Departure. In the long term, this may be a historical event we experienced this week:
The 2. June Juan Juan Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón and Borbón-Dos Sicilias (76) resigned in Spain. The said gentleman is better known as Juan Carlos I, who on Monday made it known that he wanted to abdicate. It was about time.
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
The Spanish king is often honored for having "secured democracy" in Spain. But it was no worse than taking over as head of state when Franco died in 1975 – and for the first three years Carlos then ruled unanimously, first from 1978 Spain became a constitutional monarchy.
Carlos was then also appointed in 1969 to be Prince by the fascist dictator Franco, and the two had a not entirely unproblematic relationship.
The last remnants of monarchies in Western Europe are also a strange assembly – be it a whining Prince Henry and a chain-smoking queen in Denmark, a whimsical and escapist king in Sweden or the seemingly absent-minded and bland King Harald of Norway.
Carlos is no better. Not only does he claim the title "King of Jerusalem" – over 700 years after this crusader kingdom in present-day Israel fell to the Mamluks in 1291. It has been popular with quirky, southern European monarchs and counts to claim this kingdom, but it is well done by Carlos to claim Jerusalem also in 2014. Not to be changed that he goes on a luxury safari hunt in Africa in the middle of Spain's worst economic crisis in modern times.
Sinking. It is no wonder then that support for the monarchy in Spain was only 49 percent in January. In recent days, tens of thousands have walked the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities to demand an end to the monarchy. They want a full democracy instead, such as in Iceland or Finland: countries where the heads of state do not inherit the title, but where they are elected.
Old habit is to feel bad to turn around. So the chess feature of Carlos was to let the son, the Prince of Astrurias, take over. Felipe VI is probably the third born, with two older sisters, but what does gender equality and modernity have to do with a royal house? Then, in the event Märtha Louise should become Norway's queen, instead of discriminatingly, she left the head of state to the little brother.
The protests in Spain probably won't be big enough to deny Felipe to be inaugurated as Spain's new king on June 18. But in the long run, it is hoped that this central patriarchal and anti-democratic trait will disappear from the last monarchies. In Spain, the morass is further weakened by Catalonia's desire for independence. In the UK, the demands may increase again, especially if Scotland declines no further union with England this fall. In Sweden, they may live for a while on new births, but eventually the Republicans will be able to get new winds in the sails there as well.
Norwegian elections. And here in Norway, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus (40) can take the lead. Before he inherits Norway's throne from his father, he should stand for election, as his Danish and immigrant great-grandfather in 1905.
For if Haakon in 2014 is as popular as it is said in this country, then he should also say and do as his great-grandfather, whom he is named after. It is also "expensive for taxpayers," as it is popular to say, to provide food, lodging and accommodation to the royal family every single year.
A clearer "radical yes" is needed for democracy and the republic in Norway. But unhealthy habits are, as is well known, among the worst to reverse.