Kings and Queens

Kings and Queens

Things are different in different countries and different regions. Many times I get asked if I am Norwegian or not. Well, I am. I am also asked if I am Argentinian or not. I am as well. But how can it be? Can you be both? As a matter of fact, you can. Consider the difference between Kingdom and Republic.

Kingdom: Norway, as most northern-european countries, is a Kingdom (and we like it that way, so it’s not going to change). This means there is a Monarchy (Kongehus), and a Royal Family. Norway is a Constitutional monarchy, this means there is a parliament with a Minister of State that is democratically elected for a 4-year period and a fully democratic institutional system. But there is also a historical and long term Royal Family, who is there to protect the interests of the everyday citizen against political interests, assuring equality and freedom for ALL. A constitutional monarch has three main political rights which he could freely exercise: the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn. Some constitutional monarchs, however, still retain significant power and influence and play an important political role. This would not be the case of Norway, since the Monarchy does not have seem to have as much influence as it should.

Consider that there were many changes in the Norwegian Royal House since the first King of Norway Harald Fairhair in 872. The lineage changed from Norwegian to Danish to Swedish, to Danish again. King Harald V is the current ruler. He was the son of Olav V and Princess Martha of Sweden. Olav V was the son of Haakon VII; known as Prince Carl of Denmark and Iceland until 1905, he was the elected first king of  Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Now everyone wonders why we pay so many taxes to have a Royal Family, and here is why: they are responsible for aligning the population so that everyone is and feels part of the Kingdom. In a Kingdom, it does not matter where you were born. If you were born abroad, you are still part of the Kingdom, it is your blood-right as Heir to the Kingdom. I would assume though that the people that were born in the Kingdom are part of the Kingdom as well, although this seems as well difficult to understand for some people who enjoy doing “ethnical segregation”.

I am a personal fan of the Norwegian Royal Family. I heard a lot about them being born and raised in Argentina. Instead of buying the People magazine, my Norwegian mother would buy the Hola! (Hello!) magazine from Spain. I would find out all about the Royal houses, mainly from Sweden and Norway, as I joined my mother and grandmother for coffee, cake and waffles. Now that was not your everyday typical “Argentinian” conversations! Not to mention they would switch a lot between Spanish and Norwegian (mixing dialects from East Oslo and Telemark). I also found out about the shock for conservative Norway when current Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit, who already had a child from before. This comes to show you about cultural differences. Whereas in liberal Netherlands King Williem-Alexander married a foreigner, Argentinian Maxima Zorreguieta, in Norway marrying a single mother was a shock in 2001.

Republic: let us take the example of Italy in Europe, so we don’t have to wander so far away (although the same case applies to Argentina, being a Republic as well). In a Republic, if are born in the Republic, you are from there. If you are not born there, you are not from that place. Consider the example from Nouriel Roubini: born in Turkey to Iranian parents, he grew up in Italy but he is not Italian. The children of Italian residing abroad will still get Italian passports via Jus Sanguinis, but they will not be considered Italian in Italy. However, they will not have integration issues. Italians, and Southern Europeans, are much friendlier than Northern-europeans. Consider the case of Spain. Even if it is also a Kingdom, it might be that direct Spanish descendants are not considered Spanish if they move to Spain. This has to do with the influence of the Roman Empire. Most countries in Europe were at some point Kingdoms of course, but the Kingdoms of the South were not as strong as the Kingdoms of the North, since they had a common ruler: The Emperor of Rome. Even if UK and the Netherlands did get Roman influence, it was not as strong or historical. Northern European countries do keep traditional Royal Families even today, which are well connected to each other through bloodlines.

Interesting are the cases of the Netherlands and the UK. These countries have had BOTH Roman AND Germanic influence. As such, they keep the best of Both Worlds. They are different though: UK is more imperialistic and the Netherlands more liberal. They are the most open to migration (as open as it gets, of course), and multiculturalism. As such, they have a better chance of succeeding considering the challenges that lay ahead. Now a half-norwegian, half-argentinian like myself is not really like a polish, as some people would think, since Poland did not have any Roman influence. Having had both Roman and Germanic influence and being a liberal, it is the Netherlands the culture I feel most identified with. Cristian Bøhnsdalen (born and raised in Argentina) of the Kingdom of Norway! (fra Norge!).