Koruna Česká as a political movement was founded on 25 November 1990 in Prague's Švanda Theatre, officially naming itself Czech Crown (Royalist Movement of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia). Dalibor Stejskal [cs] was elected as its first leader. On 14 December 1991 the first General Assembly of Koruna Česká convened.[1] In 1993 KČ formed a political partnership with the Christian Democratic Party of Václav Benda[3] and in the following years they closely cooperated, until the latter merged with the Civic Democratic Party in 1996.[1]
The second leader of KČ (1997–1999) was Dalibor Pták (politician) [cs] and the third (1999–2003) was Milan Schelinger [cs], a musician and brother of famous Czech rock singer Jiří Schelinger. In 2003 KČ was transformed from a political movement into a political party.
Political party
In May 2003 Schelinger resigned as the leader of the party[4] and in November 2003 Václav Srb [cs], who had been the party's hejtman of Bohemia, was elected as the new leader. Since 2004 the party has actively contested in every election. In the 2006 Czech municipal elections they gained their first local councillors and mayors.
While in the early years, the official position of KČ was that they have no authority to decide who would be the new Czech king, in 2007 KČ clarified its monarchist position as legitimism (actively supporting the claim of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine as descendants of Charles I of Austria, the last King of Bohemia).
In 2011 KČ suffered an internal crisis when a "conservative platform" was formed, critical of the policy of the party and striving to shift its political position more in a national conservative direction. The conservative platform tried to take over the party, but it was defeated during the XX General Assembly in November 2011. Many of its members then left the party and founded a conservative monarchist association called MONOS.
Fictional royal voting ticket for the presidential election 2013
In the 2013 Czech presidential election, the first direct presidential election in the country, KČ boycotted the election, as it was contrary to its goal of unelected head of state. At the same time, an independent monarchist candidate, sculptor Emil Adamec [cs] announced his candidacy, but he failed to gather enough signatures of citizens to become a candidate. Some members of KČ supported him,[5] while others urged the party to support the candidacy of Karel Schwarzenberg as an aristocrat and a personal friend of the royal house. KČ remained neutral, but issued a statement that if monarchists want to participate, then Schwarzenberg is the best choice.[6] Some KČ members also created mock ballots for Karl von Habsburg as an heir to the throne, which garnered some media attention.[7][8]
In the XXVII General Assembly in November 2018, Radim Špaček (politician) [cs] was elected as the new leader of the party.
In the 2019 European Parliament election Koruna Česká, together with other smaller parties, formed a coalition with the KDU-ČSL; their combined list received 7.24% of the vote. After the election, KČ suggested Archduke Karl von Habsburg as the next President of the European Commission and sent a formal request to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic to support him.[16] Since June 2019 Czech royalists have been heavily involved in the protests against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and President Miloš Zeman as was reported by some Czech media and the International Monarchist League.[17]
Presidum
Koruna Česká's Presidium, resulting from the party's XXXth General Assembly held on 1 April 2023 in Kroměříž:[18][19]
Since 2015, at its general assemblies, Koruna Česká has granted honorary membership to prominent public figures who are related to the party in thought and have contributed significantly to the promotion of its ideas.[20] Honorary membership in the Koruna Česká was awarded to the following personalities:
^ abcDrnek, Jan (2016). Kronika KČ 1988–2016. Plzeň: Koruna Česká.
^Conférence Monarchiste Internationale (13 September 2011). "Monarchist Conference - Members". internationale.monarchiste.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^Benda, Václav; Stejskal, Dalibor (January 1993). "Smlouva mezi Korunou Českou a Křesťansko-demokratickou stranou o politickém partnerství" [Agreement between the Czech Crown and the Christian Democratic Party on political partnership]. Koruna Česká, bulletin Royalistického hnutí Čech, Moravy a Slezska (in Czech).
^"Zprávy, novinky, informace, oznámení, termíny". Monarchistické listy: 2. Spring 2003.
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