My first gesture today is to bemoan the death of Prince Philip and to offer my sincere condolences to his wife, Queen Elizabeth, to all members of the Royal family, to their European relatives, to the leaders and citizens of the countries of the Commonwealth, and to all who admired the Queen’s husband, Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh. He was always supportive of the Queen.
May he rest in peace and may the Royal family be united in these sorrowful days.
I doubt very much that France would ever revert to a Monarchy. But if it did, Louis-Alphonse de Bourbon would be a pretender to the throne. He belongs to the House of Bourbon.
Prince Harry is Prince Charles’ son and Prince William’s brother. He is sixth in the line of succession to the throne of England, which is an accident of birth and privilege. Prince William was the firstborn, primogeniture. Prince Harry served in the British Military and founded the Invictus Games. He was ‘spotted’ by terrorists and he is a target.
The crisis in Britain’s royal family saddens me. However, it may not be another frères ennemis scenario.
They are not brothers, but both Alphonse de Bourbon and Jean de France claim they are heirs to the throne of France. Rivalry… However, Jean de France is a descendant of the last roi des Francais, the above-mentioned Louis-Philippe Ier, of the Maison d’Orléans.
I am pleased that my excellent mother could and did treat her children as equals. I then became a loving husband’s “princesse.”
Harry and Meghan are in Canada and no one was disturbing them, which is no longer the case. The paparazzi have crossed the pond. This is an update.
They are considering purchasing a house located on Vancouver’s Point Grey Road. Point Grey Road is the street where my husband and I lived when we returned from Wickaninnish Inn, the secluded inn where we spent our honeymoon.
On our return to Vancouver, we settled in a delightful attic apartment located in a waterfront house. It was a lovely apartment and we had a deck. We enjoyed the location. We were about halfway between the University and downtown, but the finer houses were located closer to the University. There were lovely little houses where we lived, but I don’t remember mansions. We enjoyed watching the little sail boats on English Bay. We could also see snow-capped mountains. Raccoons were forever trying to get into the apartment, which scared Chamiche, our cat, but we protected him. These are very happy memories.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s house, if they purchase it, is very expensive, but in the early 1970’s, our rent was very low. If my memory serves me well, renting the apartment cost approximately $300.00 per month, furnished.
We were students and it was an era when ordinary people could live in a waterfront house. Vancouver is now too expensive a location.
So, although I feel that Harry and Meghan are following us, they’re not. The location is the same, but Vancouver has changed. The waterfront apartment was our first home.
As a Royal, Prince Harry didn’t have to attend a university. However, he could overcome this shortcoming by taking courses at the University of British Columbia (UBC). I doubt that he is employable. UBC is a short drive from the mansion Meghan spotted and wishes to purchase, if the couple can afford it.
Woman Reading by François de Troy (Photo credit: wiki2.org)
I returned to Molière, but I could not concentrate until now. Yesterday was a very sad day.
The Social Media
In fact, current events are leading me to question the appropriateness and validity of statements made on Instagram, or Twitter, or other social media. Among elements militating against social media is timing. Persons are not forever sitting at their computer. In the case of an important statement, should the world know before the addressee.
I would be inclined to question the legality of statements made on Twitter or Instagram. It seems the truth, but the medium is the message.
I’m a blogger, but I seldom “like” or “dislike” something on the social media. Experience has taught me to be careful. For instance, every time I have been quoted by the press, I was quoted erroneously.
As for our Royals, reportedly, persons attending yesterday’s meeting were calm. To my knowledge, there was no firm approval nor was there a firm disapproval of changes in status. So, there is room for everyone to think. Prince Harry talked with his beloved grandmother before the meeting. Moreover William and Harry agreed, in writing, that there was no bullying. Let’s hope everything will remain civilised.
Love to everyone 💕
Marin Marais: Chaconne (Livre V) Josh Cheatham (viola da gamba), Julien Léonard (viola da gamba), Skip Sempé (harpsichord)
Declaration of Love par François de Troy (Photo credit: wiki2.org)
Prince Charles, in 1758 by Ulrica Pasch (Photo credit: Wiki2.org)
A Childless King
This post does not describe la Terreur, the Reign of Terror, which should be its subject matter. I have chosen instead to write a little story about Sweden’s Royal House of Bernadotte. The birth of the Swedish House of Bernadotte is associated with both the French Revolution, the demise of absolutism, and the Napoleonic wars. King Charles III was childless. His successor would be Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, a general under Napoleon.
