To:-
His Majesty King David of East Moreland
Her Majesty Queen Queen Friðuswiþ of Heimney
His Highness Prince Regent Vincenzo of Vaguzia
The Honourable Chairwoman Francine M. A. Therz of Heyra
(OOC- Hopefully got these right)

Roughly a decade ago my father was murdered by still unknown assailants. This plunged my mother into an over protective regency that saw both myself, my sister and more importantly my nation get hidden away from the world. During this time the continent plunged into the collapse of Academica and East Moreland, Vaguzia and Heyra all stepped in to ensure the safety of the people there. Meanwhile the Armed Forces of Mersch sat dormant guarding half empty Palaces to give the impression I might have been there. We have watched since as the continent has worked well together. I would like to get to know all of my neighbours and I apologise to King David but I intend to slightly hijack his festival of sail. I would like to invite each of you, and if you wish a guest, to come and dine onboard our Royal Yacht Skipjack. I would like to begin the process of making friends prior to major formal diplomacy.

I hope that you will take me up on this invitation. If you wish to please arrive at Dock 7b at the Portworth Marina at 6pm. Once everyone is onboard we shall venture a short way down the coast and dinner and cocktails shall be served. It would be our intention to be back at the Marina for 10pm.


With Deep Respect

High Queen Philippina

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Philippina had ordered her Head of Security Matthias to ensure that the Dowager Queen was not in attendance. He had ensured that she was prevented from travelling at all thus giving the High Queen a chance to act as a monarch for once. She had brought with her the King of Attert, one of the four Kingdoms that made up Mersch. He was 27 years old and all the time during her over-protection had sent her books and articles about the wider world, on geopolitics and other matters. He would send her postcards of places he visited and newspaper clippings from his travels of interesting things he'd learned. It could be said that King Kaspar Martens was her window to the world. She had pinned the postcards and clippings around the map of Mundus that hung ready to have its copper coating scribbled off to reveal the colours of the nations flag below. She hoped soon the dull brown map would become a multi-coloured mosaic. Her computer had been her other portal into Mundus, with social media seeping into her psyche. This was one of the reasons she was rather nervous. She had grown to love the idea of fancy dresses and make up. To wear really girly outfits and grace ballrooms with high ceilings. Queen Stasya of East Moreland was a kind of social media idol of Philippinas even down to the idea she was wearing a long black dress from the Queen's fashion label. David had been a kind of pin up for her along with the now dishonoured Lodjain King Hamsik.

She had brought with her Gerhard, a chef from the Palace. He had done his best to introduce the High Queen to the tastes of Mundus but most of his experience had been through books and observing restaurant chefs. He had been hired more for his security status than his cooking knowledge but he did make tasty milkshakes. Phillipina could have murdered one now but thought it wouldn't look very regal. She sat on the rear deck with Kaspar as she waited for the first guests to arrive.

It is tradition that upon ascending to the throne or every June the monarch addresses the Combined Council, the nations elected body with members from all four Kingdoms. This year with High Queen Philippina having just turned 18 and assuming all her royal powers it was determined that she would under take the opening as her first real official duty. The day began with the High Queen posting a rather cryptic message on social media which increased interest in the speech that would be given. The High Queen was accompanied to the Combined Council Hall by members of the Marine Guard as is tradition however she declined to wear the crown of state. Upon arrival she was presented with a gift by the youngest member of the Council, 23 year old Mikhael Aichner. Councillman Aichner presented the High Queen with a brooch of silver in the shape of an oak tree. The High Queen presented the Council with the traditional gift of a barrell of ale before taking her place in the Council speakers chair. The details of the Queen's speech are reproducted below.

Since 2012 our nation has been in a kind of hibernation. When my father died the crown passed to an eight year old children whose mother whisked her away from the world and spun her up in bubble wrap. I've spent the last ten years quiet literally watching the world through my window. The problem is that while I was sat in the family home in the woods outside Wahlstadt as a nation we did likewise. We sat in our province of North Alba Karinya watching the world go by. This was because my mother was scared that a wrong move would mean she would lose her daughter. I should have been inconsequentle. What is good for the Kingdoms comes first and always should. We can always get a new monarch, and in some ways despite me being on your stamps, your coins and your bank notes for the last decade today marks the real start of the reign of a new monarch. Therefore there has to be changes, some you will like and some you will hate.

To start with there will be one that you hate. Those involved have been informed by me in person today and I thank them for their service. Starting tomorrow I shall be appointing a totally new cabinet. We have always had a law that the monarch may pick any individual who could be a member of the Combined Council to be a Minister. That though has meant that for about the last hundred years monarchs have always picked Councilman. I will not, at least not for now. I shall be picking experts in their field to be Ministers. Currently Mr. Jacques Denberth serves as Minister of Education, he has tried hard and I respect him, but he has never had to stand in front of a class and teach. If we are asking people to run parts of our nation they need to be experts. I will ensure the best and brightest in each role are appointed, if at some point down the road an amazing teacher enters the Council then I will naturally pick them but for now there is nobody who I believe fulfills the criteria.

My second change is that I am implementing a change to the way tax money is distributed to the four Kingdoms. Currently they are paid an annual amount to run infastructure projects and to invest in their communities. This will continue however at present we have a 10% sales tax across the Kingdoms. I am now stating that this will be split, 7.5% will go to central funds while the 2.5% will go to the Kingdom in which it was collected. It is fair that the Kingdoms that contribute the most tax get the most to invest. Local communities know best which streets need repaving, they know best which villages need new swings for their childrens parks and they know best which high streets need investment. It is my hope this measure will the Fürst of each Kingdom a boost in their spending.

Thirdly I want to start work on strengthening relationships with our neighbours. We recently saw the nations of the Illumic meet in East Moreland to reaffirm their co-operation. My mother is her wisdom believed that as East Moreland has issues with terrorism our representative would be in danger. As a result we've missed out. I intend to catch up. I am not yet sure whether we shall go and become a full member of something like MICA but we can't afford to never leave our homeland. We have two of the more politically active nations on our continent and I want to meet with them, and everyone else soon. East Moreland and Heyra must be nations we work with on a huge manner of tasks. I am also grateful to the royal familes of Rokkenjima and Daito for their well wishes on my birthday and while diplomacy may traditionally be conducted informally I am of the younger generation and social media is a useful tool, if someone invites me then I'll accept whether its a Tweet or a wax sealed envelope.

My final thought I want to share with you is a promise. Mersch currently is a tiny acorn in terms of how the world sees us. It takes many years, centuries sometimes, for the biggest oaks to grow. We don't have that time. My promise is by the time I'm 21 that our nation will not be isolated, we will not be that eight year old girl sat at her bedroom window watching other boys and girls playing in the woods. We can not and we will not be frightened of the world and I will not be frightened of leaving the Palace.

Over the next 12 months I intend to ask you to work very hard. I expect you to step up and if you can't then step aside. I wish all of us good luck.

Following the end of the speech it was revealed that the High Queen has already moved out of the Palace and has purchased her own house in Wahlstadt. The High Queen has spoke several times of regretting missing out on lots of things young girls have and seems intent on making up for lost time.

Mersch is a monarchy where the reigning monarch has a significant amount of power. No law can exist without the monarch having a role. In addition there is a Council of Four and the Combined Council. The Council of Four is made up of 40 individuals appointed by the leader of each of the four Kingdoms that make up Mersch. The Combined Council is slected by citizens every four years. There is also a cabinet of Ministers who oversee certain areas of government on behalf of the monarch.  There are three routes to laws being created.

Route 1 - The Monarch presents legislation to the Council of the Four. As long as the Council give the legislation approval it can become law.

Route 2 - The Council of the Four may present legislation to the Combined Council. Assuming this gets the majority of the vote it is given to the monarch who may accept or reject it.

Route 3 - Any member of the Combined Council may present a piece of legislation. The relevant Minister is then responsible for determining whether it should be debated in Council. If it passes the Combined Council it goes to the Council of the Four and then finally the monarch.

The Four different Kingdoms are controlled by a Fürst who is responsible for maintaining local infrestructure, setting educational policy and investing funding provided by central government.

THE COUNCIL OF THE FOUR


Each Fürst appoints ten members of the Council. Once someone has been appointed they may only be replaced in three circumstances, death, resignation or criminal conviction.

THE COMBINED COUNCIL

Each of the Four Kingdoms elects 50 representatives every four years. This is done by areas known as Communes each electing a representative. Any citizen of Mersch who has lived in a Commune for five years may stand for election. To be able to vote you must be a citizen of Mersch and over the age of 18.

"BLLLLURRRGGHHH!!!!!"

Princess Magdalena let out a chuckle as the sound came from behind the closed door.

"Oh God! BLLLURRGHHH!!!!" the sound of someone in distress came through the thick wood. While most people would have felt sympathy for them Magdalena couldn't help but giggle. The sound of the bathroom taps running covered up the sound of the toilet flushing. The sound of the metal lock twisting open followed soon after a rather dishevelled High Queen Philippina re-entered her bedroom holding a metal bin tucked under her arm. She dropped on the bed heavily and let out a sigh placing the bin carefully next to her.

"How you feeling now?" Liselotte Van Amelsvoort, the Royal Secretary asked from the bathroom doorway having checked that the porcelin white interior wasn't a mess. The High Queen had spent most of the morning throwing up. While Liselotte was concerned for the monarchs health the younger Princess had more pressing matters and dived onto the bed nearly knocking her older sister off.

"So Pippa what was it like?" Magdalena propped herself up on an elbow next to her sister.

