Kalistan

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La Moda Interviews the Princess of the Empire
"I think Her Imperial Majesty will be her own woman" said former Empress
Eveari, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 3, 5692


Her Highness, Princess of the Empire Mary Ananto-DeLaurentis, at home in Eveari

La Moda had the opportunity to sit down with Her Highness, Princess of the Empire Mary Ananto-DeLaurentis at her home on the Ananto Estate in Eveari this month. The interview was a wideranging affair, but what is clear that even after all this time, the Princess is finally taking it easy and enjoying life.

(La Moda's) C(hristina) E(ggleston): Good afternoon your Highness. It is a pleasure to meet you after all this time.

(Her Highness, the Princess of the Empire) M(ary) A(nanto-DeLaurentis)- After all this time? How long were you waiting?

CE: What I mean is, I grew up reading about you and learning about you. Your reign was more or less a golden age in Kalistan, and it is a pleasure to finally get to sit down and speak with one my own childhood heroes.

MA: I see, well, You can't be more than 27 years old, so I suppose I can accept that compliment. I am not sure I have done much that is heroic though.

CE: Of course you have, Your Majesty. You were the Empress of Ananto and Kalistan.

MA: Do you know what I had to do to become Empress, my dear?

CE: Madame, is this a trick question?

MA: No, perhaps it is a rhetorical question. What I mean to say is I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter of my being Empress. It was sort of given to me a bit too early I will add. I can't say I ever actually wanted it: My sister, on the other hand, I would have abdicated in her favor in a heart break if she would have ever accepted it. But you know these crazy Anantos--So stuck in their ways. So it fell to me.

CE: Well, My Lady, it is still wonderful to meet you.

MA: Likewise, and I very interested in this interview. Now that I am retired, I get to read La Moda a lot more often. I loved your piece on the Tartan. I wrote a letter to Allison (Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland, head of House Ananto) thanking her for laying it all out for you all.

CE: How is Lady Jensen these days?

MA: We were trying to keep it private but I suppose I should break the news, my family already knows. Lady Jensen is dying. She is suffering from kidney failure, and I think she is about done with dialysis.

CE: They won't do a kidney transplant?

MA: No. Bless you for asking sweetheart, but I think we're well past that point. She's actually a little older than me, and I am 82. And you know, I think she would like to be the one who decides when she goes, so we're talking to each other. I know its very selfish of me, but I am not quite ready to let her go yet. You spend such a long time with someone, its just hard, even though you know they are suffering. At the end of the day, I am getting used to Death visiting my home.

My father and mother, my sister, my son and daughter in law, my two little grandsons, and now Martin is gone and Ginny is leaving. Thank goodness I still have my daughter and Granddaughter: Thank god they still live. When it is my turn, and Death comes for me, I think I will smile and ask him why he was so cruel to take all my friends and family, and leave me here, but then I will welcome him with open arms and ask him to take me so I can see those I have lost again.

CE: How is your health, Madame? All this talk of death has me a little concerned.

MA: Me? I am strangely fit as a fiddle. I still hike daily, even if it is only 6 miles or so into the woods--Sometimes I like to hike the North Shore from Dulnerstaad where my father's sister used to hike with me when I was a kid. Nobody goes out there, and I can see how all our little trees are growing up so tall. I still help plant trees in the summer, though I am getting more concerned I am going to hurt myself, so I leave a lot of the heavy lifting to the younger generations, and I share what I know: People like to come out to help because they still think I am something, but also because they still think my cause matters, and I am so grateful for all the help. But yes, I am in excellent health, inexplicably. I think I might need to get a filling this month, but otherwise, nothing at all to complain about.

CE: Have you ever thought about authoring a biography? I know you are just being modest, but your life has been truly amazing and I believe Kalistanis from every walk of life would love to read it.

MA: Goodness no. I am a simple Brethrenist, and a very private person. Besides, I have forgotten so much about my life, any biography of me would be very short.

CE: I see you still wear your jewelry.

MA: Old habits, you know. This necklace was made for me by Reed maybe 25 years ago now. It's beautiful, and the earrings match, you see. These are beautiful.

CE: I bet they are very valuable.

MA: You have no idea, my girl. I don't think they have ever been priced, especially as todays rates, but the emeralds themselves must be worth tens of thousands. It's just best to not think of it.

CE: Why do you suppose Her Highness the Princess Regent doesn't often wear Jewelry?

MA: Well, Nicolette was never much for jewelry or all that adornment. She is such a beautiful girl, you know, I think she just finds the jewelry distracting. She spent a good portion of her life on the waves, and she would never wear it then, and she's kind of a hippy, maybe in a different way than people used to think I was. Like my daughter is a real hippy. Its a real chore for her to show up to work everyday. Don't get me wrong: I think she is doing a fantastic job. But I don't think she likes all the responsibility, and I know she is eager for the day that Carolina is crowned and she can go back to Luxon to never do this again.