In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte had named Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) a marshall of France(un maréchal de France) and, on 5 June 1806, the Prince of Pontecorvo, a title Bernadotte surrendered in 1810. King Charles XIII named his adopted heir Generalissimus of the Swedish Armed Forces of the King.
I am postponing a very short discussion of the Reignof Terror in order to locate the French Revolution in its European context. European monarchs did oppose the French uprising of 1789, beginning with King Gustav III of Sweden, Charles XIII’s older brother.
Following the uprising against the French monarchy in 1789, Gustav pursued an alliance of princes aimed at crushing the insurrection and reinstating his French counterpart, King Louis XVI, offering Swedish military assistance as well as his leadership.
Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI did appeal to their families during the French Revolution. It was normal. Swedish Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Marie-Antoinette’s rumoured lover, helped the French Royal family organize the flight to Varennes. Moreover, King Louis XVI was very tall (185cm/6ft 1in)for a man of his era and a Frenchman.
—ooo—
The French Revolution sent shockwaves throughout Europe. Some royals chose rigid absolutism, others, a more democratic constitutional monarchy. Gustav III of Sweden was a beloved despot. Yet, he was shot in the lower back and died 13 days later. Prince Carl and Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm were appointed regents until Gustav IV of Sweden reached adulthood, in 1796.[1]
Gustav III’s unpopular and autocratic son Gustav IV was overthrown and exiled in a coup d’état. Sweden had lost Finland to Russia. (See Finnish War, Wiki2.org.) The authority of Sweden’s Royals was vastly diminished by the Constitution of 1809 or Instrument of Government (1809). The powers of government were divided between the monarch and the Riksdag of the Estates.
Gustav III and Charles XIII would be kings of Sweden. Their brother Prince Frederick Adolf (18 July 1750 – 12 December 1803) never reigned. He died in Montpellier, France. King Charles XIII was childless and sickly, so an heir to the throne of Sweden and Norway had to be selected.
Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte
Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte would be the new and elected King of Sweden (as Charles XIV) from 1809 and King of Norway (as Charles III John) from 1814 until his death, in 1844.
“His candidacy was advocated by Baron Carl Otto Mörner, a Swedish courtier and obscure member of the Riksdag of the Estates.” (See Charles XIV John of Sweden, Wiki2.org.)
Carl Otto Mörner so wished for Bernadotte to be elected Crown Prince that he discussed the matter with Jean-Baptiste-Jules Bernadotte himself, the dutiful Marshall of France. Bernadotte answered that if he were elected Crown Prince, he would accept his new role. As one may expect, Mörner was arrested when he returned to Sweden. He had gone too far. However, Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte proved the best candidate. Weighing in his favour, were his superior military skills.
Charles XIV John, detail of an oil painting by Fredric Westin, 1824; in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden. Courtesy of the Svenska Portrattarkivet, Stockholm (Photo credit: Britannica)
Desideria Clary, queen of Sweden by Fredric Westin (Photo credit: Wiki2.org.)
There is a Baron in the Bernadotte family, but Jean-Baptiste is a commoner. He was born in Pau, Béarn, France, to Jean-Henri Bernadotte, a prosecutor. His mother was Jeanne de Saint-Jean. Jean-Baptiste planned to study law, but…
In 1798, he married Désirée Clary, whose sister was married to Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée would be Queen Consort of Sweden as Desideria. However, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte is not a Bonaparte. Jean-Baptiste and Désirée’s son would reign as Oscar I, King of Sweden and King of Norway.
In 1813, after Napoleon’s unrealistic and disastrous Russian campaign, Karl XIV Johan entered an anti-Napoleon alliance that probably strengthened the Sixth coalition. When Norway was awarded to Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel, King Carl XIV Johan proposed a “personal union” between Norway and Sweden. Both countries would have the same king, but Norway would be an independent kingdom. Bernadotte reigned as Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway from 5 February 1818 until his death on 8 March 1844.
P. S. Herodote (please click to read) published articles on the history of Sweden recently. I have read these articles, but I have not inserted quotations or content from Herodote in my post.
____________________ [1]King Charles XIII may have played a role in the assassination of Gustav III (See Charles XIII, Wiki2.org.)
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