Ha ! I got Hans correct! First I tried common names but once seen in higher circles. So John, richard, george etc, no dave and brads. Then I thought ow wait it should be more german, hans, and got it right at once!
She was born in Panama and is of African descent, married to Prince Maximillian, second son of Hans-Adam II. Her marriage to the prince had been authorised by his father, the reigning monarch of Liechtenstein. Together, they have a son, Prince Alfons, who is in the line of succession to the Liechtensteiner throne.
What a tiny, beautiful, friendly country - had the pleasure of cycling along the Rhine and through Vaduz on a beautiful October day. The people we met along the way went out of their way to be kind and helpful to just a few English-speaking American students on a day trip with rented bikes that were on the verge of breaking apart. Even if it is a bit hard to get to, it's absolutely worth the journey.
No - because it has a different meaning. If something is vetoed, it doesn't happen; if it is annulled then it has happened and then it hasn't happened (legally).
Brilliant, and probably my favourite country. But don't try hitch-hiking. They have the same dim view of random vagrants as the Swiss! I have been to and through it by car; by tarin and by hitching
One wonders why a country such a Liechtenstien even exists. Of all places, why does it exist where it does? Does it have a particularly strong ethnolinguistic identity? I don't think it really does...so...I wonder.
The monarch and ruling family, although they preside over a country of only about 40,000 people, do have an enormous amount of power...over only about 40,000 people. But their personal wealth is extremely disproportionate to what one would think it could be, even if they were autocratic and greedy to the extreme. To have a net family worth of $7 billion out of a sampling size of 40,000 people is insane.
However, sometimes rights don't exist when they're not needed. Perhaps women already have it well enough in Liechtenstein to where they don't need these rights like women would in places that are more economically impoverished? I don't know.
It might be that there is a special role that Liechtenstein and its royal family and monarch play in all of the intrigue of the balance of power on the world stage, and it might be an important role. I honestly have no idea. Looking at Hans-Adam's id portrait on his Wikipedia page makes it seem like he's a nice, sophisticated, smooth person, although one would also expect him to be.
I do remain curious about places like Liechtenstien, though. In addition to them, why do Luxembourg, Andorra, and San Marino exist? The Vatican is obvious. But these others...there must be some arcane reason. I wish I'd been a more erudite student of history for longer than I have been.
Liechtenstein mainly exists because it stayed neutral during the Austro-Prussian War. Because this war meant the end of the German confederation, many of the german states were unified. Secondly, because Austria-Hungary now existed separately, they were no longer connected to the few non unified german states, such as Bavaria. It wouldn't have made sense for them to just join Austria-Hungary then after being neutral so they stayed independent and still are.
I missed both of them because of it.
The monarch and ruling family, although they preside over a country of only about 40,000 people, do have an enormous amount of power...over only about 40,000 people. But their personal wealth is extremely disproportionate to what one would think it could be, even if they were autocratic and greedy to the extreme. To have a net family worth of $7 billion out of a sampling size of 40,000 people is insane.
It might be that there is a special role that Liechtenstein and its royal family and monarch play in all of the intrigue of the balance of power on the world stage, and it might be an important role. I honestly have no idea. Looking at Hans-Adam's id portrait on his Wikipedia page makes it seem like he's a nice, sophisticated, smooth person, although one would also expect him to be.
I do remain curious about places like Liechtenstien, though. In addition to them, why do Luxembourg, Andorra, and San Marino exist? The Vatican is obvious. But these others...there must be some arcane reason. I wish I'd been a more erudite student of history for longer than I have been.