Long live the Queen!

[InaVegt]

Well, today is queen's day in the Netherlands, and I thought that a thread might be appropriate since there are quite a lot of dutchies 'round here.

*is dressed in orange for the occasion*

Long live her majesty, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands!

[Zakama]

Hip Hip Hurrah!

[Vella_Malachite]

Cool! Long live the Queen, happy celebratory day!

I'm not in the Netherlands, but I thought, you know, multicultural boards and all that...:smallcool::smallredface:

[Felixaar]

...There actually is a Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands?

Wow.

[bosssmiley]

Long live Queen Beatrix, and may God confound all her enemies*!

* If she actually has any. Which seems unlikely; what with her being such a nice old stick...

(no, I'm not Dutch. But they're one of my all-time favourite flavours of mad foreign devil :smallbiggrin:)

[Phase]

Oh Canada!

Wait, Netherlands?

Um... What do you actually have up there, a queen?

So much for democracy!:smallannoyed:

[The Rose Dragon]

Long Live Queen Victoria!

Wait, you thought I was gonna say Queen Beatrix? Why should I care for a real queen that is alive and is the Queen of Netherlands, of all places?

Now, King of Sweden on the other hand...

[Quincunx]

Respecting the fine line between political structures discussion and political discussion: The Netherlands, like several other countries, have a constitutional monarchy where the monarchy is preserved more as a historical relic than as any power within the government. These sorts of constitutional monarchies elect their parliaments* with democratic (a person's vote directly translates to a vote for a candidate**) popular (plurality wins***) elections.

*Same as U.S. Congress.

**Different than "electoral college" for U.S. Presidential elections. Same as all other U.S. elections.

***There's no equivalent in the U.S. political structure yet. You need at least three candidates for someone to receive a plurality that's not also a majority.

Somewhat back on topic: yes, there's a queen, and she's even pictured on the back of the 1- or 2-euro coin (I forget which) minted in the Netherlands. If memory serves, the king of Spain appears on the same denomination minted in Spain. King Carl XVI Gustaf appears on the coinage of Sweden, Queen Elizabeth II on the coinage of Great Britain. The U.S. Mint's rule about not picturing a living person on money seems to be an anomaly.

[Fri]

Which king lives in Casey and Andy's Couch? Isn't it Sweden?

[Dihan]

Yay for the coolest Queen of Europe!

It's a shame she's at 809th position in the line of succession to the British throne. :smalltongue:

[The Rose Dragon]

Which king lives in Casey and Andy's Couch? Isn't it Sweden?

It's the King of Sweden. That's why he's the only one worth caring about.

Plus he helped save the world. Well, a world. Apparently, royalty is royalty everywhere, even if you change dimensions.

[InaVegt]

yes, there's a queen, and she's even pictured on the back of the 1- or 2-euro coin (I forget which) minted in the Netherlands.

Actually, she's pictured on all euro coins minted in the Netherlands, just as she was pictured on all guilders back when the euro hadn't been introduced yet.

[Pyrian]

...And here I thought this thread was going to be about our own lovely Queen of Memnoch. :smalltongue:

[Myshlaevsky]

Everyone knows the real queen is Liz II.

"God save the Queen..."

[Elder Tsofu]

Well, it's the king of swedens birthday today, so long live the king! :smallbiggrin:

I hope you celebrate your queen as seem appropriate, and that she got a day to remember. :)

[dish]

I'm a citizen of a country with a constitutional monarchy myself, so I understand that royalty have their uses - opening parliament, entertaining visiting dictators heads of state, garden fêtes... but I don't get being happy and excited that someone who happened to be born at the right time in the right family is having a birthday. (Unless the queen's birthday is also a public holiday, in which case - celebration!)

[Elder Tsofu]

Well, in swedens case it's a holiday tomorrow and tonight celebrations for welcoming the spring with big bonfires - I think we can squeeze his birthday into it if we try. :smallwink:

He just happened to be born on the right day in the right family as it was already a party going on. :smallbiggrin:

[Quincunx]

Oh no, I forgot it was pyromaniac Walpurgis Night. . .

[bosssmiley]

Yay for the coolest Queen of Europe!

Maybe. Although Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who speaks 5 languages, studied archaeology at Cambridge, and later illustrated (and supposedly co-translated) the Danish edition of LOTR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margrethe_II_of_Denmark#Constitutional_role), is pretty cool too. :smallcool:


Well, it's the king of swedens birthday today, so long live the king! :smallbiggrin:

I hope you celebrate your queen as seem appropriate, and that she got a day to remember. :)

"Lenge leve kongen Karl", who looks remarkably like Jim Broadbent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_XVI_Gustaf_of_Sweden). Descended from one of Napoleon's generals him (the Swedes knew how to get their hands on a hardcore warrior-king when needed: order one in from overseas).

