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AMERICANS AND THE MONARCHY

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  Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, I have had numerous conversations with other Americans, and with non-Americans, alike, about why it is that the monarchy has maintained such an enduring hold upon the American imagination. The United States, it almost goes without saying, has a long, complicated history with the monarchy, and not just the British monarchy, either. It is the British crown which seems to have gotten under our skin, however. Although present day US territory has found itself under the French, Spanish, Mexican, Russian, Hawaiian, and even Danish crowns, it tends to be our relationship with the British monarchy upon which Americans tend to focus. This has everything to do, of course, with the historical drama of the American Revolution and the subsequent War of 1812. During the Revolution, American colonials, against all odds, defeated the overwhelming forces of the vast British Empire (with oodles of help from the French and others), sent the king’s men packing,
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THE SUDDENNESS OF HER PASSING

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THE MORNING of Thursday, September 8, saw me happily rising from bed to greet a perfectly lovely late summer day. I had been enjoying some vacation time since Labor Day and, as it happened, it had rained each day. On Wednesday evening, however, the clouds at last ceased their downpouring and floated away, leaving clear skies in their wake. On Thursday morning, therefore, I was determined to make the most of the only nice-weather day in my four-day-long holiday, so I headed to a beach club which I frequent during the summer months. Although I often have steamed clams for lunch when I go to that club, I anticipated a cheeseburger this time instead, since this place has what I am convinced are the very best burgers in the known universe. A burger, then, I was determined to order. As I prepared to depart, however, news began to trickle in that there was some sort of stirring at Balmoral. Members of the British royal family were said to be travelling to the highland retreat of Queen Elizabe
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THORNS IN THE WOOLSACK

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The Glennish Parliamentary Experience Through the Years Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to the Sconnish Parliament will see and understand that it takes its cues from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. And while the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scone may not exactly be the rivet-counter’s replica of Westminster, there is no doubt as to the template our Parliament follows. Our Parliament’s design goes back to the year 2003 when the first Parliament of the Kingdom of Hanover was opened. The habit of doing things the way we do them around here goes back even earlier than that, however.  The earliest Hanoverian Parliament took many of its cues, as it happens, from the experience of lawmaking in a now defunct simulation-based polity called “The Kingdom of Morovia,” of which the very earliest Hanoverians had all been participants. The essence of the Morovian legislative experience was lively, informed debate amongst the members of the kingdom’s legislative assembly, which
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CROWNING THE MAY QUEEN

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THE INSTALLATION ORDO OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA On May 19. 2013, King James II (today called "Christian Rex Emden-Holstein") abdicated the throne of the Glennish Kingdoms of Hanover and Sconeland and was succeeded upon the Glennish throne by my sister, HRH Princess Shannon Alexandra, Duchess of Claremont (in the Kingdom of Hanover). Alexandra's reign was a reign on paper as she never personally exercised her mandate in any way, shape, or form (not that she had been expected to). Queen Alexandra amounted to a convenient arrangement whereby the Crown could be permanently set beyond the reach of Glennish subjects who altogether too often managed to obsess over or fixate upon the monarch and the monarchy. In the end, the queen-in-name-only arrangement proved intolerable to some and the scenario ultimately led to the breakup of the GK in 2014. As we embarked upon Queen Alexandra's ephemeral reign, however, we wanted to somehow endow it with substance and majesty, immersing our si
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RETURNING TO THE FOLD

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FROM GREATFOREST COURT It will interest nobody reading this piece that I have a peculiar fondness for summer and everything to do with it. I only mention it because, where I happen to find myself, today is a sunny day, the sky is blue, and the quickly rising mercury is expected soar near the 80 degree (Fahrenheit) mark tomorrow. Depending upon what part of the world you happen to find yourself in, this may seem unremarkable. Here on the Niagara Frontier, however, temperatures that high in April are, indeed, rare and are certainly very welcome, serving as a foretaste of the season to come.  If spring is the season of renewal, then summer is the season of the fruit of that renewal. It is the sustainment of warm weather, sunny skies, lush greenery, open windows, and happy days of relaxation amidst a splendid soundtrack of birdsongs. I liken my reintroduction to the Glennish atmosphere as something of a personal spring of renewal which heralds a long summer ahead. A former king, afte
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