Prince Alfred of Prussia (1924-2013)

I am sorry to learn somewhat belatedly of the death in June of Costa Rica of HRH Prince Alfred of Prussia, grandnephew of both the last German Emperor and the last Empress of Russia. May he rest in peace.

Enemies of Monarchy, Heroes of Modernity

I sometimes find it depressing how in so many countries, even non-Communist ones, men I despise are widely and even officially revered:

United States: Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and other "Founding Fathers"
France: the leaders of the French Revolution in general, though it's interesting that no individual is really singled out
Poland: Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817)
Hungary: Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)
Mexico: Benito Juarez (1806-1872)
Italy: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)
Czech Republic (whose very name is offensive): Tomáš Masaryk (1850-1937), Edvard Beneš (1884-1948)
Greece: Eleutherios Venizelos (1864-1936)
Ireland: Eamon de Valera (1882-1975)
Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970)

Even in England, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) still has a much better reputation than he deserves, with that disgusting statue outside Parliament.

That's how it is when one is on what the world considers to be the "wrong side of history"...

Monarchy and the Arts

As a monarchist musician, I am intrigued though not surprised by the common enemies that royalists and arts advocates face. First it was Mark Oppenheimer (Americans who watch the royal wedding are traitors/kids shouldn't take music lessons), now the perhaps even more execrable Hamilton Nolan (the British monarchy should be abolished and the royal family imprisoned/don't give a dollar to the New York City Opera). Classical music could not have developed without royal patronage, and European royal occasions would not be as grand without classical music. Music and Monarchy go together brilliantly, as David Starkey recently explored, and even non-royalist musicians should be wary of the utilitarian, bean-counting, egalitarian arguments employed by anti-royalists as they can be easily turned against the Arts as well. What ought to unite monarchists and musicians is a commitment to the Good, the True, and the Beautiful as valuable for its own sake.

German Election? Why?

I read that there was some sort of "Election" in Germany, which is worthless as there has not been a legitimate government in Germany since 1918. If Germany is to remain united (which itself is debatable), its sole rightful ruler is Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preußen. What good have these chancellors, presidents, and other politicians ever done? Such a waste of time and money. Restore all German monarchies now!

Canadian Court Upholds Oath to Queen

It's good that there is still some sanity in the Canadian courts, but the fact that this "case" was even considered is ridiculous. How much attention would the United States government pay to an immigrant who demanded that he be allowed to become an American citizen without taking the oath of allegiance to the US Constitution on the grounds that he was a monarchist? 

Don't believe in constitutional monarchy? Don't move to Canada. There are plenty of republics in the world you could live in. Try Syria.

Ignorant Git Hasn't Changed...but neither has the splendour of April 2011

I will not provide the links, you can look them up yourself, but apparently the same jerk Mark Oppenheimer who famously wrote in Slate in April 2011 that any American who got up early to watch the royal wedding live would be a "traitor," now has an article in The New Republic against children taking music or ballet lessons because the arts are pretty much useless for most people, or something. So presumably I as a monarchist musician am basically a Useless Traitor. Whatever.

Earlier this afternoon I watched the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge again, mainly to express my contempt for the worthless philistine moronic feckless troglodyte known as Mark Oppenheimer. I still don't like John Rutter's anthem "This is the day" that much, though I would not have said so on Facebook if I had been a Westminster Abbey organ scholar at the time. Nevertheless there are plenty of musical moments that never fail to thrill no matter how many times one watches the DVD. One is the superb panoramic shot from the ceiling of the Abbey at the end of "I Was Glad." Another is the close-up of the London Chamber Orchestra timpanist giving the opening drum roll to "God Save the Queen." And another is the close-up of the LCO cellists in Parry's "Blest Pair of Sirens," though it makes me wish I had been one of them. What a marvelous day that was.

 

Felix & Claire

HRH Prince Felix of Luxembourg, 29, second son of Grand Duke Henri, married Claire Lademacher, 28, in a modest civil ceremony in the bride's hometown of Königstein im Taunus in Germany. She is now legally HRH Princess Claire of Luxembourg. The religious ceremony, with a much larger guest list, will take place on Saturday at the basilica of St Mary Magdalene in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in France. Congratulations!

(L-R) Front row: Prince Gabriel and Prince Noah. Middle row: Hartmut Lademacher, Gabriele Lademacher, the bride, the groom, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Grand Duke Henri. Back row: Felix Lademacher, Prince Sebastien, Princess Tessy, Prince Louis, Her. Grand Duchess Stephanie, Her. Grand Duke Guillaume, Princess Alexandra.

An intriguing little fact for monarchist musicians is that the new princess, having been born in Filderstadt, Germany on 21 March 1985, is exactly three hundred years younger than Johann Sebastian Bach (21 Mar 1685 - 28 Jul 1750), if the Julian/Gregorian calendar issue is disregarded. I hope she likes his music.