How Young Heirs to the Thrones Are Preparing for Their Roles

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Is it just me, or does Amalia speak (Dutch) with what almost sounds like an American accent?

I don't know enough to say if the time/class/accent gap between her and her grandmother is equivalent to the one between Queen Elizabeth and William, or why it would take that particular tone. I suppose it would be partly solved by hearing her speak English, but that's yet to happen.

I wouldn't say that she has an American accent; she has somewhat of a posh accent (but different than her grandmother's generation) with a pretty strong 'r'.

Interestingly, in this video the king exactly describes his philosophy in raising a heir: you first need to learn who you yourself are before you can serve the public good.

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Somebody

I wouldn't say that she has an American accent; she has somewhat of a posh accent (but different than her grandmother's generation) with a pretty strong 'r'.

Interestingly, in this video the king exactly describes his philosophy in raising a heir: you first need to learn who you yourself are before you can serve the public good.

The rhotic accent might be exactly why she does sound "American"; that's one of the major distinguishing features from British English.

[cdm]

Just to be correct: Elisabeth’s name is with an s, not with a z.
I also saw her name written with an accent on the E which is also incorrect. Never an accent on a capital letter.

[PrincessofEurope]

Originally Posted by janelarn

From my personal opinion, what you reveal is irrelevant. You only have a childhood, adolescence and youth to learn. It is in those moments of life when you have to assume roles that will serve you for a lifetime. If any of them is not heir or heir until they are 50 years old, will they start training at that age? I do not think so.

What I was trying to say and should have explained better is that these 3 in particular are the direct heirs their training IMO is of greater importance. As for instance they could find themselves the Monarch a lot quicker than planned.

The other child future heirs (Christian, Ingrid, Estelle, George etc) can learn from their parents and grandparents and the experience might be different and more relaxed

[Heavs]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I tend to be skeptical of royal families who claim that they want their children, especially heirs, to have "normal teenage lives". The truth is, however, that a future king/queen is not "normal" and never will be. Whereas it is positive that royal heirs now go to "normal" schools rather than being educated by palace tutors, special preparation is still required for their future role. I am afraid that might be being overlooked in Amalia's and her sisters' case. And since Amalia is only two years away from receiving a hefty annual income from the Dutch taxpayers (unlike Élisabeth for example), I think it is high time she and her parents took her preparation for her future role more seriously.

We don't really know what Amalia is being taught in private. Maybe she could/should be shown to be doing more but I can't blame her parents for not throwing her into a whirl of official speeches and events either.

Whilst she's not "normal" treating her like she's different and special from a young age doesn't necessarily produce a well balanced individual who's well prepared for their role emotionally or someone who knows when NOT to demand to be treated like the cat's bathmat at all possible times and comes across as vain, self important and that the world owes them something ( see various royals). Now is the time for them to experience things a bit without too much "for the good of X" so that they're actual well rounded people who are confident in who they are with friends who know and like them for who they are as people.

If a direct heir becomes monarch when still very young there will be more things to deal with than how many speeches they made, occasions they've hosted, how much constitutional law they know or if they've attended military training yet. Even Princess Elisabeth would certainly struggle. Hell, even former Princess Elizabeth struggled at 25 when she was an adult who had been in training for years but was still shocked by how soon it happened.

It's also possible that on younger heirs putting too much focus on their life long, inescapable position too soon could create burn out on royal duties and massive resentment before they get anywhere near the throne.

On a slightly different note because they're so young and not direct heirs, William has talked about finding out he will be King in an unpleasant way he wasn't prepared for and how that fuelled his determination to make sure he is the one that can talk to George about it and explain things when he's old enough to understand. I doubt we'll see the little Cambridges carry out official engagements/speeches in their teenage years, at least beyond appearances at family events, but they have been more visible lately whilst still seeming very much regular children growing up happily.

[Denville]

Originally Posted by Heavs

We don't really know what Amalia is being taught in private. Maybe she could/should be shown to be doing more but I can't blame her parents for not throwing her into a whirl of official speeches and events either.

W

If

On a slightly different note because they're so young and not direct heirs, William has talked about finding out he will be King in an unpleasant way he wasn't prepared for and how that fuelled his determination to make sure he is the one that can talk to George about it and explain things when he's old enough to understand. I doubt we'll see the little Cambridges carry out official engagements/speeches in their teenage years, at least beyond appearances at family events, but they have been more visible lately whilst still seeming very much regular children growing up happily.

William didn't do much at all till he had finished his education, as I recall...

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Denville

William didn't do much at all till he had finished his education, as I recall...

William is not the heir though. He was only second in line and still is.


In any case, the British Royal Family is no example in my opinion when it comes to the education of their princes, including heirs.

[janelarn]

Originally Posted by Somebody

I sincerely hope that she doesn't crumble under the enormous pressure she is put under

In Spain, the normal thing is that their monarchs have a serious and strict education (some kings were criticized for not having taken this path to which we are not used, such as Isabel II who was educated to "manipulate", that is, it was very ignorant), whatever the circumstances.
[...]

Originally Posted by PrincessofEurope

What I was trying to say and should have explained better is that these 3 in particular are the direct heirs their training IMO is of greater importance. As for instance they could find themselves the Monarch a lot quicker than planned.

The other child future heirs (Christian, Ingrid, Estelle, George etc) can learn from their parents and grandparents and the experience might be different and more relaxed

I am sure that you have explained yourself very well, but perhaps many nuances are lost when translating (I) because it is not my first language.: flores:: flores:: flores:: flores:: flores:

[Jacknch]

Please note the title change to this thread.

