While the splendor and tradition of the British monarchy continue to fascinate people and the media around the world, the Windsors are far from the only royal dynasty to survive in the 21st century. Other European monarchies, from Spain to Belgium and from Norway to the Netherlands, have made similar efforts to adapt, modernize and remain relevant. Some have been more successful than others.
The Spanish royal family, once seen as a model of a modest, modern monarchy, endured turbulent years. Juan Carlos, long praised for helping move the country back to democracy after Franco’s dictatorship – and facing an attempted coup in 1981 – proved to be a long-term dropout.
The former monarch abdicated eight years ago amid a sharp decline in popularity, handing over the throne to his son Felipe. Pictures of Juan Carlos posing in front of a dead elephant while on a safari in Botswana in 2012 did not go well in a country still devastated by the 2008 economic crisis.
Juan Carlos, the former king of Spain, has had a long fall from grace. Photo: Oscar del Pozo / AFP / Getty
Two years ago, the former king went into voluntary exile after being accused of damaging his business relationship, further damaging his already damaged reputation and embarrassing his son.
In March 2020, Felipe stripped Juan Carlos of his annual scholarship and gave up his personal inheritance from his father after reports that he was on track to receive millions of euros from a secret offshore fund linked to Saudi Arabia. Three months later, Spain’s Supreme Court launched an investigation into the former king’s role in a deal in which a Spanish consortium won a 6.7 billion-euro (5.9 billion-pound) contract to build a high-speed railway between the Saudi cities of Medina and Soft.
Although the prosecution has since postponed all investigations against the former king on various grounds, his legal problems are not over. His former mistress, Danish businesswoman Corina zu Sein-Wittgenstein-Sain, filed a lawsuit against him in the Supreme Court in London, alleging that he used the Spanish spy agency to target and harass her and her children after their five-year relationship.
In February 2017, Juan Carlos’ younger daughter, Princess Christina, was released from helping her husband, Inyaki Urdangarin, evade taxes after a one-year lawsuit. But Urdangarin was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and fined more than 500,000 euros after being found guilty of charges including embezzlement, fraud and tax evasion.
In the Netherlands, a series of errors during the coronavirus pandemic brought the popularity of King Willem-Alexander and his family to an all-time low, with a survey last month showing that confidence in the monarch has fallen to 54%. of 80% when he took over from his mother, Queen Beatrix, in 2013.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima had to end their holiday in Greece after the Netherlands entered a partial blockade. Photo: Marcel van Hoorn / EPA
“They have hard work to do to regain their popularity and show that they are in touch with ordinary people,” said Dutch historian Han van der Horst.
The royals had to cut short their holiday in Greece in October 2020, shortly after the Netherlands entered a partial blockade following a protest and were also criticized last year when Princess Amalia, the future queen, celebrated her 18th birthday with 21 guests. while people were allowed to accept no more than four adults at home.
Approval for Argentine-born Queen Maxima, the most popular member of the royal family, fell to 61% this year from 84% in 2019. However, polls also show that more than 55% of Dutch people still believe their country should remain a constitutional monarchy.
And the royal family made positive gestures: last year Amalia waived her right to 1.6 million euros (£ 1.4 million) a year in income and allowances until she took over the royal duties after her studies, and Willem-Alexander provided a castle for 32 Ukrainian refugees.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark turned 82 in April, three months after celebrating 50 years on the throne, bypassing scandals, modernizing the monarchy and making the Danish royal family one of the most popular in the world.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has made the Danish royal family one of the most popular in the world. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP / Getty
Surveys show that more than 75% of Danes support their monarchy, compared to less than half when Margrethe succeeded her father Frederick IX, with only 15% want Denmark to be a republic – and Margrethe, a unifying and strongly non-political figure. is largely responsible, commentators say.
Public celebrations for the anniversary were postponed to September because of Covid, with memories limited to Margrethe, who was widowed in 2018 and has eight grandchildren, simply laying a wreath at her parents’ grave.
