Resurrecting the Czar

A symphony colleague called my attention to an article in the latest issue of The Smithsonian (available online) on the continuing controversy over the remains of the Romanovs, as well as the monarchist movement in Russia. I find myself in the awkward position of being inclined to agree on the facts with the scientific establishment (which holds that the remains of all seven martyred members of the immediate Imperial Family have been definitively identified) despite sympathizing ideologically with Russian monarchists who, like the Russian Orthodox Church, tend to still be skeptical. I can see why in an age when our cause tends to be dismissed as foolish and irrelevant by the Powers That Be, after so many decades of Soviet lies, monarchists might be inclined to regard the pronouncements of any contemporary establishment with suspicion, but even a broken clock is right twice a day, and it does seem to me that these scientists know what they are talking about even if they are not Orthodox Christians or monarchists. I hope that one day the issue can finally be resolved so that all those interested in the Romanovs, whether scientifically or ideologically, can finally stop quarreling with each other, though that seems unlikely at present.

It is encouraging, however, to read about the efforts and activities of monarchists such as Georgy Fyodorov of the Russian Imperial Union and artist Xenia Vyshpolskaya who specializes in portraits of the tsars. They have not given up, and neither should their sympathizers abroad. Боже, Царя храни!

Swedes and their allegedly "Reluctant Monarch"

Swedes, or at least the Swedish media, have been atwitter about the revelations of a new biography of King Carl XVI Gustaf, subtitled "The Reluctant Monarch". But the Telegraph article admits that few have actually changed their opinion of the King and most are inclined to give the royal family some privacy. Perhaps this book in the end will not have as much of an impact as its writers and some of their colleagues in the press seem to hope.

Imperial Mexico, and other blogosphere highlights

I usually try to avoid posts that simply link to specific entries of blogs that I already feature permanently on the side of my own blog, but sometimes my fellow royalist bloggers (most of whose blogs are rather more colourful than mine) are so inspiring that I have to make an exception. Andrew Cusack has a great post on Mexico's imperial heritage encompassing both Emperors, Augustin (1783-1824) and Maximilian (1832-1867). Coincidentally, Mr Cusack's excellent "Mexico Week" has immediately preceded my own Dallas Symphony Orchestra's presentation of "Latin Masterworks" under the direction of the young, beautiful, and gifted Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra with whom it has been delightful to work.

Also recommended are Elena Maria Vidal's account of her meeting with Archduke Imre of Austria and Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (Brazil) (of which I couldn't help being a little envious) and Gareth Russell's 255th birthday tribute to Marie Antoinette.

Monarchy: Solution for Serbia

Monarchists advocating restorations of long-defunct monarchies are sometimes accused of not being in touch with reality. But the Balkans.com Business News site, which does not look like it wallows in sentiment or fantasy, offers a refreshing pragmatic and practical argument in favor of constitutional monarchy for Serbia. Long live King Alexander II!

Vandalizing Versailles, Part II

Following in the footsteps of his "nephew" (actually cousin) Prince Charles-Emanuel, who in 2008 unsuccessfully challenged an exhibit there by an American "pop artist," Prince Sixte-Henri of Bourbon-Parma is seeking a court order to stop a Japanese "manga" transformation of Versailles. Of course, if Versailles were still being used for its proper purpose, as residence of the King and center of the Court, such silliness would not even be proposed...

The King's Speech

Dominic Sandbrook reflects on the upcoming movie about King George VI, concluding that glimpses of his human foibles did not prevent his subjects from embracing the mystique of monarchy, and that "[i]t will be a sad day when we are so cynical that we cannot do the same."

One Hundred Years of Darkness

On this date in 1910 the young King Manuel II (whose father and older brother had been murdered by republicans just two and half years earlier) was forced to flee Portugal after warships shelled the royal palace, with a republic proclaimed the following day. This was the first of the wretched twentieth century's evil anti-monarchist revolutions, a sign of the horrors to come. Predictably the current republican Portuguese government seems to think this anniversary is something to celebrate, but we whose taproot in Eden has not been cut (to quote C S Lewis) know better. October 1910 was the beginning of the end for the Old Order, the true European Civilisation which outside of France had seemed relatively stable for nearly a century, foreshadowing the way that all over Europe and the world nation after nation would succumb to the idiocy of abolitionist republicanism, callously and stupidly throwing their royal heritage in the gutter, only to find consistently that kings would be replaced by regimes worse than the worst king could have ever been.

Unfortunately Portuguese monarchists since then have faced all kinds of obstacles, not least of which was the allegedly "right-wing" regime (1932-68) of the traitor Salazar, whose positive reputation among some Catholics not unsympathetic to monarchy baffles me. Like other "right-wing" dictators, Salazar was happy to take advantage of monarchists when it suited him but was never one of us and (unlike Franco in Spain) never delivered. Today the would-be king Dom Duarte, recognised by all but a tiny quarrelsome minority of monarchists, is popular, but that does not seem to translate into momentum for serious efforts at restoration, apparently prohibited by the current constitution. Nevertheless, heroic groups such as PDR (Portugal, Democracia & Rei) and the Royal Association of Lisbon have not given up, and keep the flame alive as seen in this video.

The Portuguese Republic is a bloodstained abomination that has no right to exist; it is an ugly repudiation of all authentic Culture and Tradition; it is a negation of all that is good and holy and true. I condemn it with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind, and call on all true Portuguese Patriots to join together in demanding the restoration of the Duke of Braganza to his rightful Throne. Why would anyone put up with some boring president when they could have such a beautiful Royal Family? Long live HM King Duarte III!