely related) historical events: the 1918 fall of the Habsburg monarchy, eloquently mourned by Gerald Warner in the Telegraph, and New Labour's 1999 expulsion of most of the hereditary peers from Britain's House of Lords. Both developments constituted important steps of the relentless and heartless advance of "Democracy," at the expense of everything ancient, honourable, and beautiful.

Ten Years since Australian monarchist victory

The Monarchist has an extensive list of links on today's tenth anniversary of the defeat of republicanism in Australia. I remember having closely followed this story while a college student and being greatly relieved by the result, probably the happiest any news story has ever made me.

It seems that it's hard for even the most diehard republicans in Australia to escape the general consensus that, ten years on, there simply isn't as much interest in republicanism as there was in the 1990s. That doesn't mean that most Australians have become passionate monarchists, but rather that appetite for radical constitutional change has diminished and most Australians are reasonably content to focus on other issues, at least for the time being. However, monarchists cannot be complacent and let their guard down; republicans have not disappeared or given up.

God Save HM Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia!