Magdalena of Austria
by Eduard HabsburgI recently learned that Blessed Emperor Karl is not the only Habsburg on the path to sainthood; we also have a sixteenth-century archduchess who is Venerable. Continue Reading »
I recently learned that Blessed Emperor Karl is not the only Habsburg on the path to sainthood; we also have a sixteenth-century archduchess who is Venerable. Continue Reading »
The moral standards that enable a society to hold itself together—generosity, loyalty, justice, the dignity of the individual, the right to freedom—are themselves rooted in the sacred in every society. Continue Reading »
The monarch, stripped of all ancient direct power, is now remarkably like the king on a chessboard—almost incapable of offensive action, but preventing others from occupying a crucial square. Continue Reading »
Whether they are monarchs or not, powerful leaders take on royalish trappings because politics is ineradicably sacral. Continue Reading »
Why, in the sixteenth century, did Europeans begin to question the rationale for monarchies? Continue Reading »
In all her time on the throne, Elizabeth II has rarely permitted her personality to overshadow her office. Continue Reading »
There is a case to be made that the British and American constitutions are not that different after all. Continue Reading »
The sole remaining source of authority, in the world of the new future history play Charles III, is vulnerability. Continue Reading »
In a provocative and profound essay in this magazine (“A King in Israel,” May 2010), the late Michael Wyschogrod proposed that the Jewish state define itself as a democratic, constitutional monarchy. Israel, Wyschogrod suggested, should rename its head of state—the president elected by its . . . . Continue Reading »
The first Elizabeth was a genius and a monster. Elizabeth II is neither, and that could be the formula for banality. But it may be its own kind of power—in life and onscreen. Continue Reading »