the son and heir of nothing in particular

[nacho]

I have an ongoing fascination with the descendants of dissolved royal families. Several hours trapped in Wikipedia lead me from Clifton, VA to television history in the 1970's to the last king Of Italy and, finally, to this loser:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Emanuele,_Prince_of_Naples

The murdering, thieving, secret society worshiping heir to the dissolved Italian throne.

[RottingCorpse]

Extra Points for the Morrissey/Smiths reference.

[nacho]

Here, I'll split this out because I'm bored and I have half an hour to kill.

So Italy's crazy douche above.

Constantine II of Greece:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_II_of_Greece

He's pretty much the Drama King, but not cool enough to join a secret Masonic Lodge and slaughter prostitutes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_II_of_Greece#In_exile

What's interesting about Constantine is that he's not a citizen of anywhere. He has an honorary Danish passport (due to old royal ties -- he's part of the Danish royal family). I like the idea that these wealthy former royal families are just sort of drifting around the world being bitter.

The Romanov family has many factions battling for a throne that will never exist, but the current lead is this old fart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Dimitri_Romanov

Most of the Hapsburgs are pretty cool. This is largely because their family raped all of fucking Europe for 1000 years and hid the money in hollow trees and at the bottoms of lakes, so losing the throne is no big deal.

The current heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire is this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Habsburg-Lothringen

The current Emperor of Germany is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Friedrich,_Prince_of_Prussia

He's also pretty cool about things, and even gets to keep his titles and live in Germany.  Wikipedia doesn't say, but I think the Kaiser's family had some holdings restored by the Third Reich, so this guy is sitting on castles and property awarded his family by Hitler.

And more tomorrow!

[nacho]

The current Ottoman Sultan (and caliph of all of Islam) is this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukarram_Jah

And I just spent a very long time tracing Dracula's heirs through the 1600's... But the line peters out there.  Shame.

[monkey!]

I am Dracula's heir.

[nacho]

Here... Since Libya's in the news:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_as-Senussi

There's a rival claim, but this is the son of the guy who was king for, like, an hour. So that sort of seals the deal in my opinion.

And, since we're in the Muslim world, the current ruler of IRan is this chick:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Pahlavi

She stepped in (and remains officially an empress in the eyes of the west) when the Shah died.  Technically, she's the "empress of Persia," since the Iranian royal family laughably claims roots that go back to before Alexander. An unbroken chain for 2500 years! And they might be right... The old Persian kings, after the Greeks fell to pieces, gave way to the Seleucid's, the Parthian's, the Sassanid's, and then you hit the 600's AD and the Muslim freakout. But, even under the Caliph, the royal families stayed strong. And, with the exception of a couple hundred years under the yoke of the Mongols, the shah's were still there. Creative history does allow for them to track everything back to Babylon.

The next in line is this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Pahlavi

[nacho]

Rwanda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigeli_V_of_Rwanda

He's devoted his life to helping Rwandan refugees, and actually still has the power to bestow their version of a knighthood on people.

Albania:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leka,_Crown_Prince_of_Albania

He actually came pretty close to restoring the monarchy in the 90's and early 00's, but has now retired from the spotlight.

Next in line is this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Leka_of_Albania

He's actually a minister in the current government, and active in some pretty cool ways. A slightly more compromised path towards bringing the royals back.

Yugoslavia (Serbia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander,_Crown_Prince_of_Yugoslavia

Another non-crazy who still lives there, and has been awarded the lands and palaces that the communists took. There's a pretty strong movement to bring the monarchy back.