An American Queen of Sweden?

[alloin]

DAFUQ, I come on the Salem forums for FUN, and all I see lately are some derps who want to show off their internetz-google-skillz.

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ

[Amour_Vulpes]

-Scissors.-

It is okay, you can try to keep up.

Remember, one fish two fish, red fish blue fish. Its only been 31 years since you started reading it.

[loftar]

The short list I can think of: Portugal, UK, Japan.

The UK is certainly not 500 years old. England and Scotland are, but the UK clearly only exists since the acts of union in 1707. I also have to say that I would be rather hard pressed for reasons not to include Sweden in that list. While an exact date of Sweden's consolidation can be hard to pin, I think it would be hard to argue that it wasn't at least a finished affair by the 13th century.

Isn't it bizarre in this day and age that the concept of Royalty still exists? Thank our founding fathers that we don't have to deal with that ***** anymore.

You wish you had an actual monarch. At this point, I'm pretty much holding my breath for Emperor Obamus to institute proskynesis.

[MagicManICT]

The closest thing we'll have to a monarch with the current Constitution would either be John F. Kennedy or Franklin D. Roosevelt. We've had some merchant princes (more than a few...), and we've had a few "lords" in the form of Senators and Congressmen that have pretty much served since the age they were eligible until the time they died.

Of course, there's always armed rebellion or take-over....

[Potjeh]

It's really kinda muddy considering how lands were ruled in the Middle Ages. Would you say that a country has continuity if it existed as a kingdom back then, but was in a personal union with another kingdom? What if it was fully independent, but had a foreigner king (a Habsburg, most likely)?

[Spazzmaticus]

I always considered the crowning of Gustav Vasa as the most relevant event in the birth of the modern swedish kingdom. With him comes our collective conversion to protestantism, something that's had a profound effect on our society ever since. I suppose a close runner up would be Axel Oxenstierna but I still feel that Gustav becoming king in 1523 was the beginning of a new era.
At least that's what the public school system conditioned me to believe.

[Claeyt]

Isn't it bizarre in this day and age that the concept of Royalty still exists? Thank our founding fathers that we don't have to deal with that ***** anymore.

You wish you had an actual monarch. At this point, I'm pretty much holding my breath for Emperor Obamus to institute proskynesis.

I can honestly say that one of the few things that both the anti-massive wealth Democrats and the anti-elitist rural Republicans can agree on is that none of them wish there was a monarchy. I can't imagine any Politician in this country voting to pay and house some spoiled rich kid so that they don't have to work on the pretext of historical lineage and supposedly representing the nation. It would never happen. We can argue about if a marine should be holding an umbrella for the President (who's so far from royalty in this country it's laughable) but that's why that guy is standing there.

The idea of royalty in this day and age is a joke, even Canada is probably going to drop the last hint of Royalty soon. It blows my mind that you guys would agree to be taxed so that these inbred hierarchs can live for free ....forever.... on the government dole.

[Mushibag]

Shut up, Claeyt.

[MagicManICT]

Show me a monarch or other person with a hereditary title that doesn't do some work for their title or the country that entitled them.

[Claeyt]

Show me a monarch or other person with a hereditary title that doesn't do some work for their title or the country that entitled them.

The difference is that they are paid millions and millions to do that work in some cases. In other countries they're not taxed for their properties or income or whatever. Hereditary titles to political power are idiotic in this day and age.