Aftermath News

William has now become a Royal Knight Companion of the Order Garter, just like his father, pictured here June 17th 1958 at Windsor Castle, wearing the traditonal Garter Knight’s ceremonial cap and jacket

Daily Mail | Apr 23, 2008

Prince William, 25, is appointed a garter knight by the Queen

By REBECCA ENGLISH

Prince William was awarded his first major royal honour yesterday when the Queen appointed him a garter knight.

Founded by Edward III in 1348, the Order of the Garter is the most senior and the oldest British Order of Chivalry and is one of the few honours in the Queen’s gift to give without Prime Ministerial advice.

The second-in-line-to-the-throne will be officially installed as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order Garter and given his insignia by his grand-mother during a private service at Windsor Castle in June.

Afterwards he will take part in a public parade wearing his blue velvet robes and black velvet plumed hat for the first time.

Every knight is also required to display a banner of his arms in the castle chapel, together with a helmet, crest and sword and an enamelled stallplate.

Although the honour is merely a ceremonial one, it is, nonetheless, a significant step for the future king who will leave the military next January to become a full time working royal.

William, 25, will become the 1000th Knight in the Register and joins his grand-father, the Duke of Edinburgh and father, Prince Charles.

There are also 24 companions of the order, an honour given to those who have held public office, who have contributed in a particular way to national life or who have served the Sovereign personally.

These currently include Lady Thatcher and Sir John Major.

In recent months there has been speculation that former Prime Minister Tony Blair would join their number, but royal sources said it was too early for him to be appointed.

The Order of the Garter was originally intended by Edward III to be reserved as the highest reward for loyalty and for military merit.

The origin of the emblem of the Order is a blue garter.

This is said to have been inspired by an incident which took place whilst the King danced with Joan, Countess of Salisbury.

The Countess’s garter fell to the floor and after the King retrieved it he tied it to his own leg.

The King told off the onlookers, saying, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (Shame on him who thinks this evil).

This is the motto of the Order.

Modern scholars think it is more likely that the Order was inspired by the strap used to attach pieces of armour, however.

A spokesman for Clarence House said William was “delighted and honoured” at the appointment.

RAF criticised for allowing Prince William to fly Chinook to Kate Middleton’s house

He avoided a long road and sea journey by using a Chinook to fly to the stag party of his cousin, Peter Phillips, in the Isle of Wight.

Telegraph | Apr 20, 2008

By Aislinn Simpson

The RAF has been criticised for allowing Prince William to land a multi-million-pound Chinook helicopter in his girlfriend’s back garden.

It is one of two unusual sorties by the Prince under attack. Eight days later he avoided a long road and sea journey by using a Chinook to fly to the stag party of his cousin, Peter Phillips, in the Isle of Wight, stopping off at Woolwich Barracks in London to pick up Prince Harry.

It has emerged that Prince William sought permission from police and 26-year-old Miss Middleton’s parents to put down on their land in the Berkshire village of Bucklebury on April 3 on the grounds that there is a shortage of landing sites in Hampshire.

He did not get out of the helicopter, and it remained on the ground for only 20 seconds.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman defended the landing yesterday, saying: “This was very much a routine training sortie that achieved essential training objectives.”

However, officials have admitted privately that it was “not the best idea”, given concerns about military budget constraints and the shortage of Chinooks, which cost at least £10 million each, in Afghanistan. One military source added: “In theory any pilot could do this but it’s basically because he’s the Prince.”

Officials are understood to be furious that the impression of special treatment afforded to the Prince has undermined the “good PR” his four-month RAF pilot attachment generated.

Sir Glenn Torpy, the Chief of Air Staff, is understood to have criticised the “sheer stupidity” of the decision to allow the Prince take a Chinook to the Isle of Wight, and ordered a “line by line” breakdown of how it was made. Many RAF pilots believe the Prince and his commanders should have known better.

“Whether it can be considered a reasonable training evolution or not, the average Joe is going to view it as an expensive taxi,” one said yesterday. “The RAF hierarchy look bloody stupid for attempting to explain it as anything other than that.”

Paul Beaver, a defence analyst and helicopter pilot, said he had discussed the incident with Sir Glenn, who was “deeply concerned” about how the decision was made.

