Andrew Morton on Europe's royals - italk

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• published: 26 Apr 2013
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http://www.euronews.com/ Adored or abhorred? Our royal families are the subject of intense speculation. With Queen Beatrix abdicating in the Netherlands, corruption scandals in Spain and a royal baby on the way in Britain, the chatter has got yet louder. So to add to the debate and to answer your questions, Isabelle Kumar from euronews talked to one of the world's best known royal watchers, biographer Andrew Morton, who joined her live from Spain where he was promoting his new book on the Spanish royal family. Christine from France asked: "Hello, I'd like to ask when is the right moment for a monarch to abdicate, in relation to the country and in relation to their personal circumstances? What do you think? What are the principles involved? Thank you." Isabelle Kumar: "That's a good question because on the one hand we've got Queen Beatrix in the Netherlands whose popularity is at an all-time high and on the other hand you've got King Juan Carlos of Spain whose popularity is plummeting, and he's not thinking, is he (not yet at least) of abdicating? Should King Juan Carlos be taking a leaf out of Queen Beatrix's book?" Andrew Morton: "The problem is this: abdication in Europe has always been a dirty word, ever since the abdication of Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, in 1936 in Britain, caused a constitutional crisis. But I think that Queen Beatrix has shown the way forward. It's progressive, it's modern and it shows that a king or a queen does not have to have the job for life, but can pass it on to another generation." Isabelle Kumar: "And when it comes to image, let's remember that Queen Beatrix has done an awful lot to improve her image. When she was married, protesters threw smoke bombs, partly because she was getting married to a man who had been part of the Hitler Youth. How did she turn her image around so successfully?" Andrew Morton: "Well I think the great thing about Queen Beatrix is that (with her late husband) she's shown that you can come from outside a royal family and really make a difference. She's done it by being accessible, by being very human and by staying very informal. And I think those are policies the Dutch people have responded to, and you can see as well throughout Europe this kind of new informality, and as Prince Wilhelm said in an interview just the other day what he wanted was to be treated as a human being, and I think that's the abiding focus for the Dutch royal family. They are very human." Isabelle Kumar: "And has Willem Alexander shaped up his act? Because at one point he was known as 'Prince Pils', because of his penchant for beer and a good time." Andrew Morton: "Yes, he seems to have cleaned up his act and thanks again to another commoner, Maxima (his wife), who again was subject to protests and parliamentary inquiries because of the business of her father during the Argentinean junta. And again it's a commoner who has give a sense of purpose and a sense of new vitality to the royal house." Isabelle Kumar: "And just finally - because the family isn't really entirely devoid of controversy - there's a lot of debate about how much the royal family earns, and the new king will earn something like 850,000 euros a year. That seems rather excessive in these times of austerity." Andrew Morton: "Yes, I mean any payments made to any royal family are always seen as excessive but they are far cheaper than the British royal family, who are the most popular family in Europe I would say, but also the most expensive." Isabelle Kumar: "OK, let's go now to our next question." Manuela from Spain: "I would like to know after all these scandals about the Spanish monarchy if there will be a solution?" Isabelle Kumar: "So we're back to the massive corruption scandal which has embroiled the royal family in Spain. And I suppose the question is, is there a way out? How is this going to play out?" Andrew Morton: "I think an awful lot depends on the course of justice. The fact that the Spanish justice system moves very slowly means that this whole episode is being dragged out month after month, year after weary year, at a time when Spain is really on its knees economically. And there's a real sense of anger at Inaki, the Duke of Palma, over his behaviour, because of the perception that he's been taking money from public bodies for his own private use, and this really has done great damage to the House of Bourbon." Find us on: Youtube http://bit.ly/zr3upY Facebook http://www.facebook.com/euronews.fans Twitter http://twitter.com/euronews