Sunday, June 29, 2014

King George Has Commanded A Week of Mourning

Following up on yesterday's "First World War Centenary: the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, as it Happened" we have a bit of historical ephemera:
https://o.twimg.com/2/proxy.jpg?t=HBgtaHR0cDovL3N0YXRpYy5vdy5seS9waG90b3Mvb3JpZ2luYWwvNVdUc2UuanBnFNAJFNAPABYAEgA&s=t6rfCMZLBKGShCuAktOppdb9r-Z-3KE6d_ZJWIXGVtM
Although most of the European royals were related, the familial connections between George and F.F. escapes me so this is probably just an empire to empire thing. See also, from our April post "1914: The Gold Standard Is A Dying Regime":
1914 marked the end of the 100 year Pax Britannica, the rĂ©gime best exemplified  in this very, very rare photograph from a few years earlier:
Nine Kings 1910*

 
*Probably the only time in history the protocol peeps were able to get this many roi boy** types to agree to the order of precedence.
**(pronounced rwa bwas)

May 1910: Nine Kings assembled at Buckingham Palace for the funeral of Edward VII, the Father of George V (centre). From left to right, back row: Haakon VII of Norway, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Manuel II of Portugal, Wilhelm II of Germany, George I of Greece and Albert I Of Belgium. Front row: Alphonso XIII of Spain, George V and Frederick VIII of Denmark. The funeral on  20th May was the largest gathering of the European royalty–and its last hurrah, too. Also present at the funeral was Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination four years later would spark the WWI–which collapsed many royal dynasties of Europe. Manuel of Portugal would be driven from his throne by revolutionaries within months of this picture. George would be assassinated.  Alphonso, Wilhelm and Ferdinand lost their thrones.-Source
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