Royals Who Actually Do Something: Difference between revisions

* Speaking of Britain (or at least England proper), this is also what the local nobility are encouraged to be. In the spirit of ''Noblesse Oblige,'' they were expected by the Crown to actually ''do something'' deserving of their titles, rather than merely act as court filler. This may have helped at least some among the aristocracy to survive and earn the respect of the people, compared (ironically) to France.

**Part of the reason was that in France since Louis IV the monarchy had gone out of its way to make sure the nobility could not raise private armies by forcing them to live in Versailles and exchange ambition for dissolution. Also French took nobility ''way'' to seriously; for instance to get a military commission it was necessary to have legal certificates of several generations none of whom had been "in trade"(meaning actually doing something) whereas in many parts of Europe if your daddy said you were a noble and your neighbors said you were, and you owned an estate, your ancestor could be whomever you wanted.

* Eleanor of Aquitaine's granddaughter, Blanche of Castile, married the king of France and became the mother of King Louis IX (aka St. Louis). Blanche ruled France during Louis' minority and stepped in again to run the kingdom while her son was on crusade.

* King Haakon VII of Norway was an officer in the Danish navy (apparently served aboard a frigate) before ascending to the throne of Norway. In the face of the Nazi invasion, he announced to his parliament that he would ''not'' surrender or accept the Quisling government, and would abdicate if they wanted so he wouldn't stand in their way. He then headed the government-in-exile in Britain, and was a national symbol of resistance. And oh yeah, he previously refused to be King without a referendum that showed the Norwegian public wanted it, and ''changed his name'' (from Carl) to integrate better into his adopted kingdom.