nations with royal families

[ayinde]

are there any nations in Europe or Asia that still have a royal a family that isn't just a figure head?

[L. Marcus]

Re: nations with royal families

 

... Saudi-Arabia is in Asia, and the House of Saud is very much in charge ...

 

Ad then there's Jordan -- their king has power.

 

In Europe, most monarchs are more or less decorative nowadays. I think the Queen of the UK has the greatest real power of the lot, but is bound by tradition not to use it.

[ayinde]

Re: nations with royal families

 

i was trying to avoid the middle east (kinda over done) but you have a point. my current story arch "lotto nation" will introduce my worlds version of Dr.Doom. so i need a small nation that could be reformed into a world threat very quickly but is so chaotic that without a strong leader could not be held together long

[dmjalund]

Re: nations with royal families

 

isn't there a south east asian country where a writer was jailed for slandering its king?

[Markdoc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

The kings of Monaco and Lichtenstein are still heads of state and wield real power ... in their very small states. The latter is the official head of state, the latter is not. Monaco has a parliament and constitution limiting the king's power: but they both wield power due mostly to economic advantages. Otherwise, no. As the UK Queen's representative in Australia found out, European royal families retain some power and privileges - but that's only on paper, and only at the tolerance of the elected politicians. If they try to use them, they will be taken away.

 

In Asia, the Thai kings wield significant power - but it's soft power, due only to respect. Legal power rests with the government. With the abolition of the Nepalse monarchy 2 years ago, and the various Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan) that's about it.

 

cheers, Mark

[Markdoc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

isn't there a south east asian country where a writer was jailed for slandering its king?

 

Thailand: the laws there are very protective of the monarchy.

 

cheers, Mark

[McCoy]

Re: nations with royal families

 

... Saudi-Arabia is in Asia, and the House of Saud is very much in charge ...

 

Ad then there's Jordan -- their king has power.

 

In Europe, most monarchs are more or less decorative nowadays. I think the Queen of the UK has the greatest real power of the lot, but is bound by tradition not to use it.

There is power and there is power. I would argue that Dowager Queen Noor has as much unofficial power as King Abdullah II has official power.

[L. Marcus]

Re: nations with royal families

 

The kings of Monaco and Lichtenstein are still heads of state and wield real power ... in their very small states. The latter is the official head of state' date=' the latter is not. Monaco has a parliament and constitution limiting the king's power: but they both wield power due mostly to economic advantages. Otherwise, no. As the UK Queen's representative in Australia found out, European royal families retain some power and privileges - but that's only on paper, and only at the tolerance of the elected politicians. If they try to [b']use[/b] them, they will be taken away.

I hereby claim the right to pick nits: the monarchs of Monaco and Lichtenstein are princes, not kings. And then there's the grand duke of Luxembourg, and he seems to belong to those who wield official power as head of state.

[Chimera 12]

Re: nations with royal families

 

i was trying to avoid the middle east (kinda over done) but you have a point. my current story arch "lotto nation" will introduce my worlds version of Dr.Doom. so i need a small nation that could be reformed into a world threat very quickly but is so chaotic that without a strong leader could not be held together long

 

You know, if it doesn't necessarily have to be a long entrenched dynastic monarchy, there's always North Korea...

[Markdoc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

There is power and there is power. I would argue that Dowager Queen Noor has as much unofficial power as King Abdullah II has official power.

 

Not any more. She's visible overseas, because of her charity work, but in Jordan has been pushed out of the unofficial role of queen mother (Princess Muna al-Hussein, who's actually English, has that title), her son was pushed out of the line of succession and then stripped of his royal offices. The politicians of her faction are largely gone after the 2009 dissolution of parliment - even the foundations she started have largely been replaced by Queen Rania's and Princess Alia's ones in the Middle East. These days, Dowager Queen Noor rarely visits Jordan - she lives in London. Abdullah II in contrast, beams down on his subjects from damn near every surface available, and his son - the new heir - is almost as common: pictures of the current royal family are everywhere, pictures of the old king are pretty common ... but old queen Noor? Invisible.