He added: “He wants to know exactly what happened because he is ultimately responsible to the Queen for the safety of her grandson, and to the British public for the safety of the second-in-line to the throne, who will one day be Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces.”

Related

Chinook shortage for troops as Prince William flies to meet girlfriend

Independent | Apr 12, 2008

By Leonard Doyle

Just as the controversy over Hillary Clinton’s claim about “landing under sniper fire” in Bosnia had died down, her husband Bill Clinton has stirred it up again.

Mr Clinton’s unwelcome remarks have drawn attention back to the damage he has inflicted on his wife’s candidacy, throughout the campaign. He himself is under renewed scrutiny amid revelations that despite a vast private income of more than $109m (£53m) , he has cost the US taxpayer almost as much to support as the two other living ex-presidents together.

But by wading into the “sniper” controversy again Mr Clinton threatens to revive the issue just before the crucial primary in Pennsylvania in 10 days. He was making campaign stops in the Indiana towns of Jasper and Boonville.

Mr Clinton said the news media treated Mrs Clinton “like she’d robbed a bank”. His wife was tired, he said, when she made the remarks which have so damaged her campaign.

Yesterday, the cable news television networks ran stories focusing on the Clintons and their reputation for playing fast and loose with facts when it suits them.

“There was a lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated – and immediately apologised for it– what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995 [sic]. Did y’all see all that? Oh, they blew it up.”

Two weeks ago, Mrs Clinton conceded that she “misspoke” and “made a mistake” when she talked up the dangers she faced during a 1996 landing at Tuzla military airport, during a goodwill mission as first lady. But video footage showing a peaceful arrival ceremony undermined her campaign by reminding voters about other times when she has been less than candid.

Since Mr Clinton left the White House, his retirement package to the end of this year will cost $8m, compared to $5.5m for George Bush Snr and $4m for Jimmy Carter’s over the same period.

Mr Clinton has obtained more of every perk available to former presidents. These include his pension, his staff’s salaries, $3.2m in office rent and a $420,000 phone bill.

The amount he was paid is greater than the totals for those for Mr Bush Snr, Mr Carter and the late former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan combined, an analysis by Politico shows.

Pope Benedict greets the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Prince Fra Andrew Bertie, in the Vatican

Telegraph | Mar 8, 2008

‘No mystery here’ say the Knights of Malta

By Malcolm Moore

An ancient Roman Catholic order tried yesterday to dispel the conspiracy theories surrounding it as it buried its Grand Master.

Princess Michael of Kent, a member of The Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, was present in Rome for the state funeral of Fra Andrew Bertie, 78, the Briton who headed the knights until his death earlier this month. Giorgio Napolitano, the Italian president, also attended the ceremony at the organisation’s headquarters on the Aventine Hill.

The order, which has 12,500 members, was founded in the 11th century to protect the Holy Land, and was a rival to the equally powerful and secretive Knights Templar.

In the Middle Ages it became fabulously wealthy, owning more than 140 estates in the Holy Land and around 19,000 manors in Europe. Its membership was drawn exclusively from Europe’s aristocracy, which led conspiracy theorists to accuse it of being part of the “Illuminati”, a cabal of nobles bent on controlling the world.

But today, the order has 80,000 volunteers working on charitable projects. Winfried Henckel von Donnersmarck, a member of the Sovereign Council, said the order spends £500 million a year helping the world’s poor. “The only mystery here is the one of history. Any organisation with a thousand years behind it is going to have mysteries,” he said.

Albrecht von Boeselager, the Grand Hospitaller, said the conspiracy theories hurt the order’s work. “We have been accused of being part of a ‘New Crusade’, and of sending mercenaries to fight in Iraq. This is not true and it endangers our helpers in Muslim countries,” he said.

Reuters | Mar 11, 2008

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British schoolchildren should take part in a “coming of age” ceremony at the end of their studies to mark the transition to adult citizenship, former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said on Tuesday.

The ceremony could include, for example, an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

Goldsmith also proposed a new public holiday to celebrate “Britishness” along the lines of Australia Day.

“We already teach schoolchildren what citizenship means,” he told BBC television. “But it would make sense to have a coming of age ceremony which marks the moment they move from being a student of citizenship to being a real citizen in themselves.”

Goldsmith was asked by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last July to conduct a review of British citizenship.

