THE BEAUTY OF MONARCHY

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Rania

God save the Queen!

Thai protesters: „We'll die for King!“

Protesters trying to topple Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej shrugged off his imposition of a state of emergency, vowing to lay down their lives for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who they believe is under threat.

„I can die for my King,“ 53-year-old teacher Chantra Lamungtong told Reuters inside the Government House compound that has been occupied by the anti-government and staunchly royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for the last week.

Regarded as semi-divine by many Thais, the King is officially above politics but has intervened several times in disputes during his six decades on the throne. He has variously favoured military and elected administrations.

The PAD, a group of right-wing businessmen and academics, accuse Mr Samak of being an illegitimate proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup after months of PAD street protests.

However, they gain far more fervent support by painting Mr Thaksin and the government that came to power after December's election as republicans bent on overthrowing the Chakri dynasty.

Mr Samak and Mr Thaksin have denied the allegation many times, but their protestations go unheard among the PAD faithful, who spend hours listening to speech after speech pumped out by massive sound systems about the threats to the monarchy.

„I love my King and Queen, and Thaksin wants to kill my King and Queen,“ said 65-year-old insurance clerk Songphichaya Tansagvron, dressed in a black straw golfing hat and the yellow t-shirt worn by nearly all PAD supporters. Yellow is the colour of Monday, the day of the week on which the 80-year-old monarch was born.

„The King cannot say anything, but I believe in the hard times he will come to us,“ said 40-year-old Suwanchai Jitwiwat, who described himself as self-employed. „I am never scared, because I have come here for my country and my King.“

When riot police confronted the PAD's razor wire and tyre barricades last week to post a court eviction order, protesters held aloft pictures of the King from his 2006 Golden Jubilee as if it were a religious icon.

They believe no soldier or policeman would be able to strike an image of the monarch, even if ordered to attack. Mr Samak's declaration of emergency rule after a protester was killed in overnight clashes with the PAD changed none of that emotion.

Pictures of the King are also plastered round the PM's compound, which has the run-down feel of a Woodstock rock festival, its manicured lawns turned to mud and people urinating into open drains behind makeshift tarpaulin screens.

„There's no work today for me. This is much bigger. So what if I lose my job, as long as I save my country,“ said Prayod Sirilak, 40, an auto parts maker from Chonburi, east of Bangkok.

Chantra Lamungtong, the teacher, also skipped work to travel from the ancient capital, Ayutthaya, 60 miles (100 km) north of Bangkok, to attend the PAD's „last war“ against Mr Samak.

„My class is a little problem. My country is the big problem,“ she said.

The bottom line is that if these protests succeed in overthrowing the government, they will set a terrible precedent and sow the seeds of future instability in Thailand. The only way forward would seem to be for the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, to intervene and make it clear that he supports the elected government, but also the country’s constitution.

The King is now 80 years old and loath to intervene in politics. But he is the only public figure who still enjoys the support of Thais of all political affiliations. It was King Bhumibol’s intervention that brought calm and delivered a new constitution after the military coup that deposed Mr Thaksin two years ago. A dose of the same royal medicine is needed again. It looks as if the Thai monarchy might, once again, have to step in to save Thai democracy.

School for Princesses and Princes

No less than five Belgian princes and princesses started the new school year at the same Brussels school on Monday. The 'Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege' welcomed the offspring of Prince Philip and Princess Mathilde, as well as children of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este.

Prince Filip brings his children to school daily, but this time Princess Mathilde joined him as it was the first school day for their youngest, Prince Emanuel. The three year old started kindergarden in the exclusively Dutch-language school.

Princess Elisabeth (7) started her second year, and her younger brother Gabriel (5) is in the third and last year of kindergarden.

The royal off-spring gets no preferential treatment, school director Luc De Coninck told Flemish newspaper De Standaard. „We never talk about them being princes or princesses, except of course when we teach about the royal family and the monarchy.“

„We want the children to feel at ease. The school is one of the few places where they can be themselves“, he said.

Apart from three of the four children of Mathilde and Philip, two of the five children of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz are attending the Brussels school: Princess Luisa Maria (13) and Princess Laetitia (5) were taken to school by their mother.

Why I am a monarchist (4)

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Milan Krstić, freshman at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade

When I was a kid, I heard for the first time that we used to have a king, it was, like, when I was watching „The Written Offs“ TV show and I saw some bad guys who accompanied the Germans, so I asked „Why don’t those Germans look like the other ones, why do they have long beards, why do they wear fur hats?“, and I was told „Why, they’re chetniks“. I said „Chetniks, they’re Croats?“ assuming that because Croats were quislings, „No, chetniks are not Croats“. „How can they not be Croats, who are chetniks then, if they are neither good guys, nor partisans, nor ours, nor Germans?“ „Well, chetniks are ours, but they are the bad guys, you know, they used to support the king.“ „So why are they bad guys if they were for the king?“ „Well, you know, etc, etc... never mind... of course, later I learned much about who chetniks really were, and basically, then started thinking about monarchy, separating absolutism from modern monarchy. It was some time later that I was able to make difference between those two rather difficult concepts, which means when I was 13 or 14. So, I could say I became a monarchist as a kid, because I liked the fact that we did have a king, and because ethnic pride seemed much more appealing to me with a king, than with a communist dictator.

