From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Group of royal favourites
A
camarilla
is a group of
courtiers
or favourites who surround a
king
or ruler. Usually, they do not hold any office or have any official authority at the
royal court
but
influence their ruler behind the scenes
. Consequently, they also escape having to bear responsibility for the effects of their advice. The term derives from the Spanish word
camarilla
(diminutive of
camara
), meaning "little chamber" or private cabinet of the king. It was first used of the circle of cronies around
Spanish King
Ferdinand VII
(reigned 1814–1833). The term involves what is known as
cronyism
. The term also entered other languages like the
Polish
,
German
and
Greek
, and is used in the sense given above.
A similar concept in modern politics is that of a
Kitchen Cabinet
, which is often composed of unelected advisers bypassing traditional governance practices.
Examples
[
edit
]
Germany
[
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]
In particular, two groups are called camarillas: those who surrounded the Emperor
Wilhelm II
[
citation needed
]
and the President
Paul von Hindenburg
.
[1]
The camarilla of President Paul von Hindenburg
[
edit
]
Romania
[
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]
The camarilla of Queen Marie
[
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]
The camarilla of King Carol II
[
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]
- Elena Lupescu
, mistress and later wife of King Carol II
[2]
[3]
- Puiu Dumitrescu
, private secretary of King Carol II (earlier period)
[3]
- Barbu Ionescu, businessman
[3]
- Hugo Bacher
[3]
- Nae Ionescu
, philosopher and journalist (1930-1933)
[4]
- Gavril? Marinescu
, Bucharest police prefect
[3]
- Ernest Urd?reanu
, secretary of King Carol II (later period)
[2]
- Max Auschnitt
, industrialist
[2]
- Nicolae Malaxa
, industrialist
[2]
[5]
- Aristide Blank
, industrialist
- Mihai Moruzov
, head of the Romanian Secret Intelligence Service
[2]
Russia
[
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]
In the 19th century, Russia's government was frequently described as a "camarilla", starting as early as 1860.
[6]
This usage remained common into the 20th century; for instance, in 1917, commentator Robert Machray wrote of "certain forces in the background of the political life of Russia known as the 'Camarilla', which exercised and still exercise an extraordinary influence".
[7]
Spain
[
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]
The right-wing domestic circle with which
Francisco Franco
surrounded himself with in his final years at the
Royal Palace of El Pardo
, his official residence, has been referred to as a "camarilla" by multiple authors.
[8]
[9]
[10]
The "El Pardo" camarilla of Francisco Franco
[
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]
- Cristobal Martinez-Bordiu
, son-in-law of Franco
[8]
[9]
- Carmen Polo
, wife of Franco
[8]
[9]
- Vicente Gil Garcia, personal physician to Franco
[9]
- Jose Ramon Gavilan, head of Franco's personal military staff
[9]
- Antonio Urcelay Rodriguez, naval aide to Franco
[9]
- Felipe Polo Martinez-Valdes, brother-in-law and personal lawyer of Franco
[9]
Other
[
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]
- "
Camarilla
" is also the name of a "sect" (faction) in the role-playing game
Vampire: The Masquerade
.
- The Camarilla is a multi-planetary, multi-species secret organization intent on keeping Earth isolated from the rest of the galaxy in
Brian Daley
's "Fitzhugh & Floyt" trilogy.
- The Camarilla is a multi-planetary, multi-species secret organization with varied and often obscure motives in
Lisanne Norman
's
Sholan Alliance
.
- The Camarilla is an ancient, secret organization of witch hunters in the American TV show
Motherland: Fort Salem
.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Gunther, John
(1940).
Inside Europe
. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 33?34.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
R. G. Waldeck
,
Athene Palace
, New York: Robert M. McBride and Company, 1942.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Hans-Christian Maner,
Parlamentarismus in Rumanien (1930-1940): Demokratie im autoritaren Umfeld
, Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1997,
ISBN
3-486-56329-7
,
ISBN
978-3-486-56329-0
.
- ^
(in Romanian)
Zigu Ornea
,
"Dezv?luirile lui Constantin Beldie"
Archived
2014-03-10 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Romania literar?
, 46/2000
- ^
Petre Pandrea,
Cronic? valah? cu inginerul Malaxa
("Wallachian Chronicle with Engineer Malaxa"), in
Magazin Istoric
, May 2002.
- ^
"Prince Dolgoroukov on Russia and Self-Emancipation."
Edinburgh Review
, July, 1860.
p. 90
- ^
Machray, Robert. "The Political Situation in Russia."
The Nineteenth Century and After
, volume 81, March 1917.
pp. 601-602
- ^
a
b
c
Preston, Paul
(1994).
Franco: A Biography
. New York, New York: BasicBooks. p. 734.
ISBN
0-465-02515-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Payne, Stanley G.
(2014).
Franco: A Personal and Political Biography
. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin University Press. p. 470.
ISBN
978-0-299-30213-9
.
- ^
Somalo, Javier (26 October 2019).
"Franco y el parentesis de la Democracia"
[Franco and the Parenthesis of Democracy].
Libertad Digital
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
24 July
2020
.