In Melbourne: Honouring the Queen of Australia

After the Royal Over-seas League - Victorian Branch held a lunch a week ago in honour of this year's Queen's Birthday holiday, The Australian Monarchist League celebrated the official birthday of the Queen of Australia together with her 60th coronation anniversary on 14th June.


Both speaker, Sophie Mirabella MP, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science, and Philip Benwell MBE, AML National Chair, praised Her Majesty's tireless workload, which she continues despite her 87 years. Sophie Mirabella stressed the continuity of the Australian Monarchy by pointing out that during Her Majesty's reign, she had 11 Australian prime ministers - and 17 leaders of the opposition. Ms. Mirabella, who had been an active member of the No campaign for the 1999 referendum on the introduction of a republic in Australia, mentioned in her speech this year's proposed change to the constitution.

For the Election Day, 14th September 2013, the present government - and most members of the opposition -is proposing a referendum to change the Australian Constitution to create a third tier of government with local councils and to empower Canberra to bypass the States and give taxpayer monies direct to this new tier of government. In 1942, the States had income-taxing powers but temporarily loaned them to Canberra to fund the war effort. Those powers were never handed back and Canberra today uses taxpayer money to force the States to do its bidding.

Sophie Mirabella MP during her speech to the members and friends of the Australian Monarchist League in Melbourne.

While the Liberal Opposition in Parliament agreed to proposed referendum and front benchers are bound to this agreement, Liberal back benchers are allowed to campaign against it. Ms. Mirabella, being a member of the shadow cabinet, made it clear that she will not take part in a No campaign, but she herself would vote no, should the referendum actually be held on 14th September. However, she did welcome the Western Australian and Victorian Liberal Councils’ decision to incorporate a NO vote in their How-to-vote cards on 14th September.

The Australian Monarchist League established a referendum campaign to provide information to those concerned about this referendum and stated: “We are not in opposition to any other group that may be opposing this move to centralise more power into Canberra.” Both the local government referendum information website, a Facebook and a Twitter account have been set up.

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Forgetful republicans

Coat of arms of King Alphonso XIII

It was a nostalgic event that happened in Madrid's streets last Sunday. 14th April marked the 82nd anniversary of His Majesty King Alphonso XIII's departure from Spain. He went into exile and died in Rome ten years later. Some people cannot get over the past and they shed some tears for the proclamation of the 2nd Spanish republic on 14th April 1931.

While the media sometimes claimed Spanish anti-monarchy rally attracts thousands, a friend of the Radical Royalist, who actually watched the Sunday afternoon stroll, spoke of 300 participants.


A nostalgic group gathered for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Associated Press quoted Veronica Ruiz, a member of the communist Izquierda Unida (IU): "Nobody elected the king. We want a referendum. It would be the fair and democratic way to find out what the people want."

The indoctrination of the Spanish Communists had full success with her. Her brainwashing led to amnesia, because the Spanish Constitution was unanimously approved by Parliament and voted by 87.8 % of the citizens in a referendum held on 6th December 1978, which provides in article 1 for a Parliamentary Monarchy of the classical liberal European style. On the other hand the 2nd republic, for which the nostalgics marched on Sunday, did not have the overall approval of the Spanish people. They were never asked in a referendum, if they'd prefer a Monarchy or a republic.

Veronica Ruiz and the Izquierda Unida (IU) are certainly aware of the fact, that hardly any republic in Europe was established by the will of the people. Hardly ever was a referendum held that led to the abolition of the Monarchy, neither in Germany, nor in Austria or in Russia, and of course also not in neighbouring Portugal.

The rather dodgy referenda in Italy and Greece, where republicans triumphed over the Monarchist cause, are no show cases of democracy.

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"Charles will be our next head of state"

It seems that Shaun Carney, an associate editor of The Age, went too far yesterday. He had admitted:

“Charles will be our next head of state. And, whether I live to see it or not, I'm convinced that Charles' first-born, William, will be Australia's head of state after that.”

Today The Age’s editorial returned to the familiar republican modus vivendi:

“People who have a strong and principled attachment to the institution of monarchy may be relatively few in this country, but there are undoubtedly many who sincerely profess admiration and affection for the monarch. That fact alone may keep the republic at bay for the remainder of her reign.”