The concept of monarchy has remained attractive to me, it’s something I think is great, for pragmatic reasons. So, at first it was a protest against history written by victors after WW2, and later it became a realistic vision of our country’s future.

I think monarchy is a superior way of connecting nation and faith with a modern national state. Modern state must be secular, it must not depend in any way on church, and church must not depend on state either, so I think monarch is an ideal link between church and state, i.e. faith, tradition and modern state. It is the only institution, in my opinion, that should constitute a symbolic bond between those two entities, and on the other hand, enable them to function smoothly. In other words, to make the continuity of civil state possible, above all.

That’s why I believe there should be some kind of national program that would be championed by monarch. Not using any instruments of force, but his/her moral authority, that should be inherent. This program should be based on really crucial issues in the next, say, fifty years, and that would be European integrations, which really are essential for our country because of the economic development, and preservation of national identity, which is more than destabilized today. And, of course, it should aim for clearing the true patriotism from chauvinism, which is more and more aggressive.

In turbulent situations, such as the ones we have had in the last couple of months, I think it’s good to have a sort of monarch’s approval, which would be a way for him/her to take the role of an ombudsman, i.e. champion of citizens, and defend their rights from other state institutions that at a particular moment are not capable of performing their duties. In that way, a monarch would become the defender of constitution (of course, it is the Constitutional Court that primarily protects the constitution, and the king is not outside its jurisdiction, he is not above the constitution, but he is the defender of the people, in accordance with the constitution, against other state institutions). It is one of the foundations of the British monarchy, limitation of the state’s authority over individual, protection of the freedom of individual. Communists and their propaganda used to claim how it was monarchy that restricted the freedom of individual, and it was the case in absolute monarchies, but modern concept of monarchy is precisely opposite of that. Modern monarchy has reinsured the freedom of individual, and not just in modern times, but in England since 1215, since Magna Carta Libertatum. I believe that such concept of monarchy would be ideal for Serbia as a modern, civil, liberal, and at the same time national state.

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf handed Polar Music Prize

American soprano Renee Fleming and Pink Floyd band members Nick Mason and Roger Waters have received this year's Swedish Polar Music Prize.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf handed the prizes to the winners at a ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall on Tuesday. The British rock legends and the opera star were given standing ovations when they arrived to receive the awards, each worth 106,700 euros.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Music honoured Fleming „in recognition of her sublime unparalleled voice and unique stylistic versatility.“

„Connoisseurs and the general public alike have been dazzled by the beauty of her soft and natural voice, which is equally supple in every register and exudes sensitivity in every tone,“ it said.

Nick Mason and Roger Waters accepted the award on behalf of Pink Floyd, selected „for their monumental contribution over the decades to the fusion of art and music in the development of popular culture.“

„Through extensive sonic experimentation, they captured the mood and spirit of a whole generation in their reflections and attitudes,“ the academy said.

The Polar prize is Sweden's biggest music award and was founded in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson, the publisher, lyricist and manager of iconic Swedish pop group ABBA. It is usually split between pop artists and classical musicians.

Among the previous winners are Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Elton John, Keith Jarrett, B.B. King, British rock legends Led Zeppelin and American superstars Bruce Springsteen, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan.

Last year the prize was shared by US composer Steve Reich and jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins.

DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS

DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS (MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD) is celebrated on August 28 each year. The Feast commemorates the repose or „falling-asleep“ of the Mother of Jesus Christ. The Feast also commemorates the translation or assumption into heaven of the body of the Theotokos.

The Bible tells us that when Christ was dying on the Cross, he saw his mother and his disciple John and said to Mary, „Woman, behold your son!“ and to John, „Behold your mother!“ (John 19:25-27). From that hour, the apostle took care of the Theotokos in his own home.

On one occasion, Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and revealed to her that within three days she will find repose. At the time of her death, the disciples of Christ who were preaching throughout the world returned to Jerusalem to see the Holy Mother. Except for the Apostle Thomas, all of them including the Apostle Paul were gathered together at her bedside. At the moment of her death, Jesus Christ himself descended and carried her soul into heaven.

Following her repose, the body of the Mother of God was taken in procession and laid in a tomb near the Garden of Gethsemane. On the third day after the burial, when the Apostles were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying „Rejoice“ to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Mother of God into the Heavens.

203rd anniversary of the Ruling Council of Serbia

Anniversary of the foundation of the Ruling Council of Serbia was celebrated today in the memorial complex in Veliki Borak, in Belgrade’s municipality of Barajevo. The hosts of marking the 203rd anniversary were Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ministry of Defense and the Municipality of Barajevo. Their representatives, together with the representatives of the City of Belgrade and NGOs laid wreaths at the monument to Sima Marković, one of the leaders of the First Serbian Uprising, in whose house the Council was founded. The Ruling Council of Serbia, the first form of executive branch of government in Serbia during the Uprising, was founded on August 27, 1805, and its establishment was one of the most significant moves of the Uprising leaders, headed by Supreme Leader Karadjordje. The Council had existed for a few years and its functioning as the first permanent governing body, had paved the way of restoration of Serbian state after centuries long Ottoman rule.