What's it like to have royalty?

[Quasqueton]

Seeing the sig of one of the regular posters to this board prompted me to ask this question. The sig in question congratulates the poster's crown prince for his wedding. [I'm not naming names so this post doesn't come across as personal.]

In the US, official, blooded royalty is contrary to our whole social structure -- ("All men are created equal.") To some, royalty is anathema -- ("I bow to no man.")

But there are many nations in the world that have royalty of some kind. Some of these royals even have real governmental power (not merely figureheads).

In most D&D worlds, the various nations are kingdoms ruled by royalty. But interestingly, most D&D is played in the US -- where people have no real experience with royalty. I wonder if American DMs portray royalty in the game differently than DMs in nations that actually live with/under royalty. I wonder if American Players play their characters differently in their relationships to the in-game royalty than the Players in nations with royalty.

Now, granted, royalty of the modern world is probably quite a bit different than royalty of the Middle Ages that the typical D&D campaign mimics, but then again, surely there are some similarities.

So, my question to the forumites here who live with/under national royalty: What is the relationship like? Do most people love the royals? Do any people hate the idea that royals still exist? Are there weekly polls showing like/dislike as Americans see about Presidents?

In general, what is it like living with/under royalty? What is the general opinion of royalty in general, and your royalty in particular? Should D&D royalty be more or less prevelent in the text? There is very little, if any, mention of royalty in the core D&D books; is this good or bad, accurate or false?

How do you refer to the royalty in normal, everyday conversation? Do you refer to them at all in normal conversation? Do you have political conversations about the royalty with you coworkers/friends/classmates as we Americans do about our politicians? Do the royals have any real impact on your life?

Quasqueton

 

[arntof]

Guess I can share my view...

Norway, my country, is a monarchy...has been since 1814, when we imported a Dane with blue blood. Like in Denmark, and most places, our Royal Family is without power these days, though the King has alot of theoretical power, all of which he never use, like delaying laws, presenting the Prime Minister and his Cabinet(which he can, in theory, deny to do, supposedly throwing our country into chaos), after the politicians agree on that, as well as different prestigious affairs like opening museums and the like.

I cant say I, and many with me, respect the King much, though we call him King or His Majesty more often than not.

We have polls, but not weekly, and not about the King per se, more about "do you support the monarchy?" or the like. Presently, about 60% wants to stay a monarchy, I think.

When I think about today`s monarchs, I get sad and depressed. We are wasting alot of money on nothing, in my opinion, since not only him, but his entire family(far out) gets some kind of assistance and preferential treatment from the Government.
When the Crown Prince marries a poor single-mom from the far south of the country, there isnt much prestige left. When his sister marries an asian immigrant, the suggestion that these people should forward old norwegian values is lost to me.

The monarchs of old, on the other hand, are far better. I read my history about both norwegian, english, and other monarchs of medieval times, and understand that these had absolute power, and people feared them. These are the ones I go to for inspiration to portray properly monarchs in my game, not the current ones.

So, I guess I am saying that living in a monarchy doesnt exactly help in itself, no. I am sure many Americans(or others) have far more respect for current monarchs than many living with them here.
Study your history, and you`ll find people to admire. Look in the papers or magazines, and you find the current ones...powerless, ridiculous, and without even their own opinions(since they arent "allowed" to ever speak up against political parties, especially the ones in Government).

 

[Morrus]

It's not really like anything. It doesn't affect my daily life any more than it does yours, and probably comes up in conversation about as often.

Perhaps once in a blue moon the "pros and cons of the Royal Family" debate comes up while in the pub. That's usually after the "Could Superman beat the Hulk?" debate and before the "I'm sure she's looking at me" conversation.

It's just a title, or a "style". Inherited wealth, but no actual power. Just like any famous rich family, of which there are many in the world. People seem to be a bit hung up on the "title", when "royalty" in all but name exists in every country in the world - even those countries who claim such a thing is against their nature.

I think that if the Royal Family disappeared, I'd barely notice. Although, I hear they are responsible for a lot of tourism-based revenue, so are probably a positive factor, economy-wise.

 

[diaglo]

God save the Queen.

i was raised in my early years as a member of the Church of England.

stopped attending when i was about 4 iirc.

but from what i understand the Queen is still the Head of the Church.