And the author of the editorial expressed equally this hope:

“The mystique of monarchy may yet prove to be merely the mystique of a monarch, and popular support for an Australian republic, which has waned in recent years, may revive. For the present, however, an observation of Liberal frontbencher and former republican leader Malcolm Turnbull probably captures the popular mood most accurately: Australia has more Elizabethans than monarchists.”

How much better did Shaun Carney capture the situation for the Australian Monarchy - at present and in the foreseeable future:

“ ...for Australians, the diamond jubilee festivities were our celebration too, because the Queen is our head of state.”

“ Charles seems a decent person who has played his part in raising two fine young men in William and Harry. None of them asked to be born into the British royal family, which, because Britain colonised this continent in the 18th century, is our royal family.

“And we had our chance to go in a different direction, but, by a national vote of 55-45 per cent, chose not to. As recently as the late 1990s, a solid majority of Australians were telling pollsters that they wanted Australia to become a republic, to cut the formal constitutional ties with Britain and to have a full-time Australian head of state. Then the republicans started squabbling about what sort of republic we should have, which cruelled the chance of success at the 1999 referendum, and the opportunity to end Australia's days as a constitutional monarchy was lost.

“Originally, the republicans - especially the direct-election advocates who had supported a ''no'' vote at the referendum - argued that the country would be able to return to the question a few years down the track. It soon became apparent that this would not happen. Then they looked to the period after the Queen's passing as the appropriate time for the move to a republic, convincing themselves that Prince Charles as king would be a turn-off to monarchists - a forlorn piece of wishful thinking.

“In the meantime, public attitudes in Australia have changed. Republican sentiment has been in steady retreat. Last year, the Queen attracted enormous numbers during her Australian visit. The gushing from Australians behind the barricades in Melbourne about the Queen's magnificence equalled the encomiums from their London counterparts this week.

“The republican cause in Australia will always have adherents, but republicanism's moment has passed. Perhaps it will return, but not for a long time.”

To publish a contradicting opinion piece with the all too familiar republican statements one day after Shaun Carney’s admission that the republican crusade has failed to capture the Australians is an effort to re-establish the newspaper’s credentials among the Australian republican circles. Alarming figures haunt the Melbourne branch of Fairfax media. The Age’s sales dropped 13.4 per cent on a weekday in the March 2012 quarter and the Saturday Age lost 12.4 per cent. Instead of transferring 66 editorial production jobs to New Zealand – which lead to a journalist strike of 36 hours in Melbourne – Fairfax should re-examine their editorial policy.

Everybody who follows the RadicalRoyalist knows, that Rupert Murdoch has no friend in this blogger, but it must be said that while The Age lost readers in double digits, Murdoch’s Melbourne tabloid HeraldSun newspaper fell only 3 per cent in March 2012.

Murdoch knows, what people want to spent money on. Last Saturday the HeraldSun offered a 52-page souvenir magazine that was sold with the newspaper on 2nd June, the day before the beginning of the big Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It is a lovely and well-edited magazine with references to the Queen of Australia and the Queen of Victoria – terms you will never find printed in The Age. How did The Age report on the Diamond Jubilee celebrations? They re-printed articles from The Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. Nothing extraordinary, but perhaps the editor thought not being nasty had been praise enough.

But why should one buy a Melburnian newspaper, when there is so little content that pleases its readers?

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Head of Italy’s Royal Family turns 75

Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, son of King Umberto II of Italy, and head of the Royal House of Savoy celebrates his 75th birthday today. He was born on 12th February 1937 in Naples to then Crown Princess Marie-José and Crown Prince Umberto of Italy. As a coincidence his wife, Princess Marina, Princess of Naples, née Marina Ricolfi-Doria, was also born on 12th February, but in 1935.


After the rigged referendum in May 1946, the newly proclaimed Italian republic sent the whole Royal Family into exile. For more then five decades the Savoy family lived in exile, mostly in Switzerland and Portugal, Prince Vittorio Emanuele lived with his mother in an estate in Merlinge, Switzerland. After his wedding in 1971, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Princess Marina and their son, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont, born in Geneva on 22nd June 1972, resided in Geneva, Switzerland.

For 56 years, Prince Vittorio Emanuele lobbied the Italian Parliament against the law prohibiting the return to his home country. In 1999, he filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights, in which the Prince charged that his lengthy exile violated his human rights. In September 2001, the court decided to hold a hearing on the case at a date later to be fixed.

