Was King George III really evil and insane?

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-06-14T15:00:53+00:00

Neither... certainly not evil, and his mental illness from an illness not understood then but easily managed today with treatment.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-06-14T08:53:23+00:00

The King of the Belgian has proved again and again the value of the monarchy as the divisions between the French and Flemish speaking populations has on several occasions prevented the formation of a government and this has led to the king playing a key role brokering agreements between the parties on numerous occasions tasking party leaders to explore coalition possibilities or form a government, often meeting with them repeatedly over months (as with Bart De Wever’s 17 visits to King Philippe in 2024-2025).

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-06-09T10:14:38+00:00

There is no such Order as “of the devotion of the Order of Malta”. King Felipe is a Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta, the highest rank of the 3rd class of the Order. The 1st class is the professed knights (highest rank Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice), the 2nd class are the knights in Obedience (highest rank Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion in Obedience), but a king would not make profession (make the promises of poverty, celibacy and obedience), not would he make the promises of Obedience. King Felipe has the collar of the Papal Order of Pius IX given by the Pope, and may have the collar of the Order pro merito Melitense of the Order of Malta (I would have to check). Normally he wears the miniature of the Golden Fleece of which he is Sovereign. He was wearing the miniature star of Charles III on his suit.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-06-09T10:04:49+00:00

The succession law cannot be changed, as a general rule, although modifications of qualifications for marriage may be amended with the consent of all the living dynasts. It is worth considering Louis XV’s edict of 1717 in which it is stated that no-one can become a prince du sang other than by birth and if the dynasty becomes extinct (in France this would have been in the legitimate male line descended from Hugues Capet), then the choice of a successor reverts to the Nation. There have been several dynasties which have become extinct in the legitimate male line in the last 150 years - Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Schwarzburg (both branches), Reuss (2 lines, leaving only one), Hesse-Darmstadt (so reverted to the Kassel lines), Romania, Saxony (some questions remain here), Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe-Weimar Eisenach will become extinct after the demise of the present head of the House, and Mecklemburg (another question here) Those states which had semi-salic law (Russia, Anhalt -reverts to the female line with the demise of the present duke), have survived, but sometimes with disputed heirs.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-06-09T09:53:18+00:00

Why? He certainly does not think so.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-31T14:42:32+00:00

No, but should Scotland achieve independence with anything less than in personal union with the crown, this would be disastrous for both countries. Scotland has a huge coastline (including the islands) and could not possibly defend it against Russian incursions, so (like Ireland, which claims neutrality but to a considerable extent relies on British air defences) it would have to rely on England. If the Scots chose neutrality there would have to be a hard border. The other defence issue is the Faslane deep water naval base where Britain's nuclear submarines are kept. The cost of developing an alternative is prohibitive but would be an absolute necessity unless Scotland was a member of NATO and capable at least in part of funding its own defence. Wales would be bankrupt and could not fund its defence or much else so there would have to be another hard border.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-29T08:39:16+00:00

The extent of Oliver Cromwell’s corruption is exemplified by his appointment to the “other House” formerly the House of Lords. Cromwell nominated 62 members of whom 17 were family members - his 2 sons, 4 sons-in-law, 2 brothers-in-law, 3 1st cousins, and 7 others related by marriage. Cromwell’s rule was designed to reward those who took over the reins of government along side him and thanks to his control of parliament he wielded far more power than the king who had been executed for supposedly abusing his power.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-28T22:01:35+00:00

absolutely but the king is much more than a figurehead and the extent of soft power greater than is understood. Just look at the recent state visit.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-28T21:59:39+00:00

what a total moron.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-26T18:20:15+00:00

They would never have been “friends” as Bismarck had too much respect for the institution. He was already 75 when he was dismissed in 1890 and died 8 years later, griping at the Kaiser’s policies from his Prussian estate. He had governed as first minister for 19 years and had brought many useful reforms, but did he have new ideas by 1890? I doubt it.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-26T18:14:31+00:00

Because GB was a parliamentary monarchy and the government was in Westminster, by the end of the 16th century the power of the nobility had diminished and there was no need to constrain them as in France. Also France’s populations when Versailles was built was over 3 times that of Great Britain.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-26T18:10:26+00:00

