Samizdata - 12:09 am on Apr 21, 2011 (gmt 0)

what I am talking about goes back centuries

OK let's look at the last thousand years:

1011 - Various English kings warring with each other
1066 - Frenchman invades and makes himself king
1156 - Another Frenchman makes himself king and rules from France
1216 - French king overthrows incumbent and makes himself king
1485 - Welsh rebel overthrows incumbent and makes himself king
1605 - Scottish kings invited to take over
1649 - Republic
1660 - Scottish kings invited to take over again
1689 - Dutch kings invited to take over
1707 - German princes invited to take over
1917 - German incumbents change family name for PR purposes
1936 - Incumbent abdicates and goes to visit Hitler

The institution seems durable, but the "royal blood" seems irrelevant.

...