In 2002 Prince Vittorio Emanuele dropped his case at the European Court of Human Rights and instead he and his son, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, wrote a signed letter, published through a law firm, in which they formally expressed their loyalty to the Constitution of Italy. On 23rd October 2002, the provision in the Constitution of Italy that prohibited Prince Vittorio Emanuele's return to Italy was repealed, after he signed an agreement recognizing the republic as the valid government of the state. Prince Vittorio Emanuele was permitted to re-enter the country from 10th November 2002. On 23rd December 2002 he made his first trip home in over half a century. On the one-day visit he, his wife and his son had a 20-minute audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.

The position of Prince Vittorio Emanuele is also claimed by the head of a junior branch of the House of Savoy, his third cousin, Duke Amadeo of Aosta, born 27th September 1943. Duke Amadeo argues that his cousin was no longer eligible to call himself Prince of Savoy because he had failed to secure the legally-required permission of his father, King Umberto II, to marry a Swiss commoner.


The Duke also argued that Prince Vittorio Emanuele forfeited his right to the dynastic title because in order to be allowed to return to Italy from exile in 2002, Prince Victor Emmanuel had to formally recognise the Italian republic as the country's legitimate government. The Duke of Aosta and his family were not forced to go into exile, because the republic did not consider them to be in direct line to the throne, and they stayed in the bilingual autonomous region of Aosta, in the Italian North West. On 22nd July 1964 Duke Amedeo married Princess Claude of France (born 11th December 1943) in Sintra, Portugal. She was the ninth child and fifth daughter of Henri, comte de Paris, de iure King of France, and of Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza, de iure Queen of France.

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Who deserves a chance?

The Sunday Age has urged its audience to vote for the ALP: “With no great enthusiasm, we say the ALP should be returned on Saturday.” Why? “Gillard deserves her chance”. That really sums it up.

Interestingly enough, the editorial did not mention one reason for a Gillard vote that is usually so dear to the Fairfax media: A republic. Not one hint to vote for Labor because of the party’s republican agenda. What does this tell us? No hope for “a” republic under Gillard? In order not to embarrass her, better don’t mention “a” republic. Or should Monarchists not be driven into the Coalition’s arms? After all, a third of the Labor voters said No to a republic in the 1999 referendum. In this close electoral race every vote counts and could decide who shall form the next Australian government.

During the election campaign Julia Gillard has kept quiet on the republic issue. At the National Press Club in Canberra mid-July “Ms Gillard has said that she does not sense that the republic debate is a burning issue for Australians and has refused to promise that she will hold a referendum if elected.”

"Where the republic debate went wrong was that it became too much about what people like me think and not enough about what Australian community thinks. This has to be about a community consensus and I don't believe we are there yet."

What if she never gets there?

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35th Anniversary of another Greek Referendum
It seems, nothing has changed in Greece. DW published this news item on 7th December 2009:

Greece has seen another day of violent clashes that erupted over last year's police shooting of the 15-year-old teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos.

Greek riot police clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing youths in Athens on Monday as protesters took to the streets for a second day.

Security forces made 21 arrests after scores of stone-throwing youths separated from the throng of 5,000 demonstrators marching towards parliament.

Two youths were arrested earlier on Monday for throwing stones at a police station in Athens. Two other police stations in the suburbs of Agia Paraskevi and Kallithea were also attacked, police said.

In the northern city of Thessaloniki police fired teargas at dozens of violent youths, who broke away from a march of 2,500 people.

"The clashes are not significant overall, the protests went as expected," said a police official who declined to be named.

Today’s news from Greece is as disturbing as it was 35 years ago, when just another Greek referendum on the country’s Monarchy took place. Barely 18 months after the military dictators had forced the Greek people to sanction their decision to proclaim a republic, the Greeks were asked to go to the polls again.

The weekly magazine “To the Point International” covered the referendum:

“In spite of the low turn-out, the monarchy referendum brought all the Greek passions back into the political arena. The campaign was more lively than the general election. A few days before the vote, six policemen were slightly hurt, when a group of Maoists attacked a royalist headquarters …”

On 9th December 1974 German TV correspondent Günter Eder gave this report from Athens:

“When the first result came in and were displayed in the press centre the international and Greek journalists were hit by a shock: A village on the Peloponnese had voted with a two thirds majority for the King. But all following results demonstrated quickly that there would be a hefty defeat for the King.”

