Abdications

Charlie plays dress-up

Abdication seems to be all the rage among European rulers these days. Albert II, the King of Belgium, announced that he will abdicate and turn the job (such as it is) over to his son.

Earlier this year the Pope resigned, of course, and, though hardly anyone noticed, the Queen of the Netherlands let her son take over in April.

The Belgian guy (in case I haven't made it clear, I'm not much of a monarchist) made the announcement on TV today:

"I realize that my age and my health are no longer allowing me to carry out my duties as I would like to," the king said in a televised address.

Given that Albert is 79, the stated reason of course brings to mind the one royal family most Americans pay attention to -- England's Elizabeth is 87, and the guessing (around my kitchen table, at least) is that she would probably resign if she had a successor who wouldn't bring the monarchy into disrepute (or at least ridicule).