Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Empress Audrey Abdicates the Throne; Princess Katherine Set to Ascend.

December 5591

Fort William, Luthori -   In an unprecedented event in Luthorian Imperial Family, Her Majesty the Empress (84) has announced on national television during her traditional Hallowtide address to the Nation to abdicate the Throne on the day of her own ascension to the Luthorian and Mordusia thrones on January 26th, 5550. So, she announced that on January 26th, 5592, 42 years after she herself took the throne upon the death of her father, Emperor Charles VII, she would abdicate the position of Sovereign to her daughter and heir, Crown Princess Katherine (58), who will ascend the throne as Empress and Sovereign of Luthori on that date. As stated, the decision to abdicate from the Throne is historic in itself, as no Luthorian monarch since Emperor Edward IV abdicated the Throne, and not for the same reason as what the Empress has today decided to announce as the reason for her upcoming abdication from the Throne. While Emperor Edward IV abdicated the Throne to restore some form of "stability" into a nation plagued by division between supporters of the House of Carrington and the House of Orange-Villayn.

Yet, today, in a shark contrast to this and a sharp break from tradition, the Empress announced that her abdication from the Throne was due to "medical concerns" about her health and the fact that, soon after 42 years on the Throne, she was "running out of energy to diligently lead the Realm" and that she thought that "a younger and sharper head of state was what the Realms needed at the moment".

Upon this announcement, Parliament passed beforehand, an Act reaffirming the Parliamentary loyalty upon the House of Orange-Villayn-Armstead and all its lawful successors to the Throne, as such, Parliament re-affirmed the undeniable loyalty that it holds before the Crown. Prime Minister Warner Reyburn described the Act from the Sovereign to be "extremely courageous", in the sense that it was breaking a century-old taboo about abdication and the consequences of it.

The Orange Palace didn't release any statement about the event, only redirecting journalists towards the Empress' Hallowtide Speech. Rottingham Palace, for its part, where the Princess and Prince of Orange are with their children for the Holidays didn't release a statement either, yet whistleblower seems to agree that the reaction to the Empress' address was mostly positive, but also worried. 

The Princess of Orange, Katherine has reportedly already spoke with important members of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary to prepare for the upcoming transition from a reign to another.

The Archbishop of Oalapo has called an "emergency" meeting of all high-ranking clerics of the Holy Luthori Church to discuss the ceremony that are to be planned for the Coronation of the next Sovereign and the reaction of the Church as a whole. Prime Minister Reyburn met with the Secretary of State for the Duchy of Lorcaster to discuss the institutional ramification of such abdication and for beginning the planning of the ceremonies which would officially enshrine into law that fact [Audrey abdicating the Throne and Katherine taking over as Sovereign], as well as the Coronation ceremony.

Luthorian embassies across the Globe were tasked with officially inviting all heads of state and government to the Coronation of the upcoming Empress of Luthori. Prime Minister Reyburn called his Mordusian counterpart to begin the drafting of a common plan to deal with the fallout of the abdication.

@TheTimes