by Andra AVRAM
The recent abdication of the former King of Spain in favour of his son, now King Felipe VI, has brought back into the attention of the public opinion an aspect which, in other circumstances, is discussed only once with the marriages of the Royal Houses members, births or christenings of the future leaders. Most of them belong to the European and world top of prosperity. Caleaeuropeana.ro shows today an analysis of the European Union monarchies.
The fascination the monarchy manifests upon people and everything that surrounds it continues even nowadays, in the XXI century, a strongly republic century, in which the political class is continuously reforming and changing, trying thus to convince a stronger, more consolidated public opinion, when it comes to its position facing the chosen leaders. In the storm of this continuous battle, the monarchy and its place in the European society bring a note apart to this political show. Refinement, grace, elegance, sobriety. Royal figures that generate fascination, sympathy or, quite the contrary, intrigues and scepticism. The mysteries and the undergrounds of the Royal Houses of Europe continue to bring a certain amount of curiosity and interest upon the “commoners”. The details that make the royal figures human beings, thus bringing them back among the common citizens represent a continuing interest, becoming more and more intense once with the rising of their spectacular, new note. The living proof that the blue blood is part of the same race of humanity, proven to mistakes and shocks of life, continues still to impress.
The Royal Houses of the European Union
The 21st century Europe knows, at this moment, no less than 12 royal houses ahead of a state, among which only the European Union, in its contingent, has no less than 7 monarchs ruling over member-states. Famous, fascinating, mysterious and spectacular, having a tumultuous history behind their hundred or thousand years of existence, the royal houses of Europe become different through that what they offer as being apart, at a state level. Brought in the backwards of the Constitutions, they are more likely a symbol of the once-upon-a-time power, of the ruling form and government that characterized Europe for so many centuries, along history. Surprisingly so, though, it is exactly this step-back, this form of retirement in the shadow, when it comes to imposing the rule upon the state, next to the high note of sympathy the royal figures have among the public, at times even beyond the boundaries of their own state, that determines the crowned head of a state, still without having the executive power, to have a decisive influence. And not through the prerogatives shown to the one by the Constitution, but through his charisma and the attraction he has upon his “subjects” and not only. And the current examples of the important royal members of the Houses demonstrate exactly this thing – that, beyond the constitutional prerogatives, an apart, yet extremely important thing, in their relationship with their citizens, is their public image.
Emphasizing once again that what has been already told, a quarter of the EU member-states have as their ruler a monarch, be it king or queen, prince or grand duke. By excellence, all these states are constitutional monarchies, where the effective power is delegated, in various proportions, depending on each state, to the Parliament and to the Government. Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands are, each on its own, ruled by monarchs, belonging to dynastical Royal Houses of Europe, with a more or less far-away in time history.
A quarter of the EU population, subject to monarchy
According to the numbers expressed on the europa.eu site, when it comes to the number of inhabitants, by far, the richest is the United Kindom, Queen Elizabeth II having no less than 61,700,000 inhabitants, taking here into consideration only the population of the UK, without the subjects belonging to the Commonwealth territories. On the second place is King Felipe VI, whose subjects are around 45,800,000 inhabitants, so that the “bronze” of this category goes to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, with 16,400,000 inhabitants. The next ones, in a descending order, are Prince Phillip of Belgium, (10,700,000), King Carl XVI Gustaf (9,200,000), Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (5,500,000) and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henric (500,000).
Monarchy and Religion
Having a look at the confessional structure of the population, the seven monarchy states have followed, throughout years, their confessional history and tradition. Thus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and the Netherlands remain still dedicated to the Catholicism side, more exactly Romano-Catholicism, while only Sweden has its distinguished note among the northern states, through the reformist order, today having a majority of a Protestantism confession. Ironically, only the two queens, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Margrethe, out of the seven monarchs, are the heads of the Churches in their kingdoms. If the UK has a strong history through the image of the Anglican Church, through the reforms imposed by King Henry VIII in the early 16th century, the Danish Church has become mandatory for the members of the royal family once with the new Constitution, the embracing of one religion or another, by the Danish people, being one of the rights guaranteed through the same Constitution.
The EU monarchies, in the European and world top of prosperity
At last, when it comes to the place these states occupy in the global hierarchy, according to their GDP, the IMF 2012 list shows that, on the first place, out of the seven kingdoms, is the United Kingdom, with a GDP of over 2,400 billion dollars, 6th place in the world. Even now, the UK is a strong opponent to the conversion to the euro and, thus, to its presence in the Euro-zone, the UK having the well-known opting-outs options since 1973. On the second place, in the same list, is the Spanish kingdom, with its GDP half of the British one, bit over 1,300 billion dollars, 13th place in the world. The third place goes to the Netherlands, a 800 billion dollars GDP and 17th place in the global hierarchy. The next one is the Swedish kingdom, place 22nd, with more than 500 billion dollars, so that the list end with Belgium (480 billion dollars – 25th place), Denmark (over 300 billion dollars – 37th place) and Luxembourg (50 billion dollars – 72nd place).
Following the data of the International Monetary Fund in 2012, the first five kingdoms of the European Union are among the first 30 states of the world in the global hierarchy, according to their GDP. According to the top of the 28 state-members, the UK represents the third GDP of the EU, surpassed only by Germany and France, not far away from the French one. The top 30 of the states shows us that nine of them are members of the EU, out of which more than half of this number, more precisely five (the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium) are kingdoms. An easy-to-be-reached conclusion, at a first sight of these dates, shows the fact that the “subject” status towards a Royal Crown is not to be neglected, the prosperity and the confort of these citizens being in perfect harmony with the high number of these states’ GDPs. Again, a note to be taken into consideration is the geographical position of the states: the north is again the one to rule, six of these kingdoms being in the northern side of the EU, while only one, the Spanish kingdom, belongs to the south.
Beyond the internal fight, more or less symbolic, between the monarchies and the republics, no less than 21 in the EU, it is thus shown that the kings, the queens, the princes and the grand dukes are those who subordinate, more or less, the rest of the European Union, so being the crowned heads of prosperity and of a high life level, when it comes to the European Union.
