Republic Versus Monarchy - part one, section nine
A false Monarchy
It has been argued that the current British Monarchy is a false Monarchy, and that the Jacobite descendants of the Royal Stuart line are the true Monarchs of Great Britain.
This came about when James II (of the House of Stuart), King of Great Britain, converted to Roman Catholicism, suspended the anti-Roman Catholic laws, and began a process of restructuring the Establishment in favour of Roman Catholics. In 1688 a son was born to James II and so, faced with the prospect of a Roman Catholic succession, prominent Protestants invited William of Orange (Prince of Orange, of the Netherlands) to intervene. William landed with his army, whereupon James II, not being able to rely on the full support of the Protestants in his army (James' Protestant officers deserted to William in such large numbers that he didn't dare commit the army to a pitched battle), fled to France. In 1689 the English and Scottish parliaments declared James II to have abdicated, and offered the throne to William and his wife Mary (the eldest daughter of James II).(27)
James II, his son "James III", and his grandson Charles Edward ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") mounted military campaigns to regain the throne, but all of these were unsuccessful. Supporters of the exiled James II were called Jacobites (derived from "Jacobus", Latin for James).(28)
Indeed, there have been a number of disputed claims to the British throne over the centuries. The case of the Stuarts is but one of these. For example: Alfred vs Edward vs Hardicanute vs Sweyn vs Harold (1035), Harold vs William I (1066), Stephen of Blois vs Matilda (1135), Henry IV vs Richard II (1399), Edward IV vs Henry VI (1461), Henry VII vs Richard III (1485), and James, Duke of Monmouth, vs James II (1685).(29)
So, the Monarchy by whom Australia is "ruled" can be considered illegitimate anyway.
For those interested, the current King of the United Kingdom (the "Stuart Pretender") is Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (of the Wittelsbach dynasty). His father, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, commanded the Sixth German Army, and then the Northern Army Group, with great distinction during the First World War. From this arises the anecdote about the Scottish soldiers who refused to fight against the troops commanded by Rupprecht, as they could not wage war against the heir to the British throne (the Jacobites recognised Rupprecht's father, King Louis III of Bavaria, as the "legitimate" King of Britain).(30*)
NOTE: After the 1745 rebellion in support of "James III", it was forbidden to use finger bowls at the table if the Loyal Toast was to be proposed. This was due to the Jacobite custom of passing the wine glass over the bowl beforehand - an allusion to royalty in exile "over the water".(31)
Republic Versus Monarchy
Australian Nationalism Information Database - www.ausnatinfo.angelfire.com/~natinfo
