Non-reigning Royal Houses: future role they could have and heritage


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What role could the non-reigning royal houses of Europe (Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary) play?
Could non-reigning royal houses play an important role in their countries?
 
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I doubt that former royals will have important role in their countries on future. In many case monarchy was abolished so long time ago that it has almost faded from living memory and many countries are strongly republicans. Many just would have nice honorary titles but not notable role on their societies.
 
I'm Italian so I can kinda speak about it and I highly doubt the Savoia family (both branches) will have any actual impact. The whole nation is strongly republican (me included) and has near zero interest in a return of the monarchy.
Emanuele Filiberto is a laughing stock and he is considered a trashy TV personality rather than statesman.
Aimone di Savoia-Aosta is practically unknown unless you are actively interested in the monarchical movement.
Of course History is unpredictable but I really doubt we will have a Kingdom of Italy again.
 
I doubt that former royals will have important role in their countries on future. In many case monarchy was abolished so long time ago that it has almost faded from living memory and many countries are strongly republicans. Many just would have nice honorary titles but not notable role on their societies.

It looks like in some places, such as in several German states or in Portugal, they are involved with charities and cultural or religious associations. They are also invited to official dinners/receptions, or even state dinners. Furthermore, some families still remain the custodians of important historical estates and heritage sites.

There is no need for republics to be hostile to former ruling families, as Greece and Italy are for example. They should be recognized as part of the country's history and play a role in preserving those traditions and history for the new generations, even if they do not have any formal official/state role.
 
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It looks like in some places, such as in several German states or in Portugal, they are involved with charities and cultural or religious associations. They are also invited to official dinners/receptions, or even state dinners. Furthermore, some families still remain the custodians of important historical estates and heritage sites.

There is no need for republics to be hostile to former ruling families, as Greece and Italy are for example. They should be recognized as part of the country's history and play a role in preserving those traditions and history for the new generations, even if they do not have any formal official/state role.

I agree. They could play a role in preserving and disseminating history, being present at official and state dinners and receptions, and having a residence at their disposal for royal house events (as in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria).
There is no need for governments to be hostile to their former royal families as they are part of the country's history and can have an important role to play.
 
For example, in Portugal what they could do:
  • Give to Royal House a role in charities and historical preservation institutions. Presence at official dinners/receptions, or even state dinners.
  • Also a diplomatic presence on some occasions with ambassadors and diplomats.
  • Carrying out some official visits to other countries, mainly those that are monarchies.
  • Make the Ajuda Palace available for some Royal House events.
It would be something that could easily be done and could make a good contribution to the country.

Casa Real already does several things with the Dom Manuel II Foundation and with the help of Causa Real.
 
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I agree. They could play a role in preserving and disseminating history, being present at official and state dinners and receptions, and having a residence at their disposal for royal house events (as in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria).
There is no need for governments to be hostile to their former royal families as they are part of the country's history and can have an important role to play.

I think that Margareta of Romania has shown the way for non-reigning houses. Nicholas, her nephew, has shown he is eager to assume the mantle, although on his own terms.

The families of Serbia and Albania both have the possibility to follow suit. For Bulgaria, I don't know if Boris is ready to take up the rôle after his grandfather, and the same for the family of Montenegro, which also has official recognition.

For the Greeks and the Italians, the royal families are a convenient scapegoat for the events of the past. It's easier to blame Constantine II and the House of Savoy than face up to the fact that millions of Greeks, Italians, including the armed forces, supported fascism. I find the hostility towards the former reigning families in these two countries grossly unjust.

The Portuguese seem more at ease with their history, and the monarchy was followed by a fascist dictatorship, so is not the prime "culprit" in their modern history. As for the German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchies, we're talking about an institution that was abolished more than a century ago.... I get the sense that Duke Franz of Bavaria has a certain status in his homeland but I don't know about the rest.
 
I have the impression that the former Portuguese and Romanian families have built almost quasi-official roles for themselves. (At least I get the impression that the governments acknowledge them.)

Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia seems to be working toward the same kind of role. I suspect the Romanovs would like to do the same in Russia.

As for the Greeks, who knows? Crown Prince Pavlos says he has no plans to move to Greece, but he seems to be raising his profile there anyway.
 