 

cheers, Mark

[Escafarc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

If you need a country to be the "Foil" for the one you're looking for how about Bhutan they're a Constitutional Monarchy and they're only country to measure GNH (Gross National Happiness )

[ayinde]

Re: nations with royal families

 

okay there are some great examples to pull from. what about former nations that have been consumed buy larger nations were the old royal family hold still have great social power or even just owners of powerful global corporations that still run them directly

[Teflon Billy]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Not any more. She's visible overseas, because of her charity work, but in Jordan has been pushed out of the unofficial role of queen mother (Princess Muna al-Hussein, who's actually English, has that title), her son was pushed out of the line of succession and then stripped of his royal offices. The politicians of her faction are largely gone after the 2009 dissolution of parliment - even the foundations she started have largely been replaced by Queen Rania's and Princess Alia's ones in the Middle East. These days, Dowager Queen Noor rarely visits Jordan - she lives in London. Abdullah II in contrast, beams down on his subjects from damn near every surface available, and his son - the new heir - is almost as common: pictures of the current royal family are everywhere, pictures of the old king are pretty common ... but old queen Noor? Invisible.

 

cheers, Mark

And did she ever really have the much power to begin with (I'm talking immediately following King Hussein's death)?

 

I found most of the talk about her son ascending the throne or her influence to have been totally overblown and nothing more than Western Media outlet "wishful thinking" than any actually basis in reality on the ground in Jordan.

 

Abdullah was the eldest, he had even served in the government as DefMin, who really thought that Noor's son had a credible claim to the throne?

 

TB

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: nations with royal families

 

The Balkans had quite a few 'royal families' running around, and a lot of the states there are in turmoil (or could easily be brought to turmoil) leading to the "Return of the King" thing.

 

Oh, and the no longer existing Yugoslavia had a king, too. Forced into exile in 1941 by the German invasion, he was unable to return when Tito's Communists drove the Germans out. Crown Prince Alexander, only child of King Peter II of Yugoslavia is still alive, and would like to set up a monarchy in Serbia (or more), he'd make a good pawn/puppet for a supervillian.

[Markdoc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

And did she ever really have the much power to begin with (I'm talking immediately following King Hussein's death)?

 

I found most of the talk about her son ascending the throne or her influence to have been totally overblown and nothing more than Western Media outlet "wishful thinking" than any actually basis in reality on the ground in Jordan.

 

Abdullah was the eldest, he had even served in the government as DefMin, who really thought that Noor's son had a credible claim to the throne?

 

TB

 

She had enough clout to get her son named as crown prince and to get him to retain that position, even after Hussein had a change of heart and put Abdullah first in line, so quite a lot of people thought that Noor's son had a credible claim to the throne. Recall, that in Jordan (as in the arab world generally) there is no law that the eldest son inherits.. You just need to look across the border to Iraq, where Saddam was grooming his youngest son to take over, before the US altered the situation and cleaned the lot of 'em out. In Jordan, the requirements in law are simply that the king be a Muslim man legitimately descended through the make line of Abdullah I. Hussein had, at various time appointed his own brother, Mohammed, then Abdullah (the current Abdullah II), then his younger brother Hassan - and then he switched back to Abdullah again just before he died. All of those were qualified candidates. As the legally appointed heir if Hassan had taken the throne, and for years after Abdullah did, Ali clearly had a pretty good shot at the throne - after all, for most of Hussein's reign, his own brothers had been first in line, so there was nothing irregular about that.

 

Also, you're wrong about Abdullah: he never served in government, let alone as Defmin. He was career military, and had been in SOCCOM - ending as Major general in charge - for years. One of the reasons people were surprised Hussein re-appointed him as crown prince was that he had little or no governmental experience. However, he did have a solid backing in one of the two power blocs that matter in Jordan - the military - and that's generally thought to be what tipped it to him in the end.

 

cheers, Mark

[Lord Liaden]

Re: nations with royal families

 

If you want to use a real-world nation as the basis for this plotline, I recommend Ethiopia. It's one of the largest and most populous nations in Africa, with one of its strongest militaries, and considerable natural resources; but it remains relatively poor and underdeveloped, including areas of significant poverty and suffering. The current central government is autocratic and repressive, but Ethiopia's politics are highly fractious, with ongoing regional rebellions and insurgencies.

