My recent outing to the museum at Paleis Het Loo, spurred by that Guardian article my friend Steve linked me to, has caused me to decide I should start a new series on royal – related locations. After all, royals since time began have generally had privileges, as well as residences, gardens and even vehicles (e.g. below from an exhibit in the former royal stables) that most humans at any given time or place couldn’t dream of. Into this new category might have gone one or two of the post from our visit last year to Vienna — in a nation now no longer a monarchy, but still earning tourist income from visitors come to see those residences. Or perhaps some posts from those royal residences of Rajasthan which I visited more than 13 years ago, that both inspired me with their beauty and troubled me as indications of a hugely unjust socio-political system. Thus my name for this new series: I’m wanting to admire the beauty while I question the socio-political system, along with all socio-political systems (e.g. late-modern capitalism and its manifestations in the land of my birth) which allow power and wealth to concentrate, often in dynastic and family lines one way or another. Ugh, wealth, power and its perquisites. And yes, those gardens you see through the gilded-fruit-tree window decoration below are gardens whose canals you’ve already seen a few times :-). Gilded fruit trees: lovely but rather quintessentially “ah, royal,” don’t you agree?
(so much world, so little time....) 
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