He said it would be up to the government, if it accepted his recommendations, to decide the details of the ceremony, such as whether it should include an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

But he said he personally was in favour of such an oath.

“The point is to find a raft of different ways that we can create a greater sense of shared belonging in this country .., for people to understand more clearly what it means to be a citizen of this country, what the rights are and what the responsibilities are as well.”

But a leading teaching union, the Association of School and College Leaders, told the BBC the proposed student ceremony was “a half-baked idea that should be left to go mouldy”.

Civil rights lawyer Baroness Kennedy told BBC radio she had groaned when she heard the proposals.

“I see this as an empty gesture. To ask 16-year-olds to troop into a hall and like Americans put their hands on their heart and take an oath of allegiance is risible.”

Goldsmith said cynicism about his plans was unfounded, adding that similar doubts had been raised when citizenship ceremonies were introduced for new immigrants in 2004.

“I have attended a number of those and everyone else who has too is moved by them and is impressed by how enthusiastic the participants are,” he said.

He said a national day had worked extremely well in other countries, like Australia.

“It would be something we don’t have at the moment, which is an opportunity to celebrate … that we do belong to a nation.”

Goldsmith told Sky News he had found that many people wanted to talk about what being a citizen means.

“The research I had commissioned bears out what people probably anecdotally feel, which is there has been some diminishing sense of attachment, some diminishing sense of national pride.

“I think we can take some practical measures to create greater opportunities for people to feel this national pride, to feel they are part of a shared project.”

Associated Press | Mar 15, 2008

Nearly nine in 10 Americans say it’s important to know presidential and congressional candidates’ positions on open government, but three out of four view the federal government as secretive, according to a survey released Sunday.

Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University conducted the survey in conjunction with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by media organizations to draw attention to the public’s right to know.

The survey found a significant increase in the percentage of Americans who believe the federal government is very or somewhat secretive, from 62 percent of those surveyed in 2006 to 74 percent in 2008. That’s a sobering jump, said David Westphal, Washington editor for McClatchy Newspapers and co-chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Freedom of Information Committee.

“On the other hand, it’s gratifying to see that almost 90 percent believe a candidate’s position on open government is an important issue when they make their Election Day choices,” he said.

The survey of 1,012 adults was commissioned by ASNE as part of a yearlong campaign to have candidates for all levels of office discuss their positions on government access issues.

Half of the poll respondents said government at the state level is secretive, while 44 percent viewed it as open. Those who see local government as secretive increased from 34 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in the 2008 survey.

A majority of people also want access to information such as who lawmakers meet with each day (82 percent), police reports about specific crimes in local neighborhoods (71 percent), and permits for concealed handguns (66 percent). About half said they do not object to officials asking people seeking records to identify themselves or explain why they’d like to see the record.

Although only about a quarter of adults believe the federal government has opened their mail or monitored their telephone conversations without a federal warrant, three-quarters believe it has happened to people in the United States and two-thirds say it is very or somewhat likely to have happened to members of the news media.

The survey was conducted by telephone from Feb. 10-28. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Frà Matthew Festing, 58, an Englishman, becomes the 79th Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta.

Until his final breath, Matthew Festing will carry the title “His Most Eminent Highness”.

Catholic News Service | Mar 11, 2008

Leading Knights said the order is often depicted as secret society of the wealthy elite.

By John Thavis

ROME (CNS) — In a secret and swift election, the Knights of Malta elected an Englishman as their 79th grand master.

Festing, 59, will head the world’s oldest chivalric order, founded in the 11th century. He is only the second Englishman to hold the post of grand master; Bertie was the first.

Known officially as the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, the organization was established to care for pilgrims during the Crusades. It lives on today as a lay Catholic religious order and a worldwide humanitarian network.

The order is also a sovereign state, holding observer status at the United Nations and maintaining diplomatic relations with 100 countries.

Festing, an expert in art and history, joined the Knights in 1977 and in 1991 became a “professed” knight, taking religious vows. He is a descendent of Blessed Adrian Fortescue, a Knight of Malta who was martyred in the 16th century.

As head of the English priory, Festing organized humanitarian assistance missions to Lebanon and Kosovo and led a delegation on the order’s annual pilgrimage with the sick to Lourdes.