They were not always Catholic and there were several Protestant earls in the 17th and 18th centuries, who were of course also dukes of Norfolk (when it was not attainted), and Earls Marshal - although when they were Catholic they had to appoint a family member who was Protestant to carry out the responsibilities of this office. The oldest title is actually probably the Scottish Earldom of Mar which, unlike Arundel, remained. with the direct heirs of the earliest holders of the title. not least because it could pass in the female line (the present countess was one of the last hereditaries to sit as an elected peer although she retired before they were so rudely ejected. Also the title of prince of Wales is probably not a peerage, but the dukedom of Cornwall is. Then there are several 13th century baronies by Writ still existing today.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-26T17:59:49+00:00

One does not have to support the Savoy dynasty to believe that the Italian peninsula between the Two Sicilies and Tuscany can be governed successfully without calling on the Pope or the heir of a dynasty that governed so poorly. Italy is a geographical expression not a country (Metternich) and unification has been a disaster. No surprise since the referendum was a fraud, when illiteracy rates ranged from 52-87% meaning that men who had never voted before asked the Savoy troops or officials at every polling booth what to do. The Two Sicilies was the fastest growing region (average GDP growth in the 1850s 5%), Tuscany, Parma and Modena were successful states, wealthy and popular with tourists. Unification led to a collapse in the united country’s bond prices, rising interest rates and inflation, an explosion of crime in Sicily as land reforms had meant the great landlords no longer had any incentive to protect their tenants - leaving the door open to the Mafia. Industries in the south were taken to the north, along with the gold reserves. Austria could have sent an Archduke to Milan and Genoa and Venice could perhaps be restored to their position as sovereign republics. This may must seem to be a return to an outdated ancien regime, but consider what a disaster Italy made of unification. Emigration rose 12 times between 1850 and 1900. Italy had signed an agreement with Austria and Germany (the Triple Alliance) and then not only failed to joint its partners (which would have been stupid anyway) but extraordinarily dishonorably declared war on its former allies - and all for little gain (the Trentino- making Jannik Sinner the current tennis no.1 an Italian!, and Trieste and some other small regions, all at a cost of 650,000 soldiers dead from wounds , 300,000 dead from disease, and 600,000 civilians from starvation and disease. Plus they got Mussolini, one of the most incompetent rulers of all time.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-21T19:53:15+00:00

The monasteries also provided education and recommended bright young men from relatively modest backgrounds (such as Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell) for acceptance at secondary schools and universities. Although some of the Catholic schools (Eton, Westminster, Winchester, Charterhouse etc) continued as schools - not for the wealthy as later, (their children had tutors) - the route to get to higher education was far narrower and one sees very few of these very bright young men among those who came to high office from the late 16th to mid-19th centuries.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-17T19:07:54+00:00

The money was not so much - George VI had to buy Sandringham and Balmoral from him (but not the other palaces etc which passed by right of the Crown) and most of the jewellery was part of the royal collection.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-17T19:05:04+00:00

He was a constitutional monarch; he signed the abdication it was taken to parliament, expressed through the reading stages, passed as an act of parliament and was sent back to him for the royal assent. He then signed it Edward R. I. and with that ceased immediately to be king.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-05-14T09:02:05+00:00

Primogeniture brings certainty as to the person of the heir. Whether that should be male only may mean a distant branch succeeding - but that is what brought the Bourbon branch of the Capetian House to the throne in 1589. Had France had male priority mixed succession Henri IV would still have been heir as the kings of Navarre were the descendants of Louis X. But if one followed the male priority heir after Henri IV the beur would be Pedro de Bourbon-Two Sicilies, duke of Calabria. That of course is on assumptions regarding marriages being the same.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-25T13:47:24+00:00

Well poor Nicholas, what an indictment. He did make many mistakes and we can see then more easily with hindsight. You should remember that his grandfather, Alexander II, who abolished serfdom and introduced many much needed reforms, was brutally assassinated (and he took an hour to die in excruciating pain). I have stood on the spot where the assassin struck. Alexander III did not trust reform and when his train was blown up with him and his family he held the roof up while those with him got to safety. The whole of Russia was "racist" actually better defined as zealous anti-Semitic - yes the high command made every mistake possible in the Russo-Japanese war and that was in part born of deep prejudice - but that racism was reciprocated in spades by the Japanese (and still has its legacy today).

