Georgia: Royal Wedding

Yesterday’s wedding between two descendants of the Bagrationi dynasty which ruled Georgia for at least 10 centuries has captured the imagination of royal watchers worldwide. However, for those pondering the state of democracy in the post-Soviet country since the November 2007 unrest, the marriage between Prince David Bagrationi-Mukhraneli and Princess Anna Bagrationi-Gruzinsky has also reinvigorated talk of reestablishing the monarchy.

Last August, for example, Gerald Warner wrote on the Daily Telegraph blog that a constitutional monarchy might be the best model for Georgia to follow.

Democrats have been talking about monarchy on the British model and citing the example of King Juan Carlos in Spain to prove the practicability of a restoration. What brought things back to the boil, however, was a sermon preached by the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch Illia II, on October 7 last year, in which he publicly called for the restoration of the monarchy as the “desirable dream of the Georgian people”. That led to the question being debated in parliament.

[…]

The acknowledged head of the royal house, the de jure King George XIV, died earlier this year; but his 32-year-old son Prince Davit could be called to the throne of his ancestors as David XIII. This could be the holistic reinvention of itself this unfortunate nation needs.

The full post where comments can be left is available on Global Voices Online.