In a statement issued after his election, the new grand master said he wanted to continue the work of his predecessor, who was credited with expanding the order’s humanitarian services and its diplomatic connections.

Pope Benedict XVI was informed of Festing’s election before it was announced to the world.

The election of a grand master is a major event in Rome. Fifty electors, representing the 12,500 male and female members of the order, filed into the Knights’ villa on Rome’s Aventine Hill, wearing their distinctive red robes decorated with the Maltese cross.

The election, which began with a Mass, had similarities to a papal conclave. The grand master had to be chosen from among the order’s approximately 50 professed Knights.

The voting was done by a secret ballot, after nonvoters were asked to leave. No politicking was allowed, and the new grand master had to receive a “majority plus one” of the total votes — at least 27 out of 50.

At a press conference a few days before the election, leading Knights said the order is often wrongly depicted as an elite, wealthy secret society.

“In many ways, we are misunderstood,” said Winfried Henckel von Donnersmark, a member of the order’s sovereign council. In part, that’s because of the unusual nature of the organization, he said.

The Knights are a religious order, yet the vast majority of members are lay, he pointed out. It is a Catholic organization, but its humanitarian operations are open to people of all faiths. And while it does have some property and patrimony, it has to continually raise funds to support its annual $1 billion in charity works around the world, he said.

Membership in the order is by invitation. Knights and Dames are practicing Catholics and devote part of their time to doing works of mercy.

The professed members are all male, but women form an increasingly important part of the order, officials said.

According to Albrecht von Boeselager, one of the order’s chief officials, the Knights have about 80,000 local volunteers working in 120 countries throughout the world. The organization is welcomed by so many governments — even by the military regime in Myanmar, for example — because it adheres to strict neutrality on political issues, he said.

“We don’t consider ourselves a human rights organization. If making accusations on human rights issues would prevent us from assisting the needy, we would prefer to be silent,” von Boeselager said.

In the Middle East and Asia, however, the Knights’ neutrality has recently been called into question by extremist propaganda, he said.

“We have been accused of being part of a ‘new crusade,’ and even of having mercenaries fighting in Iraq. That is totally untrue, and it endangers our personnel in Muslim countries,” he said.

Noreen Falcone, president of the Knights’ U.S. federal association, said the order’s organizational structure gives it the ability to move quickly into disaster areas. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, for example, the order went to work immediately.

“We’re still there, building homes and helping to give people back their self-respect,” she said.

. . .

Related

British art historian elected grand master of Knights of Malta

AP | Mar 12, 2008

ROME (AP) - The Knights of Malta said Tuesday they have elected a British art historian as the new grand master of the lay Roman Catholic order.

Fra Matthew Festing replaces the late Fra Andrew Bertie as head of the 900-year-old charitable order.

The Knights of Malta chose the 59-year-old Festing as their 79th grand master during

a meeting Tuesday in Rome. Festing was sworn in shortly after the election, the order said.

Festing joined the Order of Malta in 1977. He has led humanitarian missions in Lebanon and Kosovo as the Grand Prior of England, a senior position he held for the past 15 years, the statement said.

Officially known as the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, the order was founded with a pilgrims’ hospice in 11th century Jerusalem and has the status of an independent state.

The order has 12,500 members and operates in 120 countries, providing medical and social services, particularly in war zones and impoverished areas. It maintains diplomatic relations with 100 nations.

. . .

Frà Matthew Festing Elected Grand Master

Frà Matthew Festing, 58, an Englishman, becomes the 79th Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, elected this morning by the Council Complete of State (the Order’s electoral body). In accepting the role, the new Grand Master swore his Oath before the Cardinal Patronus of the Order, Cardinal Pio Laghi, and the electoral body. He succeeds Frà Andrew Bertie, 78th Grand Master (1988-2008), who died on 7 February.

The new Grand Master affirms his resolve to continue the great work carried out by his predecessor. Frà Matthew comes with a wide range of experience in Order affairs. He has been the Grand Prior of England since the Priory’s re-establishment in 1993, restored after an abeyance of 450 years. In this capacity, he has led missions of humanitarian aid to Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia after the recent disturbances in those countries, and with a large delegation from Britain he attends the Order’s annual pilgrimage to Lourdes with handicapped pilgrims.