In the end 1,443,804 Greeks backed the Monarchy, while 3,236,345 rejected the idea of a “Crowned Democracy” as the King had called his concept of a renewed Greek Monarchy. 1,328,665 Greeks did not cast their vote in the polls.

Naturally Monarchists were disappointed by the result. In a declaration King Constantine said: “I have lost. I wish that the result of the referendum may be good for our country.” Even while in exile he served his country. For example, he was to play a leading and perhaps crucial role on the International Olympic Committee in the award of the 2004 Olympics to Athens.

He had been in exile since December 1967 and unlike other Greeks who had been forced by the dictatorship to live abroad, the Greek Royal Family was not allowed to return, when the regime collapsed. The referendum campaign took place without the main person, although it is unlikely that the King would have been like a political campaigner attending meetings and shouted slogans.
Instead, on 26th November 1974 he sent his people a message expressing his admiration for their fight and their sacrifices during the time of the dictatorship. “As you all know, I was forced to leave the country after my effort to liberate Greece from the dictatorship.”

In the British television programme, "Constantine: A King's Story", a Greek Orthodox priest explained that Constantine will always be King. Unlike many modern Monarchs, but as with Queen Elizabeth II, the King was anointed at his coronation, as were the Kings of the Old Testament. Although he accepts the referendum, The King has not abdicated.
The acclaimed six part TV series “A Royal Family” finished with this remarkable sentence: “Some countries have lost their Monarchy, yet, they still have a Royal Family.” That is certainly true for Greece.Queen Anne-Marie in a costume that was designed by the first Queen of modern Greece, Queen Amalia.

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Is Kevin Rudd a closeted Monarchist?

The Australian Monarchist League's National Conference on 7th and 8th November in Sydney.

Kevin Rudd had sent a message to the Conference, which is full of surprises. See for yourself:
" I congratulate the Australian Monarchist League for its achievements over the last 17 years."

Well, well, Prime Minister, that includes the defeat of the republicans in 1999. Did you forget?

By the way, neither Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull nor the leader of the NSW Liberal Party Barry O'Farrell bothered to send messages. Kevin Rudd must be a closeted Monarchist.

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"There is also no political will to revisit the issue"

My fellow bloggers of The Monarchist reflect on the Australian referendum's 10th anniversary.

The Monarchist is always worth reading, but this article has my special sympathy.

"... republicans know they don’t have a model that they know can win. They know that a president chosen by politicians is a vote loser. But they seem unwilling to commit to a president chosen by popular vote. Why? Because such a change would be even more radical than the 1999 proposal – and would probably go down to a substantial defeat after being subjected to the white heat of a referendum campaign. Direct election is apparently popular now – but other referenda proposals have had high levels of support that evaporated in the lead-up to a vote. This conundrum ties the republicans up in knots."

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The Monarchists won the Australian referendum in 1999

... even if republicans will never admit that fact. It must be a very frustrating exercise to propagandise for a republican regime for Australia and not get any closer to the fulfilment of toppling the Queen of Australia. On the 10th anniversary of the referendum The Age continues its bombardment against the Monarchy by insulting all those who voted No: “The Age has long believed that … becoming a republic will be a crucial mark of Australia's adulthood. Sadly, the past decade has witnessed a national retreat into childhood.”

Ten years of constant propaganda for “a” republic by the united Fairfax & Murdoch media, by the ABC and other TV stations and what is the result: Opinion polls show no more republican sentiment than in 1999. A more democratic attitude of the mighty media owners and their servants would suggest to accept the outcome of a democratic vote and live with it, but this is not what they do. They increase their attacks on the Australian Constitution and the institution of the Monarchy.

Today Monarchists all over Australia celebrate the outcome of the 1999 referendum and they have all reason doing so. Their opponents run around like headless chooks, contemplating new plebiscites and referenda, hoping for politicians to come to their rescue and give them “a” republic. Haven’t they noticed that relying on politicians is the most unreliable way to get results - and another reason to keep the Monarch who is above politics.