 

Ethiopia was ruled by an imperial dynasty of ancient tradition until 1974, when the last emperor, Haile Selassie, was overthrown in a coup. The emperor had strong traditional associations with Christianity in Ethiopia, and the Rastafarian faith, and was considered a divine or spiritual figure by many of their followers. A number of Selassie's descendants are alive today, still defending their royal titles and perogatives, and are associated with the Crown Council of Ethiopia.

 

I could see a smart, strong, and charismatic descendent of Haile Selassie garnering considerable support for a return to power in Ethiopia, especially if he manifested "divine"-seeming superhuman powers. If he could bring stability and prosperity to Ethiopia he'd not only cement his authority, but would have the resources to build a significant world power.

[ayinde]

Re: nations with royal families

 

I never thought about Ethiopia that could be perfect plus there are a lot of unstable governments in Africa good catch id rep you but i have no idea how to do that

[Lord Liaden]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Another interesting tidbit: Ethiopia's Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion is reputed to hold the original Ark of the Covenant!

[Escafarc]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Another interesting tidbit: Ethiopia's Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion is reputed to hold the original Ark of the Covenant!

 

I'm sure the "Top Men" have them listed as Hunteds

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Ironhorn & the Pan African Brotherhood (Champions Worldwide) would be sure to take an interest.

They want to overthrow corrupt & unjust 'tyrants' and establish a Workers' Paradise... with themselves in the driving seat, of course.

In my campaign, they're getting a lot of backing from a certain Warlord & his Flying Fortress...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Ironhorn & the Pan African Brotherhood (Champions Worldwide) would be sure to take an interest.

They want to overthrow corrupt & unjust 'tyrants' and establish a Workers' Paradise... with themselves in the driving seat, of course.

In my campaign, they're getting a lot of backing from a certain Warlord & his Flying Fortress...

 

For people using the Champions Universe as the basis for their campaigns, this could be potentially useful: in the Fifth Edition CU (and I happen to know, the Sixth Edition as well) there's a small central African nation called Lurranga, sandwiched between the the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aside from being described as "heavily involved in the drug trade and other forms of international crime" (Champions Universe 5E p. 73), Lurranga is given no background and is unlikely to in the foreseeable future. That leaves it pretty wide open for development in individual campaigns.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Id rep you but i have no idea how to do that

 

Click on the six-pointed star, like a sheriff's star, on the bottom of LL's post. (If you move your pointer over the icon, it says "Add to this user's reputation." Sometimes you have to double-click.) You can put a message in too. I'd rep him for you, but I've given out too much rep in the last 24 hours, and besides, I'm pretty sure I've repped him too recently anyway.

[Yansuf]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Well, it's back in the middle east, but many countries there had kings until recently, and could have a "royalist revolution."

Iran is an obvious one, Egypt had a king until Nasser overthrew him, Iraq was a kingdom, and most of the Persian Gulf states still are (or equivalent.)

Burma had a king until he was exiled by the british in 1885, but his grandson (who is 84) is accorded great status.

Bhutan, Brunei, Tonga, and Swaziland have royal houses. Spain is a constitutional monarchy, but having been under Franco for most of the 20th century, in a crises a charismatic man might take over; if he is a royal it might help.

The Maldives had a monarch (sultan) until 1968, a pretender could seize power. If he was a super who could raise the islands he would be golden!

[matrix3]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Another interesting tidbit: Ethiopia's Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion is reputed to hold the original Ark of the Covenant!

 

And, Ethiopa might be the location of Sheba.

[Lucius]

Re: nations with royal families

 

Another interesting tidbit: Ethiopia's Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion is reputed to hold the original Ark of the Covenant!

 

Which artifact was supposed to have power to grant victory in war, wasn't it?

 

And as I recall, Ethiopia was the only country in Africa that was never really successfully conquered and colonized (although the Italians made a creditible stab at it if I rememeber my history...)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And' date=' Ethiopa might be the location of Sheba.

 

The palindromedary explains that the confusion will clear up when people realize that "Sheba" was a country existing on BOTH sides of the Red Sea. Kind of like the state of Michigan.