Liz of England (+ peripheral Celtic garnish, also Canada, NZ, Oz, etc.)? I'm having a bit of a love/hate thing with at the moment. She could kick our ghastly unelected Jockish occupying government into touch any time she chose, but doesn't.
Come on old gal, pull yer finger out! :smallmad:

[Myshlaevsky]

Bosssmiley, you're not a fellow Scot, are you?

[Adlan]

To be frank, and trying not be political, that could be the voice of Any Briton.



Hooray for consitutional Monarchy!

[Yoritomo Himeko]

Well, then, Happy Birthday to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands! :smallsmile:

[Player_Zero]

When Britain first, at Heaven's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sung this strain:

Rule Britania!
Britannia rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves!


...Wait... Wrong queen.

Still... Our queen is better than your queen, nah-nah. :smallwink:
Yes, it's a joke. I'm just putting this here just in case anyone takes it seriously, what with the internet being serious business an' all.

[RTGoodman]

You know, if I were actually from a nation with a monarchy, I could fulfill my dreams of becoming king. I guess my only hope is to find a young-ish female in the line of succession to some throne and hope we make it to the top...

And to think, without that my years of school as a Medieval & Renaissance Studies student are going to waste. :smallannoyed:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

One of my friends is 1000th in line for the throne of England.

Edit: I myself am descended from people living in the village of King's Lynn, Norfolk, and from the village of Konstantinovka, in the Ukraine.

[Elder Tsofu]

I guess my only hope is to find a young-ish female in the line of succession to some throne and hope we make it to the top...

Well if you can outmatch the gymowner our princess viktoria is currently spending her time with you have a fairly big chance becoming the next king of sweden.

[InaVegt]

You know, if I were actually from a nation with a monarchy, I could fulfill my dreams of becoming king. I guess my only hope is to find a young-ish female in the line of succession to some throne and hope we make it to the top...

And to think, without that my years of school as a Medieval & Renaissance Studies student are going to waste. :smallannoyed:

Wouldn't work over here, if a female in the line of succession becomes queen, her husband stays a prince.

[RTGoodman]

Wouldn't work over here, if a female in the line of succession becomes queen, her husband stays a prince.

I thought I read somewhere (probably Wikipedia, so it's perhaps not reliable) that calling the Queen's husband a "prince" or "prince consort" is just tradition and isn't necessarily required; the guy can actually be called "king," he just usually isn't.

Though, of course, you UKers probably know more about your monarchy than I do.

[InaVegt]

I thought I read somewhere (probably Wikipedia, so it's perhaps not reliable) that calling the Queen's husband a "prince" or "prince consort" is just tradition and isn't necessarily required; the guy can actually be called "king," he just usually isn't.

Though, of course, you UKers probably know more about your monarchy than I do.

Might be in the UK, surely not the case in the Netherlands.

Though, honestly speaking, the only reason our current and past two ruling queens became queens is because they had no male siblings, otherwise they wouldn't even have been in the line of succession to the dutch throne.

[FoE]

We Canadians are still technically subjects of the British monarchy, so "God Save the Queen" is as well-known to me as the Canadian national anthem. (That's not the Sex Pistols version, though I am aware of that song as well.) :smalltongue:

[Danzaver]

Respecting the fine line between political structures discussion and political discussion: The Netherlands, like several other countries, have a constitutional monarchy where the monarchy is preserved more as a historical relic than as any power within the government. These sorts of constitutional monarchies elect their parliaments* with democratic (a person's vote directly translates to a vote for a candidate**) popular (plurality wins***) elections.

*Same as U.S. Congress.

**Different than "electoral college" for U.S. Presidential elections. Same as all other U.S. elections.

***There's no equivalent in the U.S. political structure yet. You need at least three candidates for someone to receive a plurality that's not also a majority.


Just like in Australia. The Queen of England (I don't even know her name - it's either Elizabeth of Victoria XD) is officially the head of our country, though in name only.

We had a referendum to change it a few years ago, but the worm we had as prime minister at the time sabotaged it with rigged questioning. It's about time we shed off the old colonial power, but that's a debate for another thread, on another forum.

Congrats on your royal old bag! :smallbiggrin:

[dish]

I had a feeling that the 'prince consort' thing was started in the UK because the government were worried when Victoria married Albert. Victoria wasn't terribly bright, and was perfectly content to leave governing the country to her ministers. Albert was actually quite intelligent, very well educated, and could potentially have had a lot of influence, especially if he had been termed 'King'.

However, wikipedia doesn't support this theory. Apparently it's common for the husband of a Queen regnant to be styled the 'prince consort'. I guess most countries are worried about handing out the title 'King' to anyone that they're not entirely sure of.

Edit: I see that the only 'king consort' in English history was Philip of Spain when he married Mary I, and since that contributed towards the Armada I'm not surprised subsequent governments refrained from allowing the Queen's husband to become King.

Further edit: Ah, Victoria wanted to make Albert 'king consort' but the parliament of the day refused to allow it.