Chapter 23
Second set - The Failure of a Republic
St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, during the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Alexandra of Denmark in 1863
As a consequence of the restoration of monarchy in Germany, there was a lot of talking about whether the former kings of the 39 separate states of the II Reich. Some of that talking was solved in the referendum, but it took a bit of a time until a final measure was adopted. It was decided, by the Bundestag -prior to its renaming to Reichstag-, that the successors of a person thus deprived of their peearage were allowed to petition the Crown for restoration thereof.
The first one to do it was His Royal Highness Franz Maria Luitpold Rupprecht (1) (born in 1933), the grandson of the last King of Bavaria, Ludwig III. Born as Prince of Bavaria (Prinz von Bayern), he had changed his surname to Duke of Bavaria (Herzog von Bayern) after the death of his father. As his grand-grandfather had issued the Anifer Erklärung (Anif declaration), in which the King released all government officials, soldiers and civil officers from their oath to him, but made no declaration of resignation, Franz asked for having his peerage back arguing that the was no actual abdication. He added that he wanted, of course, to keep the style of Royal Highness, but he won't assume the higher title of king. The same can be said about Karl Ferdinand Philipp Albrecht (born in 1936), heir of the King of Würrtemberg, deposed in 1918.
Friedrich Alexander, Margrave of Meissen (born in 1954), head of the House of Wettin and heir to his great-grandson Frederich Augustus III, the last king of Saxony, did not petitioned the Crown for the restoration of the said titles, as his great-grandfather had abdicated on 13 November 1918. Thus, he felt he had not right to ask for having his titles back.
Thus was solved the question of the former Königreiche. Then came the Großherzogtümerg (or Great Duchies), the Herzogtümer (or Duchies) and the Früstentürmer (or Principalities). In most cases the former dukes and princes petitioned for the titles, even if they were nothing more than formal recognition that, if we forget the fact of having the title back, it gave right to few else. Actually, there was no one about the claimants that asked to have their castle or lands back -with a few exceptions, it must be added. All in all, the last stage of the German Restoration was solved quietly and without much trouble.
An unexpected side-effect was the anullement of the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917, which returned to those German citizens their British Dignities and Titles in 8 November 1917. Thus, Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony became again Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, Baron Arklow and a Prince of the United Kingdom; Ernst August of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh and a Prince of the United Kingdom, titles which were restored by the British Crown. In this line must be seen the restoration of the Garter flags removed from St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in those hard times.
The Reichstag buidling in Berlin.
Meanwhile, while this went on, a wedding went unnoticed by the press, too busy with the Royals. Had some journalist witnessed it, he would have find it quite... particular. To begin with, there were two brides. Or perhaps there were two grooms, depending on the point of view. Anwyay, the civil servants of the register office in the Schoeneberg district of Berlin were quite bemused by the angered face of one of the brides, a beautiful long-legged blonde, who, despist of being the bride (well, at least one of them), dressed all in black. Even her short skirt was black. At her side there was a young man with a black eye, properly attired for the moment, but for the odd old-fashioned Burgundy Wedding Cravat, where one could read "Johann rulez!". It should be added that the bride was fighthing with a mad wish of laughing and only the lovely murdering look of her future wife kept him from doing it. Finally, there was a third girl, a charming brunette with a huge grin on her lovely face, all dressed in white, even the skirt, shorter than the black one of the first lady.
The most interesting moment of the ceremony came when that curious words were uttered.
'Until death do us part...'
-Death, you say... -said the bride, placing a finger under her chin and looking at the groom, first with a thoughtful expression on her face, then, with a growing grin. After two or three seconds of utter silence, she answered- Well, in that case, I will.
Had someone looked at the expression of the groom, the unskilled observer could had sworn that he went pale...
Thus, in that uncanny way, Duckie and Käthe and Alix got married (2).
A few years later, while remembering the moment, Käthe would reflect about the wedding:
-No wonder that no one noticed our wedding, my dear... Who would have noticed three madpeople in those days, where there were plenty around?
Over the table, an old yellow page of "The Sun" cried out loud:
(1) I should say that this and the following German royals are just characters created for this AAR, based in some of the actual princes and dukes of Germany. Just for you to know...
(2) I bet that there are some laws against bygamy in Germany, but, for the sake of the story, let's forget a while about them...
(3) Sorry for the bad joke, but I couldn't find a better joke to say that, in this timeline, Diana, Princess of Wales, is stil alive. I'm an odd guy, I know...