The Age even had the chutzpah to return to “the enthusiastic endorsement of republicanism at last year's 2020 Summit”, without mentioning that the summitteers were all handpicked and no Monarchist was considered worthy to take part in this show exercise. Is the republicans' aim to exclude all those who oppose their sailing into the rough sea of a politicians’ republic from speaking out for Queen and Monarchy? Fortunately we will not know, in which way republicans might exclude Monarchists from the Australian agora, because there is no likelihood that they will win a referendum.

All the contemplation on plebiscites (The Age: "A two-part plebiscite that asks the threshold question - should Australia become a republic - and then offers voters a choice of republican models could cheaply and conveniently be held at the time of the next federal election.") does not take into account that plebiscites do NOT change the constitution. What will republicans do, should they win the suggested plebiscites, but lose the referendum? Ignore the referendum? Return to square one? Repeat the referendum until the result pleases the The Age and the people behind the media? Or will they finally accept a democratic result and live with it?

Open questions, which The Age's editorialist did not bother to ask, even less dare to answer.

Tony Ab-bott ser-ved the Queen of Aus-tralia.

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19th July 1890: Birth of King George II of the Hellenes

The biographical data of His Majesty King George II originate from Balkanalysis.

Prince George was born on 19th July 1890, to this day 119 years ago, in the Royal residence of Tatoi near Athens, son of King Konstantinos I and Queen Sophia. The King died as the Greek head of state on April 1st, 1947 in the Royal Palace in Athens.

The young heir to the throne was educated at the Evelpides military academy and pursued higher military studies in the German Military Academy. At that time it was ordinary for the Royal Families in Europe to have their male members educated only in military schools and quite often they took part in wars, as was the case with Prince George . In 1913 during the the Second Balkan War, he served as a captain on the front lines, and accompanied his victorious father - Konstantinos I - who was the King of the Hellenes, and so, commander of the Greek forces.

The alliances and potential alliances for the Greeks in the First World War caused a widening gap between the parliamentary government of Venizelos, who was eager to join forces with the Entente, and the Royal Family, who preferred neutrality and had strong affiliations with the Germans.

The result of the Greek divide ultimately led to victory for Venizelos and the expulsion of the Royal Family in 1917. During his three-year exile abroad, Crown Prince George became engaged to the Romanian Princess Elisabeth and firmly clung to his royal credentials; he also used the period to expand his European high society network.

In 1920, just a few months after the signing of the short-lived Sèvres Treaty that gave Greece control in Asia Minor, Venizelos spectacularly lost the elections and the Royal Family managed after a referendum to return to Greece. Crown Prince George subsequently married Princess Elizabeth in 1921, whilst his sister, Princess Helena, married the heir of the Romanian throne, Crown Prince Carol - thus cementing the good relations between their two states. Moreover, George took part in the fateful Asia Minor military expedition and was made a colonel, responsible for drafting strategy for the troops upfront.

The expedition of the Greek Army in Anatolia resulted in catastrophe; after early gains, an overextension of forces resulted from entering too deep into the Anatolian landmass. This left the Greek army vulnerable and it was finally driven back to the sea by the resurgent Turkish nationalist forces led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

The dismaying news created a chaotic situation in Athens. A coup d’état led by Greek officers resulted in the resignation of George’s father, and the elevation of George to the throne on September 27, 1922 (Greek: Γεώργιος Β', Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων). During his two-year residence as head of state, the young sovereign had to deal with the increasing propaganda against the Royal Family as an institution in Greek society. He also witnessed the execution of six members of the Greek government charged with being responsible for the disastrous Anatolian campaign.

George II as King and the Second Exile
In October 1923, after the Lausanne Treaty that created a new Mediterranean order and permanent boundaries, an attempt was made to overthrow the leaders of the 1922 revolution by several right-wing officers, including Metaxas, the would-be Prime Minister of Greece from 1936-1941. Even though King George was not involved, he was easily accused of being the culprit, and was forced to leave Greece in December 1923. As could be expected, he went to Romania. In April 1924, a Hellenic Republic was proclaimed.

The second period of exile for the Greek King had strong implications that would influence Greek politics for years to come. First of all, King George II divorced his Romanian wife and moved to Britain, where he took up residence in the storied Brown’s Hotel of London. During his stay in London from 1929-1935, George became an adherent of the British way of life and cultivated further his important relations with the English aristocracy, something that would play a major role in his future come-back in Greek public affairs.
Moreover, the exiled monarch travelled abroad regularly throughout the Greek Diaspora, in order to extract support. He managed to build a stern persona, an image as some sort of a firm and wise ruler capable of uniting a Greece so often characterised by fractiousness, instability and corruption. During this time it is highly likely that the king-in-exile managed to win British support through skilfully managing his royal family relations.