CE: Do you think Her Imperial Majesty will follow in your footsteps or do you think she will take more after her father and mother?

MA: If Carolina is wise, she will follow after her aunt and hate the job. I can tell you, anyone who has ever been in that job has not loved it. I grew to tolerate it after 30 years, but I would never accept that sort of responsibility ever again. That was enough for three lifetimes. I think Carolina will be her own woman, actually. She's very smart, maybe as smart as my late sister Margaret, heck maybe smarter. I think she will carve out a path for herself as wide as the Ananto Strait, and will transform this Empire. I'll be here to help her as long as I can, and I know my daughter will be her chief advisor even after Carolina is crowned. But Carolina is so much more intelligent than all of us, so the world is hers to make of it what she wants.

CE: What do you think of the Princess Regent's administration of the Empire so far?

MA: Of course I approve it, but I must warn you, dear. Kalistan only has one Empress right now. My daughter is her Regent while she is in the NSP, but I was in the room for a lot of those decisions, and the input my grand daughter gave, even when she was too young to do so, was still often the course followed. I remembered the first time she used her pronouns around me. She had such a presence and a natural authority. We spent the next few years cultivating that in her.

So the Princess Regent herself, even now, does not move unless it is cleared with the Empress. This is why we are seeing a lot less coming from the National Government who are just keeping things running while the Empress finishes her National Service. But everything the Chancellor does, everything the Regent, my daughter, tells the Chancellor to get done, that is all Carolina already, and Carolina is learning very quickly how ready Kalistanis are to bow before her; her time in the NSP will be the last time anyone ever tells her what to do again.

CE: Are you concerned that this will give her an ego?

MA: Haha, Ms. Eggleston, you must have me confused with someone who thinks that is a bad thing.

CE: Not at all, Madame. But Carolina seems to be very humble and very down to earth. She hasn't spent much time before the cameras, nor has she made many public statements. I think the idea of her as an absolute monarch so soon is something many Kalistanis will have a hard time wrapping their head around.

MA: Give her time to put that crown on her head, and your opinion of her will change overnight. Look, Ms. Eggleston. Your Empress is what our people will demand her to be: A full and unquestionable autocrat. Having been in that role myself, I know something about it. She has been trained since she was 12 to expect to be obeyed by literally everyone around her.

She lives in a society which has a thousand institutions, all of which exist to turn her very breath into laws that affect the lives of more than 93 million Kalistanis. All those institutions ensure that if she utters anything like an imperative, the mechanisms of government turn in an instant. Without hesitation, without question, without any real opposition. Surely you don't mean to put someone in that position who doesn't have an ego? We all have egos. Our job not only permits us to be megalomanics, but almost requires it of us. It's why my daughter wants to get out of that role as soon as she can: She doesn't possess that temperament. But Carolina, she certainly does, and she will make us all very proud. You want your Empress to be decisive, you want your Empress to be confident, you want your Empress to solve problems and work for the welfare of her people. You don't want her to doubt, because your own faith and confidence comes from her decisiveness. You will never get someone who can do that in a democracy.

CE: I see what you mean, Your Majesty.

MA: This is something I know for sure. Carolina has her own ideas about things. She loves Valruzia and thinks the world of their President, not because she admires their democracy, but because she loves the idea of Seleya working together and she thinks Pawlik shares that dream. So she embraces the Valruzians, and Pawlik comes to Kalistan to a hero's welcome before she has ever even done anything in Valruzia. Carolina wants to strengthen ties with Hutori, because she believes that it is important to strengthen our ties with our historic friends. So we send the Hulanevek diamond to Hutori. Carolina thinks the animosity with Amudim has gone on long enough, so we join Bankaut.

These are not the decisions I would have made myself. These are certainly not the decisions Donahue, an ardent and uncompromising Nationalist wanted, but Carolina told her aunt to do it because she wasn't legally allowed to tell Donahue to do it, and even her aunt, the Princess Regent, said 'I'll take care of it, Majesty.' without even thinking twice about it. So at the end of the day, what does the opinion of an old woman matter, when even the Regent simply gives our Empress exactly what she has the right to demand.

Look, I'll give you an example of the sort of power Her Imperial Majesty possesses. One time, my Foreign Minister, and my close personal friend Lady Anya Waltrip went to speak with the Kundrati Legion. I was under the impression that Kalistan could buy our way out of that long standing conflict without any more death. So I made a deal with the literal most evil people on the face of the planet, people who were literally feeding their own people to their own people. People who were doing horrific medical experiments on their own children. People who would launch chemical attacks against the sleeping population of three Kalistani cities one night when I was a baby, and kill over 40,000 Kalistani civilians.