For the Greeks and the Italians, the royal families are a convenient scapegoat for the events of the past. It's easier to blame Constantine II and the House of Savoy than face up to the fact that millions of Greeks, Italians, including the armed forces, supported fascism. I find the hostility towards the former reigning families in these two countries grossly unjust.
I can't speak for the Greek situation as I'm not informed enough, but I'm Italian and I don't really agree that the Savoys were just a "convenient scapegoat". King Vittorio Emanuele III played a crucial role in allowing Benito Mussolini to come to power in October 1922. It is to be remembered that, unlike Hitler in Germany, Mussolini didn't become Prime Minister as a result of regular elections, but after a coup. The Fascists at the 1921 elections had won just 35 seats (out of 535) in the Chamber of Deputies and they were a minority party. Mussolini took advandage of the very complex social and political situation after WW1 and gained approval, but the "March on Rome" would have been very easily crushed by the army, if only Vittorio Emanuele had decided to do so. The Italian government at the time had prepared a decree declaring the state of siege, which was ready to be signed, on the King's desk. VEIII had told the Prime Minister Luigi Facta he would sign it, but he ultimately changed his mind, and appointed Mussolini Prime Minister instead. It's mainly VE's responsibility if Mussolini got to be Prime Minister in the first place. Some italians were already fascists back then, but definitely not the majority. Unfortunately, over the following years the vast majority of Italians would become fascists, and I am very well aware of it. In the first few years of Fascism, by the way, there were a couple of occasions where the King could have dismissed Mussolini while being backed by the majority of the population (I'm mainly thinking about the period of political crisis following Giacomo Matteotti's assassination in 1924), but he unfortunately failed to do so.
Of course, I understand that he was in a very difficult position and various factors might have influenced his choices, and I also think that up to that point Vittorio Emanuele had been a good monarch, who had a role in the victory in WW1, and who was fairly modern and liberal, despite coming to the throne in difficult circumstances after his father's assassination in 1900. Had he died in 1920, he would have been considered almost a national hero, the true heir of his namesake grandfather, "The Father of the Fatherland", Vittorio Emanuele II. Unfortunately for him, for his Royal House and for his Nation, history would judge him differently.
That said, I agree that the exile imposed to the male-line descendants of the last King of Italy was excessively harsh and way too long, and I hope that the relationship between the Italian Republic and the House of Savoy will improve (the Savoys were fundamental in the Italian unification in the 1860s), but I can't see them having any kind of semi-official role as it's the case in other countries.
 
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I think that Margareta of Romania has shown the way for non-reigning houses. Nicholas, her nephew, has shown he is eager to assume the mantle, although on his own terms.

The families of Serbia and Albania both have the possibility to follow suit. For Bulgaria, I don't know if Boris is ready to take up the rôle after his grandfather, and the same for the family of Montenegro, which also has official recognition.

For the Greeks and the Italians, the royal families are a convenient scapegoat for the events of the past. It's easier to blame Constantine II and the House of Savoy than face up to the fact that millions of Greeks, Italians, including the armed forces, supported fascism. I find the hostility towards the former reigning families in these two countries grossly unjust.

The Portuguese seem more at ease with their history, and the monarchy was followed by a fascist dictatorship, so is not the prime "culprit" in their modern history. As for the German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchies, we're talking about an institution that was abolished more than a century ago.... I get the sense that Duke Franz of Bavaria has a certain status in his homeland but I don't know about the rest.


I don't know about Greece but Italy is bit mixed case. VEIIII basically ruined monarchy by allowing Italy joining to pointless WW1 where it had just mutilated victory (altough not sure could he had really stopped that), allowed Mussolini's dictatorship and allowed Italy allying with Hitler and joining to WW2. He finally realised to fire Mussolini but instead that he would had abdicated he just fled to Switzerland and abdicated just month before the referendum so Umberto II hadn't any time to get more support to monarchy. And he even didn't support fascism.
 