Second set - The Failure of a Republic
St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, during the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Alexandra of Denmark in 1863
As a consequence of the restoration of monarchy in Germany, there was a lot of talking about whether the former kings of the 39 separate states of the II Reich. Some of that talking was solved in the referendum, but it took a bit of a time until a final measure was adopted. It was decided, by the Bundestag -prior to its renaming to Reichstag-, that the successors of a person thus deprived of their peearage were allowed to petition the Crown for restoration thereof.
The first one to do it was His Royal Highness Franz Maria Luitpold Rupprecht (1) (born in 1933), the grandson of the last King of Bavaria, Ludwig III. Born as Prince of Bavaria (Prinz von Bayern), he had changed his surname to Duke of Bavaria (Herzog von Bayern) after the death of his father. As his grand-grandfather had issued the Anifer Erklärung (Anif declaration), in which the King released all government officials, soldiers and civil officers from their oath to him, but made no declaration of resignation, Franz asked for having his peerage back arguing that the was no actual abdication. He added that he wanted, of course, to keep the style of Royal Highness, but he won't assume the higher title of king. The same can be said about Karl Ferdinand Philipp Albrecht (born in 1936), heir of the King of Würrtemberg, deposed in 1918.
Friedrich Alexander, Margrave of Meissen (born in 1954), head of the House of Wettin and heir to his great-grandson Frederich Augustus III, the last king of Saxony, did not petitioned the Crown for the restoration of the said titles, as his great-grandfather had abdicated on 13 November 1918. Thus, he felt he had not right to ask for having his titles back.
Thus was solved the question of the former Königreiche. Then came the Großherzogtümerg (or Great Duchies), the Herzogtümer (or Duchies) and the Früstentürmer (or Principalities). In most cases the former dukes and princes petitioned for the titles, even if they were nothing more than formal recognition that, if we forget the fact of having the title back, it gave right to few else. Actually, there was no one about the claimants that asked to have their castle or lands back -with a few exceptions, it must be added. All in all, the last stage of the German Restoration was solved quietly and without much trouble.
An unexpected side-effect was the anullement of the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917, which returned to those German citizens their British Dignities and Titles in 8 November 1917. Thus, Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony became again Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, Baron Arklow and a Prince of the United Kingdom; Ernst August of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh and a Prince of the United Kingdom, titles which were restored by the British Crown. In this line must be seen the restoration of the Garter flags removed from St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in those hard times.
The Reichstag buidling in Berlin.
Meanwhile, while this went on, a wedding went unnoticed by the press, too busy with the Royals. Had some journalist witnessed it, he would have find it quite... particular. To begin with, there were two brides. Or perhaps there were two grooms, depending on the point of view. Anwyay, the civil servants of the register office in the Schoeneberg district of Berlin were quite bemused by the angered face of one of the brides, a beautiful long-legged blonde, who, despist of being the bride (well, at least one of them), dressed all in black. Even her short skirt was black. At her side there was a young man with a black eye, properly attired for the moment, but for the odd old-fashioned Burgundy Wedding Cravat, where one could read "Johann rulez!". It should be added that the bride was fighthing with a mad wish of laughing and only the lovely murdering look of her future wife kept him from doing it. Finally, there was a third girl, a charming brunette with a huge grin on her lovely face, all dressed in white, even the skirt, shorter than the black one of the first lady.
The most interesting moment of the ceremony came when that curious words were uttered.
'Until death do us part...'
-Death, you say... -said the bride, placing a finger under her chin and looking at the groom, first with a thoughtful expression on her face, then, with a growing grin. After two or three seconds of utter silence, she answered- Well, in that case, I will.
Had someone looked at the expression of the groom, the unskilled observer could had sworn that he went pale...
Thus, in that uncanny way, Duckie and Käthe and Alix got married (2).
A few years later, while remembering the moment, Käthe would reflect about the wedding:
-No wonder that no one noticed our wedding, my dear... Who would have noticed three madpeople in those days, where there were plenty around?
Over the table, an old yellow page of "The Sun" cried out loud:
"The truth behind the Pont d'Alma:
The MI6 killed Fergie!"(3)
The MI6 killed Fergie!"(3)
(1) I should say that this and the following German royals are just characters created for this AAR, based in some of the actual princes and dukes of Germany. Just for you to know...
(2) I bet that there are some laws against bygamy in Germany, but, for the sake of the story, let's forget a while about them...
(3) Sorry for the bad joke, but I couldn't find a better joke to say that, in this timeline, Diana, Princess of Wales, is stil alive. I'm an odd guy, I know...
