Duc_et_Pair
Imperial Majesty
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2014
- Messages
- 13,235
- City
- City
- Country
- Netherlands
Philippe, Felipe, Elizabeth, they are Commander in Chief in name only.
During WWI and WWII neither George V nor George VI ever had decisive authority on the strategy and the policy set out by the military command. Neither the slaughterhouses in Flanders Fields (WWI) or the failure of Operation Market Garden (WWII) could have been prevented by the King as he was and is supposed to keep himself away from military decision making.
The same counts for Belgium and Spain. Leopold III had zero comma zero command over the Belgian forces despite being the commander in chief. And in Spain, with all these separatist regional tendencies, it would be suicide for the monarchy to wield real command.
So it is all very symbolically. Having said that, I would love it to see Catharina-Amalia joining the Armed Forces for a gap year. And as a keen horserider she can maybe combine it with serving in one of the cavalry regiments which still deploy mounted detachments.
During WWI and WWII neither George V nor George VI ever had decisive authority on the strategy and the policy set out by the military command. Neither the slaughterhouses in Flanders Fields (WWI) or the failure of Operation Market Garden (WWII) could have been prevented by the King as he was and is supposed to keep himself away from military decision making.
The same counts for Belgium and Spain. Leopold III had zero comma zero command over the Belgian forces despite being the commander in chief. And in Spain, with all these separatist regional tendencies, it would be suicide for the monarchy to wield real command.
So it is all very symbolically. Having said that, I would love it to see Catharina-Amalia joining the Armed Forces for a gap year. And as a keen horserider she can maybe combine it with serving in one of the cavalry regiments which still deploy mounted detachments.