 

[MonsterMash]

God save the Queen.

i was raised in my early years as a member of the Church of England.

stopped attending when i was about 4 iirc.

but from what i understand the Queen is still the Head of the Church.

Diaglo, that's correct.

As another Brit I can agree with Morrus that we really don't tend to think an awful lot about the Royal Family apart from when they manage to end up splashed across the newspapers, but not that many people are hugely pro or anti.

I used to work with a lot of Dutch people and it seems like in the Netherlands they're pretty relaxed about the monarchy, but don't tend to have the scandals that the British monarchy does. But I stand to be proven right or wrong on this.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Seeing the sig of one of the regular posters to this board prompted me to ask this question. The sig in question congratulates the poster's crown prince for his wedding. [I'm not naming names so this post doesn't come across as personal.]

In the US, official, blooded royalty is contrary to our whole social structure -- ("All men are created equal.") To some, royalty is anathema -- ("I bow to no man.")

What was life like under Kennedy?

While not a monarchy as such, even the USA has its own "political dynasties" that would be aristocrats in other countries. The Kennedies are just the most prominent family. The Bushes are another obvious one. Heck, even Gore was the son of a senator, if I remember correctly.

An awful lot of American politicians went to the same private schools, and later on to the same universities. They are a small, select circle with huge influence. If you look at them, you might get some idea about what nobility and monarchs are like in other countries. Granted, they don't have as much pageantry, but still...

 

[der_kluge]

I guess American "royalty" is quite different, because our folks actually earn their own money.


And getting back to D&D, I can't remember the last time I instilled a monarchy in my campaign. Most of the cities are ruled by a mayor, or a council, or some order, or something like that. Look at Bluffside (which I helped write), the leaders are basically the aristocracy, and there is a mayor (mostly a figureheard), though he has real powers. But certainly no monarchy.

I was thinking a while back that if I were to run another game some day, with more of a low-magic feel, I would use the whole monarchy thing. Give it a real "Arthurian" feel to it, or something.

It would make an interesting poll, but it seems like a majority of the games I've ever played in *didn't* have a monarchy.

 

[Agemegos]

I guess American "royalty" is quite different, because our folks actually earn their own money.

Really? I thought they inherited it, just like European nobles.

As for the Civil List, my understanding is that the British Royal Family work pretty hard for that salary, and that anyone who doesn't do the work doesn't get the pay.

Australia has a monarchy in theory, but it doesn't live here, rarely visits, and is forbidden by the Constitution from exercising any power (except in name to appont the GG, and to approve or veto bills that are specially recommended to it for that purpose). It certainly doesn't have your eyes gouged out because you don't get out of the way fast enough, the way the mediaeval monarchy sometimes did. And it doesn't start stupid wars for its own aggrandisement, though we somehow manage to get into quite a lot of stupid ways anyway: comes with speaking English, I guess.

 

[med stud]

I agree mostly with Morrus. It's not like the King is affecting my life in any way. The royal family is often on the billboards, like what boy friends the princesses have and when the King has driven to fast or something like that (the King cant be convicted for civil crimes so when he drove 100 mph at a 70 mph road noone could convict him for it).

OTOH the King is delivering the Noble price and as such he actually has some role in the world outside of Sweden.

Personally I think the monarchy is a cultural heritage that once disposed of never can be reinstituted so I think they should stay. Besides I wouldnt want president elections here. It's much easier to have a non-political head of state

 

[darklight]

To say that "all men are created equal" in USA seems like a stretch But lets not go into that...

The way I see it, the Danish royalty are mainly 'ambassadors' for our country. Their job is to give Denmark positive exposure everywhere they go in the world and to uphold a certain level of moral standards. I think the Danish royalty does this job very well, and I am confident that the cost/benefit ratio is positive. I don't think current royalty can be compared to medieval royalty who had actual power, but I also don't think they should be. I do not envy the royalty, they are basically forced to accept a certain role and responsibility but have none of the power that used to go with it. And they have to live with the ever watchful eye of the media all their lives :\

So all in all I disagree with my fellow scandinavian arntof

darklight - proud citizen of the oldest kingdom in the world