The Queen, known as Daisy in Denmark, has often been compared to Britain’s Elizabeth for her strong sense of duty and unquestioning acceptance of her role: she has repeatedly said she will never abdicate and “will remain on the throne until I fall”.
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav turned 76 this year, but is a modern Scandinavian monarch, participating in podcasts, installing solar panels at the royal palace and supporting a change in the law so that his eldest daughter can succeed him.
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his wife Queen Sylvia installed solar panels in the royal palace. Photo: Stuart C Wilson / Getty
Carl Gustav had a reputation as a young boy with a love of fast cars when he became the youngest monarch in the world at 27. A 2010 biography later revealed much more, claiming to have visited underground sex clubs and an affair with a Swedish singer. The king never denied the allegations, saying only that he and Queen Sylvia had “turned the page”.
However, without formal political power and a purely ceremonial role, Carl Gustav, an avid conservationist, has since led the modernization of the monarchy. His daughter Victoria was made retroactively a princess in 1980, replacing her younger brother Carl Philip, who would otherwise be heir.
Victoria married her personal trainer and Carl Philip a former model and reality TV contestant, and they are both active in a number of good causes, from anti-bullying to the LGBT movement and children with disabilities. Their sister Madeleine married a businessman and lives in Miami.
In 2019, Carl Gustav announced that in order to save taxpayers’ money and in agreement with the rest of the family, the descendants of Madeleine and Carl Philip – five of the king’s seven grandchildren – must be removed from the royal house, which means that he will no longer be entitled to state aid.
As a sign that he may be pushing for restrictions on his role, Carl Gustav sparked some controversy last year, describing the Covid government’s policy of “failing” to save lives.
King Harald similarly modernized the Norwegian monarchy, restored the crown holdings, changed the way the court was run, married an ordinary citizen, Queen Sonia, in 1968, and welcomed the other two, Mete-Marit and Ari Ben, as spouses of his children, Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Martha Louise.
Queen Sonia and King Harald of Norway, who is passionate about national unity. Photo: Per Ole Hagen / Getty
Harald, who succeeded his father, Olav V, in 1991, studied at Oxford and represented his country in three sailing competitions at the Olympics, took on a role without real political power. He is considered to be a very effective speaker and passionate about national unity, especially in times of national crisis.
In 2011, after Anders Bering Breivik killed 77 people in two attacks, he told his subjects with tears in his eyes that “freedom is stronger than fear”, adding: “It is good to be together at this time. .. As a father, grandfather and husband I can only begin to feel some of the pain you are experiencing. As King of the Nation, I feel for each of you. ”
A 2016 speech marking his 25th year on the throne was widely praised as Harald expressed support for refugees, religious tolerance, diversity and LGBT rights, saying Norwegians come from Afghanistan and Pakistan, believe “in God, in Allah, in the universe and in nothing ”and includes“ girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each other ”.
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST
Harald suffered several years of deteriorating health, including surgery for bladder cancer in 2003, forcing Haakon to intervene as regent, but said he would not abdicate.
Belgium, in the words of a Flemish nationalist politician, is a “historic incident” united only by its king, the national football team and a few beers. Since Leopold I, Queen Victoria’s uncle, arrived in the newly created Belgian state in 1831, the monarchy has played a role in maintaining a country divided along linguistic lines. The current monarch Philip, King of the Belgians, has more than a ceremonial role. After the national elections, it is the king who invites the party leaders to the palace to begin the delicate process of building a Flemish-Francophone multi-party coalition.
King Philip of Belgium and his wife Queen Matilda had to contend with Belgium’s colonial past. Photo: Stéphanie Lecocq / EPA
Despite this role, enthusiasm is limited. A 2017 Le Soir poll found that nearly two-thirds of Belgians believe the monarchy’s € 35 million price is too high, while half want to end government payments to Prince Laurent, the king’s uncle’s blunder. The family was unable to avoid the scandal. Albert II, who abdicated in 2013, was forced to acknowledge the paternity of the artist Dolphin Boel after denying for years that he had given birth to a child during an extramarital affair.
Meanwhile, Philip, who succeeded Albert II, …
Add Comment