The opportunity George was looking for appeared in 1935. An unsuccessful coup d’état by Greek officers led by Colonel Plastiras changed the political climate in Greece, swinging the balance in favour of the monarchy. Meanwhile, the still mighty British Empire, fearing the expansion of the Italian and German powers, wanted to appoint a staunch supporter in one of the most important geo-strategic regions, the Balkans.

Thus, in November 1935 a referendum for the reinstatement of King George passed by a resounding 97 percent. This overwhelming approval initiated his second return to his country of birth. The reinstated King was able to have real popular support because the Greek Republic (1924-1936) was not successful. It collapsed in chaos leaving serious unresolved issues to be dealt with, such as social inequality, failures in foreign policy and general public disappointment and apathy.

Even though King George II was not generally in favour of dictatorship, the unresolved political tensions in Greece, simultaneous with a growing militarisation in Europe, proved to be decisive factors in that direction. On August 4th, 1936, George signed a government paper that declared a state of emergency in Greece; in essence, a dictatorship was being established. It was led by the Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, a longtime military officer well known for his monarchist sentiments.

Despite the fact that Metaxas was also in favour of the Germans, this fondness did not play a significant role in the actual governance of the state. The Greek army was almost completely loyal to the monarchy, and Metaxas was above all an officer loyal to his king.

When the Italian Army attacked Greece on October 28th, 1940, the defiant Greeks were able to claim the first great victory that the Allied forces had won against the Axis since the beginning of the war. It increased the prestige of King George II, who was very active in monitoring the progress of the military campaign against Italy. He also pressed the English in sending help to Greece, managing to redirect large British forces from the major front of North Africa, so vital to the British due to their interests in the Suez Canal.

On April 6th, 1941 Greece denied access to German troops, and a much tougher campaign started. The Greek army, after several weeks of intense fighting, was defeated and German troops occupied Athens on April 27th. At that time the King was determined to continue the resistance, despite lingering pro-German sentiment amongst the Greek political class. He formed a government under Emmanouel Tsouderos (a former opponent of the King’s), who also happened to be from the island of Crete - the place of the latest epic battle between the Greeks and the Germans.

On April 23rd, 1941, King George II and his government left Athens and went to Crete to continue the fight. After fierce skirmishes known collectively as “The Battle of Crete” German paratroopers occupied Crete and King George, along with most of his cabinet, narrowly escaped to Egypt and British protection. From that time onwards, London and Cairo were to play host to the Greek government-in-exile. Meanwhile, King George toured the world - including Great Britain, South Africa, Canada and the USA - trying to win support for Greece from the Allied governments and their peoples. He also declared the end of dictatorship and tried to compromise with his former political opponents.

The occupation by Germany brought major societal changes to the country. Greece saw the emergence of a renewed Communist Party and strong anti-monarchist forces. When Greece was liberated in October 1944, the King didn’t return immediately. In December 1944, the first round of confrontations between the Greek government and the Communists broke out in Athens. The one-month struggle between them signalled just the prelude to a three-year civil war that raged from 1946-1949.

The political strife in Greece resulted in a virtual British occupation of the country. Fearing Soviet expansion and the Communist rise, the Allied powers sought to aid through all means necessary the government in the fight against the rebels.

A coalition dominated by the new People's Party was elected and their leader Constantinos Tsaldaris in the opening session of parliament called for the return of the King and initiated a constitutional plebiscite. Once again in yet another election 68% vote for the return of the King, some of whom may have seen Greece's return to a monarchy as being better then being run by the communists. King George arrived in Greece on September 27th, 1946, and he lived only until April 1st, 1947, when he died of a sudden heart attack. During that short period of time, King George II experienced the beginning of the Greek Civil War, the enacting of the Truman Doctrine - the formal announcement of the Cold War - and the liberation of the Dodecanese after a generation of Italian occupation.

