Royalty and Regal Values: Republics and Monarchies: Traditional Values and Social Experiments: Apart from the ceremonial position of honour it [the monarchy] occupies, it is an important check and balance against the abuse of power, being important not so much for the power it disposes, but the power it denies others. He also went on to point out that in reference to the UN's 'Human Development Index', that 'At the very top of the list, constitutional monarchies dominate. In the last survey the top five, and most of the top ten, were constitutional monarchies. This is no co-incidence' he said.
This was first published as Social Commentary Newsletter No. 4 - Nov. 4th 2005 and published at Magic City news under the title 'Princess Mary of Denmark, a Reminder of Better days'.
The article may be outdated but the content is still valid in 2011.
Perhaps you Americans are not aware of it, but Australia has produced or raised several Royal Princesses, of which Princess Michael of Kent (UK) is one, and more recently, an Australian named Mary Elizabeth Donaldson of Hobart Tasmania, Now Princess Mary of Denmark.
Princess Mary's homeland (sorry! I mean home state), Tasmania, is that little triangle of land to the very south of Eastern Australia. It's not a place that most Australians think much about, except as the target of ribald jokes. Now of course, Tasmania is not only on the tip of the Royal tongue, but might perhaps become Denmark's new colony or state. Most Australians wouldn't notice if it did!
Now with regard to Her Royal Highness, Princess Mary of Denmark, I was reading an article today, entitled: "Princess Mary and The Magic of Monarchy", by Professor David Flint, posted on the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy Website. He was answering a series of questions about our own home grown royal princess, and quite naturally, the discussion progressed to a discussion about Republicanism vs. Monarchism, and the professor made some interesting points. He pointed out that:
Apart from the ceremonial position of honour it [the monarchy] occupies, it is an important check and balance against the abuse of power, being important not so much for the power it disposes, but the power it denies others.
He also went on to point out that in reference to the UN's 'Human Development Index', that 'At the very top of the list, constitutional monarchies dominate. In the last survey the top five, and most of the top ten, were constitutional monarchies. This is no co-incidence' he said.
He further went on to state that "The attitude of many journalists in Britain is that all restraints, legal and ethical, disappear whenever they are reporting about members of the Royal Family".
From his discussions, one can draw two distinct conclusions. One is, that the (politico/cultural) traditions of our country have served us well, and will continue to do so if left alone; and that there are forces at work in the world (such as the British press), who presume to take it upon themselves to 'overturn' the traditions of the nation.
The founding of the American Republic occurred centuries ago, as a necessity given the circumstances of the day, and unto those to whom the responsibility fell, was given the task to design a constitution and a workable national system of governance, which pointed America in a direction, that ultimately led the nation not only to prosperity and stability, but along the way, allowed it to develop its' own peculiar cultural heritage.
Like the members of the British Press, there are at work in society today, people who care nothing for traditional values, nor traditional culture. While claiming to be wise, they blindly go where angels fear to tread, hellbent on 'freeing the general population' of its' current immature or oppressive values.
Like the people of my home state Queensland, who spent years screaming for the 'RIGHT' to gamble, but who now find themselves sinking in a social problem, these social experimenters will arrive at a point one day, where all around them, society is falling apart specifically because of these demands for freedom from tradition and culture. And, just like the people of Queensland, they will start screaming for the government, to 'fix the problem!'.
The social experimenters, those anti government and at the same time self loathing unappreciative 'citizens', who denigrate their own society, it's traditions and values, always pass themselves off as people who are concerned for the 'rights' of the individual. But one should not allow oneself to be fooled. These people are nothing more than self centered power mongers looking for opportunities to rule the masses under the cover of caring about 'YOUR' rights.
As an Aussie, I give such people a miss. As for me, I'll stick with traditional values and a traditional way of life! As for the Rebublic vs Monarchy debate: "Long live Queen Mary of Denmark!" Sorry! I mean, "Queen Elizabeth II of England".
R.P.BenDedek
Post Script on Princess Michael of Kent.
Just for those who have written me letters of complaint.
If you read the article again you will see that I did not in fact say that Princess Michael was born in Australia
-and-
Before insisting that she is Austrian - go check her own website. You might learn something.
Copyright 2011 is held by the nominated authors on this article page.
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
Immediately this article was published at Magic City, a lady emailed me and informed me that I had mislead my readers, and that in fact Princess Michael of Kent was not born in Australia, but in Austria.
HOWEVER, I never said that Princess Michael was born in Australia. I merely said that 'Australia has produced OR raised several Royal Princesses'.
So yes I am aware that Princess Michael of Kent was not born in Australia, and that she did not need to marry into Royalty to be of royal birth.
I didn't have the heart however to tell this lady where the Princess was actually born. If you check Her Royal Highness' website, you will find that she was not born in Austria.
But as a better indication of how carelessly people read, or more importantly, how a person's prejudice can blind them while they read, take this for example.
I came across a 'forum' in which a page had been devoted to me and my article.
They wondered where exactly in Canada, Millnocket, Maine USA actually is.?.
They wondered why I was hiding out there (It clearly states that I live in China)
They rubbished me for getting my facts on HRH Princess Michael wrong - But they clearly don't know where she was born
And they described me as a unibomber type - Come again???
And called Magic City news a right wing paper, which is a laugh when you consider the political and racial mix of its' writers.
As a former friend once said of someone: 'She never lets the truth stand in the way of a good story!'
