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| Europe |
| A Throne in Brussels: Britain, the Saxe-Coburgs and the Belgianization of Europe |
| 2006-02-24 |
| Sounds like an interesting book.By John O'Sullivan A Throne in Brussels: Britain, the Saxe-Coburgs and the Belgianization of Europe by Paul Belien IN THE LAST FEW YEARS Belgian politicians have passed a law empowering them to arrest anyone for crimes committed anywhere, threatened to put Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, under its provisions, generously amended the legislation slightly when Donald Rumsfeld said that NATO would have to move from Brussels if it remained on the books, and in general thrown about the weight of a much larger nation. Exactly how did the home of moules-frites and child rape acquire notions of such undeserved grandeur? Will this extraordinary non-nation prove to be the model for a united Europe? And how should the U.S. and its closest allies react to this possibility? Paul Belien answers these questions in a consistently shocking book that begins with a shocking little historical curiosity. It reveals that Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, is now thought to be the illegitimate son of his supposed uncle, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, later King of the Belgians. Prince Albert is known to history as the man who achieved a perfect family life with Queen Victoria, brought a German seriousness to the court at Windsor, and all but invented British respectability. Yet his biological father, Leopold, was a practiced roué who, while in the service of Napoleon, serviced the Empress Josephine (and her daughter) among others, writing home with happy surprise to his sister: "Here if you ask a lady to be seated, she goes to bed. That is the habit here." How different, how very, very different, from the home life of his own dear daughter-in-law. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #2 The EU Constitution's preamble begins: "His Majesty the King of the Belgians" |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-24 17:17 |
| #1 Fascinating-- thanks, A! |
| Posted by: Wuzzalib 2006-02-24 17:07 |