I can't speak for the Greek situation as I'm not informed enough, but I'm Italian and I don't really agree that the Savoys were just a "convenient scapegoat". King Vittorio Emanuele III played a crucial role in allowing Benito Mussolini to come to power in October 1922. It is to be remembered that, unlike Hitler in Germany, Mussolini didn't become Prime Minister as a result of regular elections, but after a coup. The Fascists at the 1921 elections had won just 35 seats (out of 535) in the Chamber of Deputies and they were a minority party. Mussolini took advandage of the very complex social and political situation after WW1 and gained approval, but the "March on Rome" would have been very easily crushed by the army, if only Vittorio Emanuele had decided to do so. The Italian government at the time had prepared a decree declaring the state of siege, which was ready to be signed, on the King's desk. VEIII had told the Prime Minister Luigi Facta he would sign it, but he ultimately changed his mind, and appointed Mussolini Prime Minister instead. It's mainly VE's responsibility if Mussolini got to be Prime Minister in the first place. Some italians were already fascists back then, but definitely not the majority. Unfortunately, over the following years the vast majority of Italians would become fascists, and I am very well aware of it. In the first few years of Fascism, by the way, there were a couple of occasions where the King could have dismissed Mussolini while being backed by the majority of the population (I'm mainly thinking about the period of political crisis following Giacomo Matteotti's assassination in 1924), but he unfortunately failed to do so.
Of course, I understand that he was in a very difficult position and various factors might have influenced his choices, and I also think that up to that point Vittorio Emanuele had been a good monarch, who had a role in the victory in WW1, and who was fairly modern and liberal, despite coming to the throne in difficult circumstances after his father's assassination in 1900. Had he died in 1920, he would have been considered almost a national hero, the true heir of his namesake grandfather, "The Father of the Fatherland", Vittorio Emanuele II. Unfortunately for him, for his Royal House and for his Nation, history would judge him differently.
That said, I agree that the exile imposed to the male-line descendants of the last King of Italy was excessively harsh and way too long, and I hope that the relationship between the Italian Republic and the House of Savoy will improve (the Savoys were fundamental in the Italian unification in the 1860s), but I can't see them having any kind of semi-official role as it's the case in other countries.

Linda, I hope too that relations improve. Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia (1937-2024) was a controversial figure for various reasons, as we all know, and perhaps now the next generations have a chance to create a new relationship between the royal house, the state and society. In VEIII's case, I think he put the interests of the Savoy monarchy above the interests of democracy in 1922-24, and then in 43-44, when he should have abdicated, he tried to cling on. If Umberto II had had time to realign the monarchy with the liberation, not as Lieutenant general but as King, the referendum result may have been different. I agree with your point about VEIII's reign being divisible into halves of light and shade. He didn't create Italian fascism, though; the responsibility for that lies elsewhere.
 
I think it would be interesting if the non-reigning royal houses were used to represent the history and some traditions of the countries, and officially or semi-officially represent the countries on some occasions.
 
Residences of non-reigning royal families:
Portugal: The Duke and Duchess of Bragança and their family reside in a house in Sintra, which is their best-known home.

Bulgaria: The main residence of the Bulgarian Royal Family is the Vrana Royal Palace. Since 2002, King Simeon II and Queen Margarita have lived on the property in a hunting house (next to the palace), built by their grandfather Fernando I.

Romania: In 2001, the Romanian Royal Family was granted official use of the Elisabeta Palace by a bill signed by Traian Băsescu, 4th President of Romania, and approved by the Romanian Senate. It is currently the working residence of Princess Margareta, Romanian Head of the Royal Household, her husband and other members of the royal family.
Other residences that are also at the disposal of the royal family are: Săvârșin Castle, Pelișor Castle and Peleș Castle.

Serbia: Crown Prince Alexander II and his family have resided since 2001 in the Royal Palace in Dedinje, an exclusive area of Belgrade. The Palace, completed in 1929, is one of two royal residences in the Royal Complex; the other is the White Palace, completed in 1936.

Greece: According to the Greek press, Crown Prince Pavlos has a residence in Greece, close to the former Royal Palace.

Others: Prince Leka of Albania resides in the Tirana Royal Residence, while the Royal Family of Montenegro has at its disposal the Podgorica Royal Palace, which is also the headquarters of its foundation. The Count and Countess of Paris have the Domaine Royal de Dreux as their official residence. The royal families of Italy, Austria and Russia have no known residences.
The Royal Family of Prussia (Germany) has Hohenzollern Castle as its official residence.

Documentary about non-reigning royal families:
 
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