At a time when Denmark is getting a new king, Deutsche Welle (DW) reminds that monarchs "rule" in 12 European countries. In the rest of the world there are kings, emperors, emirs and sultans - some really still have absolute power.
A new generational change is coming in one of the seven European royal houses that still rule. After the Netherlands and Belgium (2013), Spain (2014) and Great Britain (2022), it is now Denmark's turn.
There, on Sunday, January 83, Queen Margareta Second (14) will hand over the throne after 52 years. The new king will be her son Frederik.
This follows a trend – except in Great Britain, monarchs rarely die at the head of the country. More and more often, they hand over the throne earlier.
Frederik is already 55 years old and has been preparing for this day his whole life. As his biographer says, Frederik did not want such a life for a long time. "I don't want to be king," he allegedly told his nanny as a child.
But the rebellious days are long gone. With his wife Mary, who comes from Australia, Frederik took care of the offspring of the royal house. Eighty percent of Danes are satisfied with their heir to the throne.
The change is pending in two more Scandinavian countries. Princess Victoria of Sweden should succeed her father, Charles XVI, who has been on the throne for half a century. Norwegian Prince Haakon will follow after his father Harald V (86), who, due to poor health, hardly appears in public.
The Pope is the strongest
All the royal houses of Europe have only a representative role, none has real political power. This also applies to the duke in Luxembourg and the prince in Liechtenstein.
However, Prince Albert who rules Monaco is somewhat of an exception – he has wider powers. Andorra is ruled by two princes - one is always the Spanish bishop, the other - the French president. So, Emmanuel Macron is somewhat of a prince.
The real exception in Europe is the only electoral monarchy – the Vatican. Pope Francis is not only the religious head of world Catholics, but also the absolute ruler of the smallest country in the world, located in the middle of Rome.
Life is like a soap opera
"I think most citizens of countries with monarchical arrangements are entertained by their monarchy," says historian Monica Weinforth, an excellent expert on the nobility.
As she said, there are no serious efforts to switch to a republic in any of the monarchies, although there are small protests here and there.
Today, the royal houses live on tradition, but also on the interest of the yellow press in the court, on scandals or harmonious family life, which is sometimes presented as the life of ordinary people, and sometimes the opposite, with a lot of fanfare.
"Our life is a pure television soap opera," said today's British King Charles earlier. His father, Philip, called the Windsor dynasty a company that receives tax money and in return should deliver beautiful pictures and be a role model.
Some monarchs really rule
Slightly more than a fifth of the countries (22 percent) in the world are monarchies. In fourteen countries outside Europe, the King of England is still the official power, for example in Canada or Australia. Japan is the only remaining empire.
In five countries, the monarch has absolute power without any parliamentary or judicial control – Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland.
The Asian nation of Malaysia is the only major electoral monarchy. There, the sultans of the nine provinces elect a king - it is currently Abdullah Shah. In the United Emirates, the emirs of different emirates rotate in place of the ruler.
In the Middle East, however, there is no boulevard press that would reveal scandals from the court or dare to criticize the monarchs.
In Europe, however, the interest is huge. The British royal house is a "market leader", interest in their mildly dysfunctional family never wanes.
"Fascination rests on the spectacle of the everyday," said Monica Weinfort. Monarchs, he says, do ordinary things - get married, raise children, die - but in luxury, with rituals, with carriages, uniforms, lavish dresses and castles.
Rich and "poor" kings
The richest king is that of Thailand, Rama X, whose assets are estimated by American magazines at 30 to 43 billion dollars.
In Europe, it is Prince Adam II of Liechtenstein with $3,5 billion. King Charles has just under two billion dollars in private assets.
Denmark's Queen Margareta will leave her son a rather paltry thirty million dollars on Sunday. The poorest monarch in Europe is the King of Spain who barely has ten million dollars.
This text was originally published in German.
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