Saturday, December 04, 2004

Papermag.com's Mr. Mickey on Royalty.

My Libra journo pal Mr. Mickey of Paper Magazine is a Royalist -- an eccentric and rare but deeply interesting political viewpoint -- which goes perfectly with the Libran congenital love of symmetry, beauty and the classical. As The Corsair has some vague rumors of royal Ugandan Bagandan Court blood on his mothers side possibly or possibly not running through his swellegant veins, he was intrigued by the idea of an American royalist working at egalitarian Paper Magazine in this day and age.

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In this month's Paper article elaborating on his lifelong love affair with all things Monarchy, Mickey writes (click on "Royalty" story):

"No, she's not Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears -- she's Princess Madeleine, the 22-year-old daughter of the king and queen of Sweden, and she's one of a gaggle of young royals who are captivating Europe's attention. Magazines like Point de Vue, Hola! and Royalty Monthly have been hunting for the next hot royal since Princess Diana's tragic death in 1997 -- she was People's most frequent cover subject ever and proved that even non-monarchists could become obsessed with blue bloods ...

"... Occasionally, less celebrated royal nuptials make the covers, especially if they involve controversy and love conquering all. The past few years have seen a flurry of royal matches that have old-school courtiers pulling the hair out of their powdered wigs, but which are turning out to be hugely popular with the public. For example, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark married an Australian commoner, Mary Donaldson, in May 2004, and she's now reported to be pregnant.

"In Holland, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander married the former Ms. Maxima Zorreguieta, daughter of an ex-Argentinian minister from that country's 1970s military government. In Catholic Spain, Felipe, Prince of Asturias, married divorced newscaster Letizia Ortiz in May of 2004.

"And taking the cake in the scandalous marriage sweepstakes is Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, whose wife of three years, Mette-Marit, was an unwed mother; her previous boyfriend had been arrested for drug charges. Still, the Norwegian people have embraced Mette-Marit.

"Royalty today is a far cry from what it was in 1981, when Lady Diana Spencer had to submit to a virginity test before marrying Prince Charles."

Indeed it has.

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