Educated at Ampleforth and St. John’s College Cambridge, where he read history, Frà Matthew, an art expert, has for most of his professional life worked at an international art auction house. As a child he lived in Egypt and Singapore, where his father, Field Marshal Sir Francis Festing, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, had earlier postings. His mother was a member of the recusant Riddells of Swinburne Castle who suffered for their faith in penal times. He is also descended from Sir Adrian Fortescue, a knight of Malta, who was martyred in 1539.

Frà Matthew served in the Grenadier Guards and holds the rank of colonel in the Territorial Army. He was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by the Queen and has served as her Deputy Lieutenant in the county of Northumberland for a number of years.

In 1977 Frà Matthew became a member of the Order of Malta, taking solemn religious vows in 1991.

http://www.orderofmalta.org.uk/news.htm

. . .

Sotheby’s Auctioneer Elected Grand Master of the Knights of Malta

Until his final breath, Matthew Festing will carry the title “His Most Eminent Highness.”

ARTINFO | Mar 13, 2008

ROME—Sotheby’s auctioneer Matthew Festing has been elected as the 79th Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, a Roman Catholic chivalric order established in the 11th century during the Crusades, the Times (London) reports. The secret-ballot election took place March 11 at a papal-style conclave in the order’s headquarters on the Aventine Hill in Rome.

The Knights, who are also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, carry out charitable and medical operations in 120 countries. The organization has recently been attempting to dispel rumors that it is rich and secretive (see the Da Vinci Code), and the election of Festing, who is seen as a reformer, is a sign that they plan to be more open and to better publicize their charitable acts.

Festing, a descendant of Sir Adrian Fortescue, a Knight of Malta martyred in 1539, was admitted to the order in 1977. In 1988 he became a Knight of Justice, in 1991 he took perpetual vows, and he has recently served as Grand Prior of the British Association, Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Malta (BASMOM). Festing’s father was also a member of the order, and his brother Andrew Festing is president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and a favorite of the British royal family.

Grand Masters, like Popes, are elected for life. Until his final breath, Matthew Festing will carry the title “His Most Eminent Highness.”

Daily Mail | Mar 8, 2008

By SARAH OLIVER

A branch of the Freemasons secret society is being formed by members of the Royal Household and police who protect the Royal Family.

And their decision to call it The Royal Household Lodge has put them on a collision course with Buckingham Palace – as has their plan to co-opt the royal cipher – EIIR – for their regalia, to underline their connection to the Queen.

Although the Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, is head of the secretive organisation – he is Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England – the new branch has not gone down well with the Royal Family.

The Palace has no power to halt the formation of the lodge, but it is determined to stop it adopting its chosen name and block it from hijacking the Queen’s EIIR.

Use of the Royal Household title and any related symbols requires official permission.

Angry officials clearly feel the new lodge’s proposed name is the last thing the Palace needs at a time when it is trying to be seen as more modern and open.

Last night, a spokesman for the Queen said: “Buckingham Palace has not, and would not, endorse this sort of arrangement. No permission has been given by the Palace for a Buckingham Palace lodge or anything similar.

“If permission is sought, it will be declined.”

The founding of the lodge has also alarmed some Royal staff who do not wish to be associated with the fraternity famed for bizarre initiation rites, mystical regalia and mysterious codes of conduct.

It is also likely to cause consternation among career women in the Palace, as it is a men-only organisation.

Non-members in Royal service are said to be fearful they will be overlooked for prestigious promotions and left unsupported in any below-stairs clashes.

Masons are widely believed to further the business and professional interests of brother Masons, although they would deny this and claim it is a harmless social and charitable organisation.

The lodge, which will not meet at the Palace but will be based in a Masonic Hall elsewhere, will be open to all members of the Royal Household, from armed police protection officers to below-stairs staff such as pages and footmen.

It will also recruit staff in other Royal residences including Windsor Castle, Clarence House and St James’s Palace.

A Palace insider said: “There’s a lot of consternation and rightly so. People fear a lot of business will now be conducted behind closed doors so that those who don’t sign up to Freemasonry can’t have any effect on it.

“They are concerned that Masons will be preferred and those who aren’t Masons will be written out of the script.

“Backstairs life is already complicated enough – there are all sorts of allegiances and cliques and cabals. People fall in and out of favour and there’s a lot of whispering in ears.