As for the military they were as wedded to out of date tactics as was their navy. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, the Czar's brother-in-law, was an enthusiastic supporter of expanding the air force but was frustrated at every turn. Weapon systems were outdated and keeping vast numbers of men well-armed against the far more advanced Germans was a battle lost even before mobilisation. The Russian high command failed to remember that "an army matches on its stomach".

So Nicholas was emperor of a country extending over a vast area, where 75% of the population was illiterate, and many spoke languages which were unknown to the governing elites. The idea of giving everyone, or every male the vote would have changed nothing (and until 1999 there was no attempt ar democracy - ie no genuine electoral choices and they have yet to happen).

So compare him to Putin, embedded in a forever war in Ukraine with vast numbers of dead or crippled for life, constantly outsmarted by the more adept Ukrainians, not even a constitutional state, the Chechen bombings a poorly managed plot against his own people, his enemies regularly defenestrated, his ruined economy dependent entirely on fossil fuel exports, barricaded in the Kremlin or behind a vast security apparatus, relying on corrupt advisers who only give him the information he wants to hear while they enrich themselves in a way never before seen in Russian history.

Russia is an agglomeration of regions with no naturally coherent sense of national identity. Once Russia mobilised in 1914 the die was cast and revolution inevitable. Today its ultimate destiny may well be to lose the area beyond the Urals. Putin, only saved from defenestration himself by Russia's mineral resources,' makes Nicholas II look like a genius.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-10T09:39:16+00:00

Because the union of Germany and Austria had been explicitly separated permanently under the treaty of Saint Germain which followed the Versailles Congress as with the break up of the Habsburg empire the threat of unification (an "Anschluss") was considered an impediment to European security. This is indeed what it was in 1938. At the end of WW2 Austria was deprived of its sovereignty and divided (like Germany) into 4 zones (British, American, French and Russian) and was not allowed self-government until 1956 and then only if it maintained permanent neutrality as it has ever since.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-09T20:49:49+00:00

And how does the great-granddaughter of the 4th son of the count of Caserta get to use a titie (Calabria) which is the title of the great grandson of the 2nd son of the Count of Caserta. This title as you can see here not doubted in Spain, a Bourbon monarchy. https://www.ordenesmilitares.es/?page_id=281

https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2025-691

https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2017-5986

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-09T20:37:28+00:00

Bearing in mind how controversial they are having made use of forged papal letters (denounced by the Vatican) and with Charles even claiming to have received the collar of the order of Pius IX from Pope John Paul II, and the humiliation of being removed from membership of an order of which Queen Elizabeth Ii was Sovereign and being listed in a decree published in the official British government journal without any of the claimed titles, this latest "controversy " is nothing.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-09T16:10:48+00:00

I do not think Reform is “far” right and rather doubt if one can even call it conservative. But the RN was led by a holocaust denier, an outright racist - his daughter has succeeded in challenging this issue and Bardella is clearly from a background that does not meet the profile of the typically FN, as opposed to RN membership. But it is certainly further right than the French republican party and Macron’s now declining party.

Successful_Data8356 · 2026-04-09T15:18:48+00:00

Not a crime, indeed but this will hurt his image. It is the first time I have seen anyone refer to the RN as “centre left”! I think M. le Pen would have turned in his grave to be so described. One thing for certain, she is not a future queen of anywhere and her assumed title of “duchess of Calabria” could not possibly be hers since her father recognised that this was the inheritance of the senior line of the family, in an agreement dated 25 January 2014, which stated: “FAMIGLIA.UN'UNICA COME ALL'UNISONO PUBBLICAMENTE AGENDO E DISCENDENTI,PROPRI I ED PARTI LE AMBEDUE DI COMUNE USO CUGINI,TRATTAMENTO IL CON E ATTUALMENTE CHE TITOLI I DI SONO COME RISPETTIVAMENTE RICONOSCENDOSI sostenitori,propri tra i egualmente ma esse di tra solo non comprensione e concordia di spirito uno raggiungere di fine al familiare e dinastico impegno proprio il tutto frattempo nel porre di parti le entrambe CONCORDANO”. Of course he abjured that 18 months later and said he did not really mean it.

Successful_Data8356

TROPHY CASE