Point is, I concluded a deal with these people, and instead of soiling my hand by shaking these people's hand, I had my Foreign Minister shake their hand. I lost my foreign Minister's friendship that day--she never forgave me for that. But she did it, without question and without hesitation, and she worked for me for another 15 years. If an honorable person like that would so lower herself as to shake the hand of a fascist because I required her to, how much easier do you think it will be for Carolina to get people to do what they already want to do?

CE: Not hard at all, I suppose, Madame.

MA: Not hard at all. Carolina will rule this nation as we all have. Our velvet glove covers an iron gauntlet. And Carolina has already enthusiastically embraced her destiny. And there is a very good chance that she will never not be the smartest person in any room she walks into. She will be deadly to those who decide to try to test her. It stirs my nationalist blood just to think about it!

CE: Do you think Carolina is a Nationalist?

MA: Well, I think she is, but in a different way. Kalistan first last and always, the policy I more or less fell into, probably doesn't suit Carolina. She is playing a different game. We are into Fortress Kalistan right now, but part of that is to go out into the world and find those who will stand with Kalistan. So there is a measure of internationalist in Carolina's policy already. It's sort of baked in. It may change, but I don't think anyone who believes that she is personally the State and the avatar of the Kalistani People, as Carolina must, and as I did, can ever be considered not a hard nationalist.

But I think there might be a reason that La Moda is here interviewing me and not The National. They don't like some of the policies coming out of Kaliburg: They are blaming Nicolette for them, when of course, she is just doing what Carolina told her to do. I have a feeling this interview would be much more contentious if The National was here asking me questions.

CE: Well, we decided to interview you, because we wanted to write a feature on you now that you are fully in retirement, your duties with Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress being completed.

MA: Ha, well, as you can see, I'd say they are going very well.

At this point in the interview, Her Highness, the Princess of the Empire smiled kindly and asked La Moda to just shut off the recorder. She called it very offputting, and said she would like the opportunity to speak with our reporter just as people speak. She invited our Ms. Eggleston on a hike into the Eveari Grove of Redwoods. Eggleson, who had never ventured much into the redwood forest agreed to go for a walk. She later reported that the two spoke about how brave the Princess Regent was for stepping up to take the regency following the tragic loss of her brother, and how wonderful it was that The Princess adopted Her Imperial Majesty as her own daughter when the Empress had just lost both of her parents.

"My daughter is the kindest and most giving person I have ever met," said the Princess of the Empire during the hike. "She didn't have to do what she did, but she really did what we all needed her to do. Just like my sister made her life a life in service to this Empire, my daughter did what was asked of her and she has done it so well. I tell my daughter as often as I can how proud I am of her and how much I love her. And I know she had a lot of grief over her brother and Jennifer's loss, but I hoped that being able to be there for and with her as she mourned was helpful."

The Princess also talked about the lifecycle of the Kalistani Redwood, which she has an abiding fascination with since she was a teenager. "At one point this tree was an endangered species in Kalistan," said the Princess Regent. "When I started replanting these early in my reign, the only two wild stands were here in Eveari, and the grove in the Dragon Hills in Odufaray. All the other ones had long since been chopped down, and all replanting had been of conifers like pine and spruce, trees that grow fast and will recover clear cut hillsides quickly. The Redwood was almost gone. But since then we have planted more than 15 million trees all along the northern Shore of Ananto, and all along the maritime regions of Vrassa. And now, 60 years or so later, I can confidently say that in Kalistan, we have returned this majestic tree from the brink of extinction. The distinction between the old growth forests like this this one and the new restored groves will be obliterated within the next couple generations, but these forests will stand long after you and I are dead and forgotten, as a testament to people who cared."

She also noted how spooky she always thought it felt to walk under a tree which had been dropping humus for hundreds of years on this same spot. "The soil that feeds this tree is literally the detritus of its branches above us. Circle of life, and all. Can you imagine how much history this one tree here has seen and experienced? It gives me the chills just to think of it."

After several hours of Her Highness showing our reporter paths that only Her Highness had ever trodden, which she herself blazed decades before, she and the reporter returned to the Estate, where Her Highness only half heartedly apologized for taking up Ms. Eggleston's whole day, but eventually elicited an agreement that she had had fun on the walk. Our reporter bid the former Empress a fond farewell, grateful to have gotten to spend so much time talking to the Princess of the Empire off the record, "just as two normal people would talk about anything," in the words of Her Highness, the Princess of the Empire.

@LaModa