Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the giveaway of Peter Conradi's new book, The Great Survivors: How Monarchy Made It into the Twenty-First Century, has been chosen!  After plugging the names of each person who left a comment (only those comments speculating on why monarchies have survived) into a spreadsheet and then using a random number generator, the comment which won was made by Eileen Daub!  Eileen left the following thoughts on the survival of monarchy:

People are fascinated with monarchies because they are an escape. They are not worrying about jobs and bills and our modern lives but take us back to when fairy tales existed and princes saved the princess from dragons. Regardless of it is a 21st century Prince wedding his Princess or a strong 16th century Queen defending her homeland, it is a world of glamour and chivalry that does not exist to most of us anymore.

Congratulations, Eileen!  Please send me an e-mail so that we can coordinate the delivery of your free copy of the book!

Thanks so much to all who entered and left such thoughtful and interesting comments on monarchy -- I had a wonderful time reading each and every one of them!

Royal Book Review (and Giveaway!): The Great Survivors

Peter Conradi's The Great Survivors

I think it’s not really a secret that, even though I’m not a monarchist, I am fascinated by monarchy.  Part of it is that I don’t live in a country with a hereditary head of state, and so the concept is somewhat exotic to me; part of it is that the average monarch comes with a whole bunch of sparkle and glitter, and I'm a well-documented magpie.  So when Peter Conradi sent me a copy of his new book, The Great Survivors: How Monarchy Made It into the Twenty-First Century, I was excited to read and review it.  (There was another reason for this excitement, too – I’ll get there in a minute.)

Conradi is a journalist and the co-author of the tie-in book for the fabulous recent film about George VI, The King’s Speech.  But this book isn’t a memoir or a biography, exactly – it’s more of an examination of the concept of monarchy and an exploration of how in the world the remaining monarchies have managed to survive all of the upheavals of the past 300 years.  There’s a good bit of history here, especially of those monarchies that have rested precariously close to the edge of abolishment (or, in some cases, like that of Spain, have fallen over that edge but managed to recover).  And, of course, there’s a good bit of political discussion – how monarchies function, what they do, how they compare with other systems.

But for a royal blogger who is quite upfront about her sometimes less-than-academic approach to the subject, the part of the book that really sucked me in was, well, the gossip.  Some of the biggest obstacles that surviving monarchies have had to hurdle are the personal ones – illegitimate children, marriages in crisis, potential spouses who are deemed unsuitable, etc., etc.  Conradi looks at the reigning monarch and heir of each of Europe’s current monarchies, as well as their families.  

Jubilee, American Style

Silver Jubilee billboard on the Thames
(image via Reuters Pictures)

So you're an American royal watcher, and you didn't book your plane tickets in time to see Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in person?  Don't worry -- those of us on the other side of the pond don't have to miss the fun!  Here's a rundown of some of the television coverage that US viewers can enjoy during the celebration.

(All times listed are Eastern; adjust accordingly!)

Saturday, May 26

CNN will air a half-hour documentary, Kate and Wills: First Anniversary, at 2:30 PM.  According to the network release, the documentary includes footage from the couple's Canadian tour (and will surely include highlights from the royal wedding).  The documentary will be shown again on June 3 at 8 PM.

Tuesday, May 29

Katie Couric's exclusive interview with members of the royal family, "The Real Queen: By Her Own Royal Family with Katie Couric," will air on ABC's 20/20 at 9 PM.  According to press from the network, the two-hour special will feature interviews with Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie.

Saturday, June 2

CBS morning anchor Erica Hill will be live in London during CBS This Morning Saturday at 8 AM.

On NBC, Meredith Viera returns to Today to report live from London, starting at 7 AM.


CNN will screen Andrew Marr's The Diamond Queen, beginning at 2:30 PM.  This documentary aired on the BBC earlier this year -- highly recommended.

ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer (6 PM) and Nightline (11:35 PM on most stations) will feature Jubilee coverage.

CNN en Español will have Jubilee coverage in Spanish on Mirador Mundial at 6 PM.

Another documentary on CNN: this time it's CNN Presents: The Woman Who Would Be Queen, all about the Duchess of Cambridge, airing at 8 PM.  The special is anchored by Soledad O'Brien and features interviews with Arthur Edwards and Jules Knight.  The network press release also promises that the hour-long show will explore the way that William and Kate "have honored the life and legacy of Diana," so Diana fans, take note.

Tomorrow's Royal Christening in Sweden

Victoria, Daniel, and Estelle
(image via kungehuset.se)

Tomorrow morning, the future queen of Sweden, Princess Estelle, will be christened in Stockholm.  Estelle is the daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, who married in 2010.

I'm going to be watching the christening live (assuming the stream and my internet hold up!) from SVT.  Here's the link.  It's going to be an early start for my fellow American royal watchers!  Live coverage starts at 10:45 AM CET, which translates to 4:45 AM Eastern time and 1:45 AM Pacific time!  The christening itself starts an hour and fifteen minutes later, at noon in Stockholm and 6 AM on the east coast.

We can expect lots of royal guests at the event.  Here are those who have been confirmed to be in attendance:

Sweden: King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Princess Estelle, Prince Carl Philip (and his girlfriend, Sofia Hellqvist), and Princess Madeleine (and her boyfriend, Christopher O'Neill).  Also attending will be the king's sisters, Margaretha, Birgitta, Christina, and Desiree, with their families

Norway: Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Märtha Louise, and Ari Behn

Denmark: Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik, and Crown Princess Mary

The Netherlands: Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima

Belgium: Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde

Luxembourg: Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his fiancee, Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy

The Swedish court has not yet announced the names of Estelle's godparents, but the Dutch court announced earlier today that Willem-Alexander will be one of her godfathers.  My bet is on Haakon and Frederik to also serve as godfathers.

I'll be live tweeting the christening from my twitter account, @royaltywithella, using the hashtag #estelle to mark my tweets.  Join me there!