British Royalty
Today I am supposed to be excited because Kate Middleton (what is her married name anyway?) is in labor. I wish her well. But it really matters little to me, extremely little.
Royalty is only interesting to me because it is a part of history, and I love history. Last night on PBS a documentary on George V was shown. It explained a lot to me. The royalty of England for 200 years was German, spoke German, married German, used German titles. But George V, who was cousin to Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas, changed all that. He adapted the monarchy to the changing times so it could survive, and it's the only one people really know about today. He eliminated all German accoutrements, changed the name to the house of Windsor (after the old castle), became the people's king, and encouraged his son Bertie to marry a "commoner" (whatever the heck that means--royalty usually acted very common). He also took his role seriously as the emperor, as did his wife, and they jumped into charity work and dealing with the people.
Unfortunately, he did not give asylum to his cousin the Czar, which might have changed history markedly (a week later the Romanovs were assassinated), and he fathered a child who almost wrote a different history because he was favorable to the Nazis and addicted to "love." Thank heavens he abdicated, little prick, and England fought Germany tooth and nail.
I always wondered how they went from German Victoria, who had ten children and married them off all over Europe, to Elizabeth.
Royalty is only interesting to me because it is a part of history, and I love history. Last night on PBS a documentary on George V was shown. It explained a lot to me. The royalty of England for 200 years was German, spoke German, married German, used German titles. But George V, who was cousin to Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas, changed all that. He adapted the monarchy to the changing times so it could survive, and it's the only one people really know about today. He eliminated all German accoutrements, changed the name to the house of Windsor (after the old castle), became the people's king, and encouraged his son Bertie to marry a "commoner" (whatever the heck that means--royalty usually acted very common). He also took his role seriously as the emperor, as did his wife, and they jumped into charity work and dealing with the people.
Unfortunately, he did not give asylum to his cousin the Czar, which might have changed history markedly (a week later the Romanovs were assassinated), and he fathered a child who almost wrote a different history because he was favorable to the Nazis and addicted to "love." Thank heavens he abdicated, little prick, and England fought Germany tooth and nail.
I always wondered how they went from German Victoria, who had ten children and married them off all over Europe, to Elizabeth.
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