"I wish I'd not gone" there was a pause, "Actually no" the High Queen began to correct herself. "I wish I'd stopped drinking way before I did" she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Next time listen to Matthias" Liselotte suggested that the High Queen perhaps take the advice of her chief security agent in future. Last night had been the High Queen's 18th birthday celebration and after a nice private dinner at the elite Juniper Restaurant she had insisted that Matthias allow her to go to a nightclub after all she'd read thats what all 18 year olds did for their birthday and she'd never even been to what would be described as a real party. Matthias has done his best to put her off but she wouldn't be convinced. The best he could do was delay her so he made some phone calls, pulled a few strings and drafted in some extra bodies. It meant that at 11:30pm the High Queen entered a nightclub for the first time. The Baalsaal had hung up on Matthias the first time he had rung. Then when he'd sent someone round they had moved heaven and earth to accomodate the High Queen and six of her friends along with the associated entourage. They had a VIP booth and seeing the High Queen other punters wanted a selfie but Matthias kept them away. The Queen had tried cocktails of various bright vibrant colours, she'd laughed at some of the names, she couldn't believe there was actually a cocktail called "Sex on the Beach." she discovered though that Vodka and Cranberry was her favourite even though half of them she had contained no vodka. But with her friends buying lots of shots the Queen was soon rather tipsy. They'd seen some celebrities too and to the High Queen it was strange that when she saw a famous musician that musician was seemingly more excited than her. The seven youngsters soon found the numbers expanding as they bumped into other nobles out for their usual Friday night out. Then Pippa began inviting some of the celebs to join them and before long Matthias was able to persuade the High Queen to take up the offer of the club shutting one of their smaller side bars to the public. By 4am the High Queen had enough but physically and alcoholically and Matthias had almost had to carry her to the vehicles outside.

Now at 10am the High Queen was considering abdication if it stopped the hangover. She finished telling her sister all about it and answered her endless questions, which focused mainly on which of her celebrity crushes they'd seen and whether any "snogging" had taken place, it hadn't. It had been the first real taste though of freedom for either of the Jespersen girls since they could remember. Everything about their lives had been micro-managed and had all been about keeping them "secure". For the elder sister that was now over, the hangover the clearest signal that she was now running her own life. For the 16 year old Magdalena there was the hope her sister could change things for her.

Today marks High Queen Philippina's 18th birthday and therefore her unrestricted reign begins. The High Queen inherited the throne of Mersch at the age of 8 following the death of her Father. High King Eduard died in 2012 following a short illness brought about by a suspected poison. With two daughters the family saw the crown pass to Philippina with her uncle Dietmar acting as effective monarch until she reached certain landmarks. At the age of 16 the High Queen was permitted to appoint nobles and make presentation of various honours. She also was permitted to undertake various significant ceremonial roles. At the Age of 17 she was permitted to act as commander in chief to the military and now as she reaches her 18th birthday she has full control of the Kingdoms. Celebrations took place across the nation to mark the beginning of a new era. One of the leading figures in the young High Queen's life has been Anneliese Hahn, one of a team of tutors who has helped guide both the High Queen and her younger sister Magdalena. While having had some powers the Queen has largely been closely managed by her family and the civil service. The day started off with the High Queen sharing a photo of her and her sister before posting on instagram a message hinting that she intends to start travelling the world. Anneliese Hahn explained that the High Queen has always had an interest in the world. "In her bedroom it was sometimes quiet sad. She brought a huge map from online that had the outline of every nation on Mundus. It was one of those that you can use a coin to scratch off where you've visited and it just sat there on the wall untouched. Meanwhile she'd get bombarded on social media from people around Mundus. While our generation would have had pen pals she did, thanks to the Intelligence Services, have some online pen pals that she valued. The map had postcards and photos they'd send her surrounding it. Now she'd going to get to see all those places."

The day to day business of the High Queen is managed by a Royal Secretary, the current one is Liselotte Van Amelsvoort. Miss Van Amelsvoort confirmed that the High Queen has already begun plans for the first nation to be scratched off the map. "Today we have RSVP'd to an event in Lijiang. Its a country we know little about but the High Queen has already ordered lots of books be delivered from the National Library." We asked Miss Van Amelsvoort about other plans and were told. "This world has numerous exciting and diverse countries. She plans to visit as many as possible. Remember that although we could say today means childhood over she is still a young woman and the interests that go with it."

The leader of the Kingdom of Attert, Fürst Kaspar Martens, was among the first to send his best wishes, along with a stallion and mare. In an official statement he said, "Our system of government has in many ways held us back. We've now the energy of a hyperactive 18 year old to drive us forward. I look forward to the ride." The 27 year old has long called for the High Queen to be given an education on "the world" but Intelligence Services have been in his mind overprotective. "The High Queen has been denied a normal childhood, she's been surrounded with hand picked people her age to be friends, not necessarily people she'd naturally be friends with. My concern is that she now not overdose on freedom. She's a real difficult task ahead of her and I will do what I can to help."

The High Queen spent the day with family and some friends before going to the highly rated Juniper Restaurant in the capital city. This evening she will welcome all the Fürst's of the Kingdoms to the Royal Palace and host a formal ball. It is thought each Fürst will also publically retake an oath of loyalty now the High Queen is technically an adult.

Dear Professor Jozef

Please expect the arrival of Her Majesty High Queen Philippina and an appropriate escort to your unveiling. The Queen is eager to learn more about this project as well as have a chance to visit another nation on Mundus.

We appreciate this oppurtunity.

With Thanks

Liselotte Van Amelsvoort
Royal Secretary