Word: thrones
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Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the man who would rather not be king. When he ascended the throne as Bhutan's absolute monarch in 1974, Wangchuck was the closest thing to God in his tiny, closed Himalayan kingdom of half a million people. His reign has been a benevolent one. Rather than oppose modernization only to be run over by it, the King championed various reforms, such as allowing in foreign tourists, television and the Internet, while limiting their impact in order to preserve the country's values and traditions. Mindful of some pernicious side effects of economic growth, he introduced...
...suddenly sees it is his turn to speak up, a rejuvenated old soul surprisingly well-equipped for his final mission. Father Joseph Fessio, who has known the Pope since the 1970s, said his former professor "actually seems healthier, younger, more radiant, more at peace" since assuming the papal throne...
...years, has been urging his subjects to replace its absolute monarchy with a 34-point constitution and a two-party parliamentary democracy, in part because he can't guarantee the quality of future kings. "In times to come, if the people were fortunate, the heir to the throne would be a dedicated and capable person," he said. "On the other hand, the heir could be a person of mediocre ability or even an incapable person." The proposed new rules wouldn't come into effect until 2008 because astrologers have deemed the intervening years inauspicious. The King is trying to convince...
...close to Chirac but is now the most popular man of the right and the President's toughest antagonist. So Chirac's potential to be a nuisance remains imposing. But his political influence can now only be exercised to benefit or to harm others, not himself. He keeps his throne, but the scepter of real power is already slipping from his hand...
...important were the artworks in buttressing the family's right to rule that Qianlong inspected them all at draft stage. The Manchus had ousted the last Ming Emperor, whose rule was marked by financial bankruptcy and internal rebellion. Kangxi was only 7 in 1662 when he assumed the throne from his father, the first Qing Emperor, who died in a smallpox epidemic. Surviving the contagion (with scars intact, as portraits show), Kangxi worked skillfully to identify himself with both his native tribal culture and the scholarly traditions of the Chinese. Two likenesses, commissioned when he was about 30, demonstrate...