Royalty in History

[gremlin45]

Mar 14, 2016 21:07:13 GMT -4 boxofrocks said:

"Useless, Name-Dropping Royals?"

This brings to me another question...over generations, the wealth of these provincial and/or former royals gets more and more diluted. How do they maintain their wealth? Or do they? Surely, they can't all be getting capital infusions by marrying rich commoners Downton Abbey-style.

I think they usually marry each other with the odd marriage to a rich social climber to top up the family coffers.

[chonies]

I was doing my due diligence and reading up on the Thurn und Taxis family, and noticed that Gloria's first name is spelled Mariae. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Does it change the pronunciation, like Maria-eh? Or is it merely decorative? And does it have a meaning? I googled it and it popped up in Latin stuff which didn't really help, other than to suggest it might be super Catholic, which I know they are.

[chonies]

I was watching a program about Buckingham Palace today, and there was a bit about how Czar Nicholas appealed to his cousin George V to bring them to England, but George declined based on advice that it would rouse already inflamed republican sentiment. I really didn't know--this is horrifying and fascinating, one of those family tragedies that are also of historical importance. Would it really have harmed the British monarchy?

[gremlin45]

I remember hearing about that years ago, Chonies. IIRC, I read George V was advised not to give them sanctuary and he went with the advice. I don't think anyone dreamed the entire family would be murdered. George must have felt terribly guilty later.

I really don't understand why they didn't let the Czar and his family come, then pack them off to a quiet corner of a friendly country if they were that worried.

[divasahm]

I remember this, too--from some PBS documentary about the Romanovs. It does seem like George could have spirited them out of the country and into England. Surely there's some castle somewhere (Balmoral, perhaps?) where they could have stayed without attracting attention...

[carrier76]

Where did you see this Buckingham Palace documentary?

[chonies]

I don't know! I think it was PBS, but it might have been Smithsonian, Discovery...I don't think it was the BBC one because there was a male narrator and a lot of archival images, kind of Ken Burnsy. There was a reenactment of George collecting stamps and of Edward's abcess surgery.

[Auroranorth]

There were fears that they might bring revolution to England, and also Alexandra was a German princess, which wouldn't have been popular then. George was currently at war with his own first cousin Kaiser Wilhelm, so family loyalty was already severely strained.

Also, I think most people simply weren't expecting mass executions. They expected the Romanovs to be exiled.

[Mouse]

Mar 15, 2016 7:56:28 GMT -4 gremlin45 said:

Mar 14, 2016 21:07:13 GMT -4 boxofrocks said:

"Useless, Name-Dropping Royals?"

This brings to me another question...over generations, the wealth of these provincial and/or former royals gets more and more diluted. How do they maintain their wealth? Or do they? Surely, they can't all be getting capital infusions by marrying rich commoners Downton Abbey-style.

I think they usually marry each other with the odd marriage to a rich social climber to top up the family coffers.

Gloria von Thurn und Taxis was born to a noble German family, but they were cash poor. Per Wiki, her father and brother are both journalists. Gloria, meanwhile, married up: her late husband was a billionaire.

Chances are, there are a lot of ex-royals and nominal aristocrats with little, if any, inherited wealth.

[celerydunk]

Sept 10, 2016 20:21:29 GMT -4 chonies said:

I was watching a program about Buckingham Palace today, and there was a bit about how Czar Nicholas appealed to his cousin George V to bring them to England, but George declined based on advice that it would rouse already inflamed republican sentiment. I really didn't know--this is horrifying and fascinating, one of those family tragedies that are also of historical importance. Would it really have harmed the British monarchy?

I remembered that Alexandra was one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren, but had to look up the George V/Nicholas relation (its been a while since I read the books). It never ceases to amaze me how inbred closely related they all were.