Tea at Trianon: Royals and Washington, D.C.

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, November 11, 2011

Royals and Washington, D.C.

There are several exiled royals living and working in Washingtin, D.C.

Outside the church, the Selassies seem like any other Washington area family. The prince works at the International Strategic Studies Association, a think tank in Alexandria focusing on issues such as water security in Africa. The princess spends her days approving mortgage loans for the Congressional Federal Credit Union.

inBut royals are becoming increasingly important to the Ethiopian community, which sees its history in the face of Prince Selassie. There is a growing movement among the younger generation to honor the controversial legacy of the prince’s grandfather.

The emperor’s elegant photograph and his full title — “His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Elect of God” — is displayed in many Ethiopian restaurants. Soccer teams around Washington wear jerseys with the emperor’s gaunt, bearded face. At a recent D.C. festival honoring the emperor, he was celebrated as an elder statesman of African anti-colonialism who stood up to Italian invaders and forged the country’s closest links with the United States.

Prince Selassie also heads the Crown Council of Ethiopia, a group that works to retain dynastic traditions and highlight the emperor’s achievements. The council would like constitutional monarchy to return to Ethiopia, although there is no plan to restore that system.