It was nothing less than a battle for the soul of the future Germany – a heavy burden to place on the shoulders of a seventeen-year-old girl [Vicky]. ibid.
Berlin: the wedding of the German Kaiser’s only daughter, Victoria Louisa. Kaiser Wilhelm was filmed with his cousin King George V of Britain. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, another cousin, was also a guest. Royal Cousins at War II
The modern age hovered like a spectre at the feast. ibid.
Europe’s three royal cousins would never meet again. ibid.
It was the Germans who now felt isolated. ibid.
The two monarchs signed a military alliance between Germany and Russia. ibid.
Very ordinary men steamrollered by history. ibid.
Never again would the peace of Europe hinge on the eccentricities of individuals selected by the lottery of birth. ibid.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 a royal family turned on itself. Germany’s leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II, was Queen Victoria’s grandson. Queen Victoria and the Crippled Kaiser: Secret History, Channel 4 2013
A terrified little boy with a secret disability thought shameful at the time. A child subjected to gruesome torture in the name of science and troubled by dark incestuous desires. ibid.
The wars of Religion shaped the Europe we live in today. In the sixteenth century religion and power were inextricably linked. At the time of the Renaissance the rulers of Europe’s most important nations fought each other violently in the name of God. The Real War of Thrones s2e1: The True History of Europe Game of Queens 1542-1559
At the height of the Renaissance the young Queen of Scotland was forced to flee her homeland. The King of France had Europe on tenterhooks and kicked the English out of his kingdom. Meanwhile, the largest empire in the west was breaking apart. Europe was on the verge of thirty years of bloody warfare. ibid.
Henry II was 29 year old. A year earlier he succeeded his father Francis I to the French throne. Henry II was an ambitious, ruthless monarch whose main obsession was to gain revenge on his old arch-enemy Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. ibid.
The open war between Mary and Elizabeth was good for the King of France. ibid.
I didn’t make any jokes when the Queen died. I maintained a strict silence as I tried to sneak back out of her bedroom. Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy, Channel 4 2023
Of course they’ll try and find ways of sounding relevant. King Charles spoke out recently about climate change. He said it was rare to hear such despair in young people’s voices that aren’t coming from his brother’s bedroom. ibid.
It’s time to say farewell to the monarchy. ibid.
Increasingly, the British Monarchy seem like animals in a zoo that’s fallen on hard times. ibid.
The Monarchy stands in direct conflict with the labour movement. It justifies class rule. It represents an economic system the condemns the poorest in society to death whilst hoarding inordinate amounts of stolen wealth. The parliamental voice for organised labour should be anti-monarchy. Abolish golf tweet 18th June 2023