I won't comment on the notion of a hereditary leader in modern times, and silly antiquated traditions on the same day we determine weather off a Groundhog. Rather I'm more amused at the title King. Keeping in mind that the Official language of Ghana is English and that the place is not just a former British colony but was so during the current Queen's reign. Not a title used very much even then I imagine, but Her Majesty's vast grab bag of titles has included "Queen of Ghana".
There are other cases of kings who still have the title (still officially have it, I mean, not merely being a pretender and claiming it like the way the Counts of Paris still claim the title King of France) but are not in any sense head of state - the kingdom of Bunyoro in Uganda is probably the most famous example. But 7000 people does seem awfully small for a kingdom...
Thinking of a king as more powerful than a queen has justification historically, though one would have trouble thinking that applicable to the British Empire. It's also a touch ironic considering the only living monarch most Americans can name is Queen Elizabeth II, and so you wouldn't expect 'King Peggy' to hold that view either considering how long she's lived in the US. There's also a link on the article about 'King Peggy fights Chauvinism', which just strikes me as humorous.
You probably haven't heard of it over there, but just this week Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - whose late husband had the title of Prince (not Prince Consort, at least not officially, just Prince) decided to abdicate next April in favour of her son Willem-Alexander. Who will become King, of course - but his wife will be Queen. You'd think the Dutch would profit from the occasion (the last time they had a king was well over a century ago, it's been nothing but queens since then) to eliminate such a glaring instance of sexism.
It did remind of 'King' Hatshepsut and IIRC Terry Pratchett joked on that in 'Pyramids'.
I heard about the Hatshepsut thing before, yeah. In fairness, in a number of other professions where both male and female names for the prefession exist, it's not unheard of for women nowadays to insist on using the "male" word. At least in Dutch.
Her Majesty, King of Otuam
- 02/02/2013 04:42:38 PM
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That's, er, interesting.
- 02/02/2013 05:27:15 PM
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I find the title amusing given the total insignificance of the "kingdom". *NM*
- 02/02/2013 06:36:50 PM
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