How do Europeans regard their royalty? (people, living, German, Romanian)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are a number of Europeans with titles of "Baron or Prince This" or "Baroness or Princess That" who are members of families that haven't ruled any part of Europe for decades. Some of them seem to be wealthy even though they don't seem to work for a living. How do other non-royal Europeans regard them? Here's an example:
Well, Vienna and Linz are quite small so it's inevitable to meet someone from a well-known family every once in a while. Mostly names you know from history class: Auersperg, Schwarzenberg, Starhemberg, Kinsky, Liechtenstein, Thun-Hohenstein, Windisch-Grätz, Harnoncourt, ...
Some of them are nice guys. Hard working, not solely relying on the wealth of their families. Some others call themselves "farmers", but their only occupation seem to be snorting coke like a pop star from the 80s.
The more recent Habsburgs are mostly perceived as idiots. Especially Karl. Some others are quite liked by the public. Hubertus von Hohenlohe for example. Mostly because of his role in alpine skiing:
I am not a fan of monarchy and nobility. The current Norwegian royal famliy is only 110 years old. The first king and queen were both foreigners. What is the point of that?
Most noble familes died out 4-500 years ago. All noble privileges (like fancy titles) were abolished nearly 200 years ago.
The nobility has no priviledges here, and most are like everybody else. Some have lost their ancient wealth and you don't know they're noble until you look at their ID.
I am not a fan of monarchy and nobility. The current Norwegian royal famliy is only 110 years old. The first king and queen were both foreigners. What is the point of that?
The same happened in Romania. The royal family came from Germany around 1860. Why Germany? I have no idea. King Michael was forced to abdicate at gunpoint after the communist invasion in the wake of WWII. He says forced abdication at gunpoint is null and void in international law, so he's still king. (Or was, until he stepped down and handed the crown over to his oldest daughter a few years ago.) Of course, the Romanian constitution was amended back then and Romania became a Republic, so the government doesn't recognize him officially. But he's pretty popular with the people, who are fed up with corrupt government.
He had to work for a living when in exile. He's 93. He maintains a home above Lake Geneva, and occasionally speaks at the UN on behalf of Romania. But he got some of his family property returned to him in Romania, so now he and his family spend part of the year in Romania. I suppose he lives on a Swiss pension, as well as a retirement account he was able to build. Perhaps the Romanian state maintains his palaces at public expense. Which they were doing, anyway, as museums, in some cases. He managed to escape Romania with a few luxuries, but nothing that would allow him to support himself. He had to job search as soon as he arrived in the West, like a regular guy.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 11-22-2014 at 02:08 PM..
I forgot to add that nobility doesn't have any privileges here either. They aren't even allowed to use "von", "zu" or "von und zu" either. Unlike in Germany.
Nobility in most European countries today is not different from carrying a name like Vanderbilt or Rockefeller, or being one of the Kennedys in the United States. Most countries have abolished formal political roles for nobility. Even the United Kingdom has phased out most hereditary peerages, and the House of Lords is slowly becoming an appointed body.
I am not a fan of monarchy and nobility. The current Norwegian royal famliy is only 110 years old. The first king and queen were both foreigners. What is the point of that?
Kingship in Norway was never of the extended dynastic sort. Early on, every farmer was a king, his kingdom extending to the edge of his fields (and if you could scare off a troll he would give his daughter's hand in marriage and half his kingdom.)
Then in the late viking times, whichever farmer could intimidate the rest of the farmers enough to become Christian became king. If you refused to become intimidated or otherwise didn't like the king, you could always flee to Iceland.
Nobilities only have some very scant privileges in European Monarchies, but privileges are just honorary.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How do other non-royal Europeans regard them? Here's an example:
