The Global Peace Index

Six out of ten most peaceful countries in the world are constitutional monarchies!

The Global Peace Index is an attempt to measure the relative position of nations’ and regions’ peacefulness. It is maintained by the Institute for Economics and Peace (www.visionofhumanity.org/peace-initiatives/4/institute-for-economics-and-peace/) and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks, together with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia with data analysed by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Countrie's eacefulness is measured based on wide range of indicators, 24 in all. Serbia is 84th in the 2007 ranking.

Rank	Country	Global Peace Index 2007
1.	Norway	1.357
2.	New Zealand	1.363
3.	Denmark	1.377
4.	Ireland	1.396
5.	Japan	1.413
6.	Finland	1.447
7.	Sweden	1.478
8.	Canada	1.481
9.	Portugal	1.481
10.	Austria	1.483
11.	Belgium	1.498
12.	Germany	1.523
13.	Czech Republic	1.524
14.	Switzerland	1.526
15.	Slovenia	1.539
16.	Chile	1.568
17.	Slovakia	1.571
18.	Hungary	1.575
19.	Bhutan	1.611
20.	Netherlands	1.620
21.	Spain	1.633
22.	Oman	1.641
23.	Uruguay	1.661
24.	Australia	1.664
25.	Romania	1.682
26.	Poland	1.683
27.	Estonia	1.684
28.	Singapore	1.692
29.	Qatar	1.702
30.	Costa Rica	1.702

21st CENTURY PRINCESSES AND PRINCES!

HRH Princess Madeline (1982)

Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, the youngest of the Swedish royal siblings, known as „Len“ to her friends. She has raised eyebrows for her temporal teenage transgressions and less-than-conservative eveningwear.

Charlotte Casiraghi (1986)

Known for her impeccable taste in fashion and photogenic looks–much like her grandmother Grace Kelly and mother Princess Caroline. Though she was raised in France, she remains fourth in line to the throne of Monaco.

HRH Prince Carl Philip (1979)

Second in line to the throne of Sweden, behind his older sister Victoria. The handsome prince got a degree from Forsberg School of Graphic Design in 2006 and since then has been traveling and making documentaries.

HIH Princess Tsuguko (1986)

Cousin of the reigning emperor of Japan and the eldest daughter of the late Prince Takamado. There is very little press coverage of the princess due to the chrysanthemum taboo, a cultural ban on reporting on the royal family outside of information released from the kingdom. Princess Tsuguko is currently studying sociology at Edinburgh University.

HRH Princess Sikhanyiso (1987)

The daughter of King Mswati III of Swaziland, the last existing absolute monarchy in the world. She is well-known for speaking out against patriarchal and traditional culture, as well as for wearing Western clothing and pursuing a hip-hop career. She's currently a speech and drama major at Biola University in California.

Andrea Casiraghi (1984)

The first of Princess Caroline of Monaco's three children. He is second in line to the throne behind his mother, though this could change if recent rumors regarding the possibility of reigning Prince Albert's upcoming nuptials turn out to be true. Andrea is known for his striking good looks and his romantic relationships.

HSH Maria Anunciata (1985)
Princess von und zu Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg, daughter of Nikolaus, Prince von und zu Liechtenstein and Margaretha, Princess of Luxembourg.

HRH Princess Iman bint Al Hussein (1983)
The daughter of the late King Hussein and reigning Queen Noor of Jordan. Though not nearly as exposed as the other princesses on our list, Princess Iman is known for her military service. She attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2002 and served in the Jordanian army soon after.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum (1982)

The Crown Prince of Dubai, the second eldest son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Moktoum, the prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. He was appointed the Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council in September 2006. He publishes poetry under the name Fazza and is an avid competitive equestrian.

HRH Princess Siriwannawari (1987)

The daughter of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. She's achieved her own fame–and brought new eyes to Thailand–as a fashion designer. After showing two seasons during Bangkok's fashion week, she showed a collection during Paris' fashion week in the fall of 2007. She's also been an international badminton competitor, taking home a gold medal in the 2006 Southeast Asian games.

HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume (1981)

His education includes Institut Le Rosey boarding schools in Switzerland and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Camberley, England. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics at the University of Durham, and is now continuing his studies in Switzerland where he is studying Geopolitics. He has a passionate love for the sport of American football and is a fan of the New York Giants.

Zara Phillips (1981)

Princess by blood, if not by name. Her mother, Princess Anne, wanted her children to live without formal titles to make their lives easier. Zara, an impressive equestrian, won the gold medal in the World Equestrian Games in 2006 and is hoping to compete in the 2008 Olympics.

HRH Prince Alexander (1982)

Second son of Serbian Crown Prince Alexander II Karađorđević and Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza, he graduated in communications and media from San Francisco University and stayed in the city where he is currently obtaining job experience. He enjoys arts, photography, music, French films, and follows current affairs. He considers parties and a good time out the best way to

spend his spare time.

HSH Maria Theresia (1980)

Princess von Thurn und Taxis, daughter of Johannes Prince von Thurn und Taxis and Gloria Countess and Lady von Schönburg-Glauchau. Studies in London.

HRH Prince Henry (1984)

Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, known as Harry, a carefree royal: He has made headlines smoking marijuana, partying and dating South African heiress Chelsy Davy. But for the last months, he's been known in the press as „Hero Harry“ due to his time in the British Army.

Crown

A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art the crown may be shown being offered to those on Earth by angels. Apart from the traditional form, crowns also may be made of for example flowers, stars, oak leaves or thorns and be worn by others, representing what the coronation part aims to symbolize with the specific crown. They often contain jewels.

Terminology

Three distinct categories of crowns exist in those monarchies that use crowns or state regalia.

1. Coronation crowns - only worn by monarchs at the point of coronation, i.e., installation by taking possession of the crown'
2. State or Imperial crowns - worn by monarchs on other state occasions. (Note that similar headgear, worn by nobility and other high ranking people below the ruler, is in English called a coronet, however in many languages the same word is used, e.g., French couronne, German Krone, Dutch kroon);
3. Consort crowns - worn by Queens consort and Princes consort, signifying rank granted as a constitutional courtesy protocol.

In Classical antiquity the crown (corona) that was sometimes awarded to people other than rulers, such as triumphal military generals or athletes, was actually a wreath or chaplet, or ribbonlike diadem.

History

The precursor to the crown was the browband called the diadem, which had been worn by the Achaemenid Persian emperors, was adopted by Constantine I, and was worn by all subsequent rulers of the later Roman Empire.

Numerous crowns of various forms were used in Antiquity, such as the White crown, Red Crown, combined Pschent crown and blue crown of Pharaonic Egypt.

The corona radiata, the „radiant crown“ known best on the Statue of Liberty, and perhaps worn by the Helios that was the Colossus of Rhodes, was worn by pagan Roman emperors, part of the cult of Sol Invictus. It was referred to as „the chaplet studded with sunbeams” by Lucian, about 180 AD (in Alexander the false prophet).

Perhaps the oldest Christian crown in Europe is the Iron Crown of Lombardy, of Roman and Longobard age, later again used to crown modern Kings of Napoleonic, Austrian and reunited Italy.

In the Christian tradition of European cultures, where ecclesiastical sanction authenticates monarchic power, when a new monarch assumes the throne in a coronation ceremony, the crown is placed on the new monarch's head by a religious official. Some, though not all early Holy Roman Emperors travelled to Rome at some point in their careers to be crowned by the pope. Napoleon, according to legend, surprised Pius VII when he reached out and crowned himself, although in reality this order of ceremony had been pre-arranged: see coronation.

Today, only the British Monarchy continues this tradition as the sole remaining anointed and crowned monarch, though many monarchies retain a crown as a national symbol in heraldry. The French Crown Jewels were sold in 1885 on the orders of the Third French Republic, with only a token number, with their precious stones replaced by glass, held on to for historic reasons and displayed by the Louvre. The Spanish Crown Jewels were destroyed in a major fire in the eighteenth century while the Irish Crown Jewels (actually merely the Sovereign's insignia of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick) were stolen from Dublin Castle in 1907.

Special headgear to designate rulers dates back to pre-history, and is found in many separate civilizations around the globe. Commonly, rare and precious materials are incorporated into the crown, but that is only essential for the notion of crown jewels. Gold and precious jewels are common in western and oriental crowns. In the Native American civilizations of the Pre-Columbian New World, rare feathers, such as that of the quetzal, often decorated crowns; so too in Polynesia (e.g. Hawaii).

Coronation is often combined with other rituals, such as enthronement (the throne is as much a symbol of monarchy as the crown) and anointing (again religious sanction, the only defining act in the Biblical tradition of Israel).

In other cultures no crown is used in the equivalent of coronation, but the head may still be otherwise symbolically adorned, as a royal tikka in the Hindu tradition of India.