“The last thing the household needs is a secret society, especially one with the reputation of Freemasonry.”

The United Grand Lodge of England issued the Royal Household Lodge with a warrant in June last year although it will not formally exist until the consecration ceremony on May 19 at the Freemasons’ Hall in London.

That will be followed by a celebration dinner for up to 300 Masons and their guests at the historic Lincoln’s Inn.

The insider said the idea had been generated by serving and past members of the Royalty Protection Squad, SO14. With new recruits, the total number involved is approximately 70.

Author and broadcaster Martin Short, whose book Inside The Brotherhood exposed Masonic practices in the UK, said: “It’s a catastrophic time to start such a lodge, given all the problems facing the Royal Family at present.

“The Royal Family is desperately trying to prove it is modernising – in PR terms, this is bad news for them.”

The monarchy in Thailand is officially held to be above politics and is protected by well-policed lese majeste laws.

Earth Times | Jan 6, 2008

Bangkok - A prominent Thai political website was shut after being “flooded” with harsh comments about the monarchy, the Bangkok Post online reported Sunday. The move came at a time of heightening royalist fervour in the country, following the death Wednesday of the revered king Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sister Princess Galyani.

It is also a period of political uncertainty and widespread speculation over the role of the palace in deciding the next government.

The monarchy in Thailand is officially held to be above politics and is protected by well-policed lese majeste laws.

The Freedom Against Censorship in Thailand (FACT) lobby group branded the closure of the popular discussion board Sameskybooks.com as “cyberterrorism,” the report said.

It was the website of political magazine Fah Diew Kan, which has a a reputation of exploring touchy political topics. The magazine’s editor, Thanapol Eawsakul, claimed that provocateurs had bombarded the site’s discussion board with derogatory comments about the monarchy.

Thanapol is already facing lese majeste charges for an earlier article he wrote.

The site was closed on Friday when Otaro, the owners of its internet service provider NetService, rejected its client. It is not clear who actually gave the order for it to be shut.

A spokesman for Otaro said it voluntarily decided to suspend service.

Many Thai political analysts say the palace was a supporter of the September 2006 coup that ousted controversial prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A general election in December saw Thaksin’s proxy Peoples Power Party emerge as the most likely to form a coalition government.

There is much speculation that the forces that distrust and dislike Thaksin - in the military, the urban elite and the palace - may attempt to block his return to power.

People show their identity cards as they queue outside a polling station in Pashakha village during Bhutan’s first national council voting December 31, 2007. Bhutanese voted on Monday to elect members to a new upper house of parliament for the first time, a step towards democracy after a century of absolute monarchy.

Daily Times| Jan 1, 2008

DEOTHANG: Bhutanese voted on Monday to elect members to a new upper house of parliament for the first time, a step towards democracy after a century of absolute monarchy.

The tiny, conservative Himalayan kingdom has been preparing for democracy since former monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to hand power to an elected government, even as many of his citizens said they were quite happy with the way things were.

Monday’s vote is only the first step, and it has not been without problems - the Election Commission has acknowledged an unspecified number of complaints from eligible voters saying they have been unable to vote because of bureaucratic glitches.

More important polls are expected to take place in February and March with elections to the lower house, when newly formed political parties will be able to take part. In Monday’s election, many candidates are fresh-faced 20-somethings, at least partly because of rules requiring all candidates be university graduates.

All three candidates in Samdrup-Jongkhar, a district in the south, are under 30.

Jigme Wangchuk, 28, is giving up teaching for politics. He is running against Sangay Lhendup, a 25-year-old stand-up comedian and political science graduate. Both hope to beat Kuenga Dorji, a 25-year-old actor with good looks and a nice singing voice.

All three are promising development for this quiet nation of farmers and Buddhist monks, where television arrived only in 1999. Voters queued from 8 a.m. (0200 GMT), all dressed, as is compulsory, in traditional Bhutanese costume - gowns for the men and long dresses for the women, some of whom were carrying babies. Many walked for hours from distant villages across the mountain slopes to cast their vote. “Democracy will be good for the younger generation, with a lot of developments taking place and there will be a lot of job opportunities,” said Kuenzeng Choden, a 20-year-old trainee teacher outside Deothang town and one of Bhutan’s 312,817 voters.