The Great Survivors
Peter Conradi (Bloomsbury, R390)
This book by the author of The King’s Speech is delightful.
The title refers to the handful of monarchies that have survived into the 21st century. The funeral of Edward VII in 1910 was attended by nine crowned heads and more than 30 royal princes. Now there are only 10 reigning royal families, those of the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, plus the principalities of Liechtenstein and Monaco.
The book abounds in fascinating information. The imperative of marrying royalty or, at worst, nobility produced some highly unsuitable marriages and others that were fraught with difficulties. Thus, when Juan Carlos of Spain married Queen Sofia, he could speak Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, while she spoke Greek and German. They consequently had to make do with broken English.
Because the primary responsibility of a royal wife was thought to be the speedy production of a male heir, these women often languished unloved, while their husbands philandered freely. Britain’s Edward VII was notorious in this regard, earning the nickname of “Edward the Caresser”. Sofie, the long-suffering wife of Willem III of the Netherlands, was buried in her wedding dress because, as far as she was concerned, her life ended on the day she was married.
The liberalisation of royal marriages has contributed to the survival of monarchy. Marriage to a commoner is illustrated by Victoria, crown princess of Sweden, who married her erstwhile fitness trainer.
Felipe, the heir to the Spanish throne, married Letizia, who was not only a commoner, but also a divorcee. The Catholic Church overlooked her status as a divorcee on the grounds that her previous marriage had been contracted in a registry office.
Finally, when Crown Prince Haakon of Norway married Mette-Marit, a single parent, her four-year-old son accompanied her up the aisle of Oslo Cathedral.
The virtues of particular rulers have also helped to perpetuate the institution of monarchy. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands endeared herself to her people by her courage and composure. She was only a slip of a girl when the powerful Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany blustered to her: “See, my guards are seven feet tall and yours are only shoulder-high to them.”
“Quite true, Your Majesty,” she replied, “your guards are seven feet tall. But when we open our dykes the water is ten feet deep.”
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth’s steadfast devotion to duty covers a multitude of royal sins and her people respect and admire her for it.
The Great Survivors is not only about the controversial behaviour of members of the various royal houses, it also explores the institution of monarchy today in terms of its political role, the way it is financed, its relationship with the media and the threat it faces from republicanism.
It is both enlightening and entertaining. – John Boje