Further to the previous Mod note and being additionally sensitive to the fact that we are discussing young royals, could posters please also apply that concept to the way in which they interact with one another.

Posts attacking other members with aggressive tones have been edited as there is no need for it.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Interesting to see how the gender of monarchs will change after most countries have abolished the male prerogative (except Spain):


GB: from female to male (QEII to Charles/William/George)
DK: from female to male (QM to Frederik/Christian)
NO: from male to female (Harald/Haakon to IA)
SE: from male to female (CG to Victoria/Estelle)
BE: from male to female (Philippe to Elisabeth)
NL: from male to female (WA to Amalia)
ES: from male to female (Felipe to Leonor)

Soon in the majority, I hope the future female monarchs will have a close network to help and support each other, because the burden will be a lot heavier, they will not only be monarchs but have to find suitable husbands and become mothers, it might be an easier task for a female consort who does not have the top job herself.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

Interesting to see how the gender of monarchs will change after most countries have abolished the male prerogative (except Spain):

That is not the case, unfortunately. Most countries outside of Europe permit only male monarchs, and those which allow female monarchs give preference to males.

Europe is the exception and not the rule.

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

Soon in the majority, I hope the future female monarchs will have a close network to help and support each other, because the burden will be a lot heavier, they will not only be monarchs but have to find suitable husbands and become mothers, it might be an easier task for a female consort who does not have the top job herself.

Even in Europe, female monarchs will not be in the majority in the foreseeable future. There are no future female monarchs in five of the ten hereditary European monarchies (Great Britain, Denmark, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Liechtenstein). Note that Monaco practices male-preference and Liechtenstein practices male-only succession.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by cdm

Just to be correct: Elisabeth’s name is with an s, not with a z.
I also saw her name written with an accent on the E which is also incorrect. Never an accent on a capital letter.

Sorry about that. The French Wikipedia also misspelled her name.


https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89...th_de_Belgique


In fact, it looks like a frequent mistake in several French language sites/publications, e.g.


Link 1.

Link 2.

Link 3.

Link 4.

Link 5.

Link 6.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

That is not the case, unfortunately. Most countries outside of Europe permit only male monarchs, and those which allow female monarchs give preference to males.

Europe is the exception and not the rule.




Even in Europe, female monarchs will not be in the majority in the foreseeable future. There are no future female monarchs in five of the ten hereditary European monarchies (Great Britain, Denmark, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Liechtenstein). Note that Monaco practices male-preference and Liechtenstein practices male-only succession.

I was only referring to the seven kingdoms mentioned in this thread earlier but thanks for pointing out that world wide there is still a lot of male preference.

And yes, we can add Monaco. Jacques is only a small boy but Albert 62 already, it's likely that he will become a young regent, earlier than some of his European counterparts.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

I was only referring to the seven kingdoms mentioned in this thread earlier but thanks for pointing out that world wide there is still a lot of male preference.

Thank you for the clarification. I was using the changed title of the thread (which removed the reference to the seven kingdoms) as a basis.

You made a good point that, even in the few countries which have eliminated male preference from the succession to the throne, male preference persists in their monarchies, not only in terms of unofficial expectations such as your examples of female monarchs being expected to have higher standards for "suitable" spouses and bearing the burden of childcare, but even in official protocol such as titles, family names, orders of precedence, decorations and uniforms.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

Interesting to see how the gender of monarchs will change after most countries have abolished the male prerogative (except Spain):


GB: from female to male (QEII to Charles/William/George)
DK: from female to male (QM to Frederik/Christian)
NO: from male to female (Harald/Haakon to IA)
SE: from male to female (CG to Victoria/Estelle)
BE: from male to female (Philippe to Elisabeth)
NL: from male to female (WA to Amalia)
ES: from male to female (Felipe to Leonor)

Soon in the majority, I hope the future female monarchs will have a close network to help and support each other, because the burden will be a lot heavier, they will not only be monarchs but have to find suitable husbands and become mothers, it might be an easier task for a female consort who does not have the top job herself.

In the Netherlands Willem-Alexander has been the exception: he is the one male monarch in a line of 5; the three prior and the one after him are all female. So far, the change of succession law in practice has not made any difference.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Somebody

In the Netherlands Willem-Alexander has been the exception: he is the one male monarch in a line of 5; the three prior and the one after him are all female. So far, the change of succession law in practice has not made any difference.

It would be very funny indeed if later in life Amalia had three boys

[Silverpot]

Are there any Constitutional Monarchies other than Japan and Lesotho outside of Europe? Can't think of any.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by Silverpot

Are there any Constitutional Monarchies other than Japan and Lesotho outside of Europe? Can't think of any.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand...

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

It would be very funny indeed if later in life Amalia had three boys

Either only boys or only girls...

The last time a royal couple in the Netherlands had both sons and daughters was king Willem II - with their youngest (the only daughter) being born in 1824; so in a few years it will have been 200 years...

Willem I & Wilhelmina: 3 sons (2 surviving) & 2 daughters (youngest 2)
Willem II & Anna: 4 sons & 1 daughter (youngest)
Willem III & Sophie: 3 sons
Willem III & Emma: 1 daughter
Wilhelmina & Hendrik: 1 daughter
Juliana & Bernhard: 4 daughters
Beatrix & Claus: 3 sons
Willem-Alexander & Máxima: 3 daughters

[Silverpot]

Originally Posted by JR76

Canada, Australia, New Zealand...

Haha ok, but they don't have their own royal houses and have to abide by the British constitution.