As an emblem

A Crown is often an emblem of the monarchy, a monarch's government, or items endorsed by it. A specific type of crown (or coronet for lower ranks of peerage) is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation, as in the constitutional kingdom of Belgium, where no coronation ever took place; the royal installation is done by a solemn oath in parliament, wearing a military uniform: the King is not acknowledged as by divine right, but assumes the only hereditary public office in the service of the law; so he in turn will swear in all members of „his“ federal government.

• Costume headgear imitating a monarch's crown is also called a crown. Such costume crowns may be worn by actors portraying a monarch, people at costume parties, or ritual „monarchs“ such as the king of a Carnival krewe, or the person who found the trinket in a king cake.

• The Eastern Orthodox marriage service has a section called the crowning, wherein the bride and groom are crowned as „king“ and „queen“ of their future household. In Greek weddings, the crowns are diadems usually made of white flowers, synthetic or real, often adorned with silver or mother of pearl. They are placed on the heads of the newlyweds and are held together by a ribbon of white silk. They are then kept by the couple as a reminder of their special day. In Slavic weddings, the crowns are usually made of ornate metal, designed to resemble an imperial crown, and are held above the newlyweds heads by their best men. A parish usually owns one set to use for all the couples that are married there since these are much more expensive than Greek-style crowns.

• Children, mainly girls, sometimes connect flowers together in a chain, and wear the wreath as if it were a crown.

• Crowns are also often used as symbols of religious status or veneration, by divinities (or their representation such as a statue) or by their representatives, e.g. the black crown of the Karmapa Lama, sometimes used a model for wider use by devotees.

• A Crown of thorns is believed to have been placed on the head of Jesus before his crucifixion and has become a common symbol of martyrdom. Madonna raised controversy when she wore one on the opening night of her World Tour in May 2006.

• The Crown of Immortality is also common in historical symbolism.

The heraldic symbol of three crowns, referring to the three evangelical Magi (wise men), traditionally called kings, is believed thus to have become the symbol of the Swedish kingdom, but it also fits the historical (personal, dynastic) Kalmar Union (1397-1520) between the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Numismatics

Because one or more crown, alone or as part of a more elaborate design, often appear on coins, several monetary denominations came to be known as 'a crown' or the equivalent word in the local language.

This persists in the case of the national currencies of Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Arguments for the Kingdom of Serbia (7)

Dušan Kovačević, member of the Crown Council

Monarchy is the best, the most realistic and the most practical option for Serbia. Serbia must be established on the foundations which she had always lied on. If we look at the very practical parameters, like marketing and branding of a country, at this moment there is not a single person in Serbia who could phone any relevant world leader, especially in the countries with the same form of government (and these are the wealthiest countries in Europe), in which our Crown Prince has both family and friendly ties. Serbia needs to be a modern, democratic country. Based on my contacts and my friendship with the Crown Prince, I don’t know anybody who is a bigger democrat in Serbia. That means not a monarchy in some outdated form, but the type which exists in the northern European countries, like Sweden. For me, it simply has a nice sound to it – the Kingdom of Serbia.


Milorad Pavić, member of the Crown Council

Re-establishment of monarchy would be followed by establishment of much better relations with the international community, and it would be immediately clear what kind of country we were. Serbia would have a very modern diplomacy, because its head of state would be someone who knows the world, and who is known in the world. I think that our so far experience has shown that Serbia hasn’t found its way yet, that it is still searching, especially if one looks at foreign relations. Re-establishment of monarchy would make it much simpler, and it would also be a historical rectification. Let us not forget that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was destroyed by fascist in 1941, and that the King had to leave the country to avoid captivity. And, on the other hand, when the communists defeated fascists, they forbade the king and the royal family to return to the country ad illegally took over the government. Therefore, on the one hand, we would restore the system that was illegally abolished, and so much time has gone by since then. On the other hand, let us ask ourselves if we ever had any other system throughout our history. Serbs had always had kings, and it is only natural for them. There are several countries in Europe today with kings as heads of states. King is a democratic and non-partisan institution. He guarantees unity and harmony between government branches. We have a king, and if some other countries had one, they would embrace him firmly.

As for the chances of re-establishment of monarchy, the polls show that about 30 percent of the people are for that direction of Serbia’s future. Such percentage could be compared with the rating of major political parties, but we do not do that, because the Crown is above politics. However, politics are constantly changing, and no one knows what tomorrow brings. Of course, Alexander II has always been against anti-democratic parties. He has never been hiding it, and he will continue such orientation. By his birth, and by his ties all over the world, he naturally takes such attitude, which makes it easy to follow. Nobody can tell the future, but if Serbia has a choice, it has a chance to save herself from the undefined status, by re-establishment of the kingdom.