King George II: His Importance and Legacy
George II was a king who lived throughout, and in some periods ruled over, some of the most important events in modern Greek history. In fact, he shaped them in ways that are still being felt in Greek life today. His pro-British stance led Greece to the Allies in WWII, resulting in a devastating German occupation - but an eventual victory in being firmly allied on the ‘right side’ of history in the world’s greatest-ever conflict.
This alliance was cemented, sometimes brutally, by the civil war that followed WWII. Yet King George’s decisiveness against the Communist threat kept Greece firmly in the Western camp - a result that was clearly beneficial of the country, as history has borne out.

On the other hand, the King’s support for dictatorship helped keep alive a violent political climate in Greece, and the association of military power with politics condoned under King George II was a recurrent phenomenon that haunted the nation again during the disastrous Colonel’s Regime of 1967, which led up to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

As a person, King George II was a reserved, aloof character, who never became truly popular, as his father and his grandfather (George I) had been. King George II was more of a statesman, disinterested in the trappings of everyday life. King George would be the only modern royal not to leave an heir, and his successor was King Paul (Greek Παύλος, Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων, 14th December 1901 – 6th March 1964), his younger brother.

To understand the broader international image and impact of a man who lived and travelled for such lengthy periods abroad, historians will have to examine more intensively King George’s role in helping the Allies win the war, and his deep connections to the British royal family, which invested enough political capital to have George installed on the Greek throne thrice in less than a generation. It is more than certain that a thorough survey will some day unveil many more interesting facts and dimensions of the life and career of King George II, as both a man and a monarch.

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Lots of media action, but no republic

The Age’s excitement sparkles from every word: “A year ago tomorrow, more than 1000 of the nation's best and brightest gathered, enthusiastic and idealistic, for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 talkfest.” (in: The Age, 18th April 2009)

Participants were less enthusiastic and recalled the obvious "guidance" by the government. Ted Evans, former Treasury secretary and now chairman of Westpac, who was in the economics group, called the agenda “managed”, "including in the group reporting, which was vetted by the Government" added The Age.

I was about to comment “the summit's overwhelming support for a republic” as The Age put it uncritically, but the whole thing is such a joke that it's not worth adding anything else to The Age's reporting, which speaks volumes about the summit's credibility. Who can be surprised they got a nearly 100 percent result for “a” republic, when no Monarchists were invited to take part in the discussion?

But fortunately it is the Australian people who decide on the Monarchy and NOT politicians or their handpicked summitteers.

Greg Craven, vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, would like to see "a commitment to the start of a process" to prepare another referendum on “a” republic in Australia, but accepts "the process will take time".

That will give The Age many more opportunities to complain about Her Majesty’s mild reign over Her Commonwealth of Australia and the royal symbols in Australia.

The Duke of Edinburgh
And at the same time The Age can publish more articles on the Australian Royal Family, like the one published also in today’s edition on Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who opened the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, a fact which Aussie republicans may like to wipe out of the history books.

At least today’s article mentioned that the Prince, who will celebrate his 88th brthday in June, averages 370 functions a year beside The Queen — more than 18,500 since he became the Prince Consort. The Prince does not consider retirement nor a superannuation bonus which is granted to ex-politicians. He does not even get a salary, neither from the Australian taxpayer nor from the British.

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"A" republic is not a top priority

The ABC reports from London: "Mr Rudd made the comment during the appearance on BBC television when asked about his audience with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

"Asked if it was still a live issue in Australia after a model for a republic was voted down in a referendum in 1999, Mr Rudd said Australia would become a republic but the debate 'comes and goes'".

'"The big priority is the one we've been talking about this morning which is the global economy,' Mr Rudd said.

'"Is it (the republic) a top priority issue? No.'

'"Her Majesty is well loved in Australia and Australia will become a republic and we'll have a referendum in due season.'

"Mr Rudd will also have an audience with the Queen and attend a memorial service at Westminster Abbey for the victims of the Victorian bushfires."

Rudd says:

"Her Majesty is well loved in Australia and Australia will become a republic and we'll have a referendum in due season."

Will it become a republic? Isn't he pre-empting the Australian people's right to decide? Isn't that what referenda are about?

What happens if he and his republican supporters lose the referendum again?????

Meanwhile Queensland ABC held a poll and in the Prime Minister's home state 54.5% disagreed with the Prime Minister's assertion that "Australia will become a republic". Only 45.5% agreed with him.

That's nearly exactly a repeated result of the 1999 referendum.

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