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The Oxford Monarchists
The Monarchists (known as The Oxford Monarchists or simply The Monarchist Society outside the University) is a student society of the University of Oxford. The Oxford University Monarchist Society was founded in 1884 as the King Charles' Club. The King Charles Club shared its name with a separate society, a dining club of St. John's College which also continues to this day. In 1905 the King Charle's Club was renamed as the Royalist Club, a name shared by their Cambridge counterparts. This group was refounded as the Tercentenary Society in 1960 with the name reflecting three hundred years since the Restoration of the House of Stuart to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland and finally as the Oxford Monarchists in 1989.
The Society continues to favour the Stuart line and as a result has become remarkably Jacobite in character, supporting the claim of Franz, Duke of Bavaria as Francis II. The 'little gentleman in black velvet' is often toasted at Monarchist evenets, this is a long established Jacobite tradition. The 'little gentleman in black velvet' is a reference to the mole on whose hill, William of Orange's horse stumbled, causing his death.
In nineteen hundred and thirty six the Oxford University Monarchist Society faced the greatest challenge of its existence from the prefectual candidacy of Mr Edward Heath. Mr Heath went on to "desecrate the memory of the last great flowering of European monarchy and engage in the most shameless episode of escapism in the recorded history of man with his claim that Britain belonged to the continent of Europe and Europe to the heirs of the 1918 mutineers. Some authorities would even claim that he recognised Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as British Sovereign, but this has yet to be historically documented. Certainly, such a flagrant disregard for the hereditary principle would have invalidated Mr Heath's membership of the Society." according to the society's minutes.
The society's Latin name is "Societas Adjuctorum Monarchiae in academia Oxoniensi' and its device is the letter 'M' surmounted with a coronet. The aim of the Monarchists, according to the 1972 constitution is to 'study, discuss and foster interest in monarchs and monarchies down the ages and throughout the world'.
On November 22 2006, the Oxford monarchists were delighted to announce that His Royal and Imperial highness, Archduke Otto von Habsburg had accepted the title of 'Patron and Protector of the Oxford Monarchists'. The Archduke is the son of the club's heavenly patron, the Blessed Emperor Charles.
Activities[edit]
Recently the Society's tie has been reproduced featuring alternate stripes of silver, gold, silver, scarlet, silver, gold, silver and turqoise. The interpretation of the colours is disputed. The Society does not recognise the authority of the College of Arms, citing its occupation by the Prince of Orange and subsequently the House of Hanover.
Amongst the Monarchists' most recent events was a visit by Charles Coulombe, Knight of St. Sylvester who addressed the Society in Oriel College, after a black-tie dinner in Trinity. Count Nikolai Tolstoy, Chancellor of the International Monarchist League along with his wife, the Countess, were also in attendance. In 2002 Lord Sudeley addressed the society.
In recent times the Monarchists' work has been praised by Archduke Otto von Habsburg, His Serene Highness Prince Hans Adam II and the Archbishop of Paris.
Council MMVI[edit]
| Office | Office holder | College |
|---|---|---|
| Praefectus | Matthew Allen | St Benet's |
| Praefectus-in-Exsilio | Edward Davies | Oriel |
| Treasurer | James Naylor | Magdalen |
| Secretary | Alexander Morrison | Oriel |
| Captain of the Monarchists' Boat | Robin Esjmond-Frey | Oriel |
External Links[edit]
Official Inter-web site [1]
| This article contains content from Wikipedia. Current versions of the GNU FDL article The Oxford Monarchists on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article | WP |
