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Lady Ananto-Westmoreland to Empress: "Consider getting married"
Head of House Ananto forms committee to consider potential suitors
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 6, 5701


Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland, at her office in downtown Kaliburg

Long-standing director of House Ananto and Miramar CEO Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland had some candid words for Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto that she made public this week. "Oh yeah, I told her that maybe she ought to consider getting married sometime," said Lady Ananto. "She's 28 years old. It's time she start considering the future of the dynasty."

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland made the comments during a wide-ranging and often lighthearted interview where she announced that she would be retiring from her position at House Ananto by July 1 of 5702. "We need some new blood in charge of this House," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "I informed Her Imperial Majesty of my desire to retire and we began identifying possible successors to me in this position, but we have not yet settled on a candidate as of this moment." Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland herself will be nearly 59 years old when she retires

Concerning the Empress' 'non-marriage' as Lady Ananto-Westmoreland joked, she added, "I know the Empress is very selective when it comes to who she chooses to surround herself with. She has a lot of personal relationships, but I informed her that she shouldn't expect to produce future heirs with her model friends, and she is not going to meet any suitable boyfriend, let alone husband material with her nose stuck in philosophy tomes during her free time. Her Imperial Majesty is a very thoughtful woman and that is to her credit most of the time, but her interests in the words of long dead thinkers, or purveyors of etymology don't really give her a fighting chance in the dating department, because she doesn't date." Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that the Empress is by nature introverted, and tends to listen rather than speak, "...like she's studying the people who are around her carrying on conversations and interacting with people. She's not exactly what you would call the life of the Party. And to be clear, this doesn't take away from her personality or her intellect at all--she is naturally inquisitive and spends her time collecting information like some people collect little statues from trips abroad. But some may see her as, perhaps you might say, socially awkward. Very comfortable and happy in small groups and with one or two close friends, miserable around strangers that she feels a pressure to personally impress."

In a fashion which seems characteristic of the Empress, Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that Her Imperial Majesty has asked her and Her Highness, the Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins to work together and prepare a list of possible suitors that she could be introduced to. "She wants to meet them in informal audience first," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "Her aunt and I just, well, lets say we sort of struggled not to laugh. Informal audiences are very formal, despite their designations. But it is what the Empress has asked for. So I guess we are forming a screening committee for our young cousin to procure her a husband." Lady Ananto-Westmoreland explained that this old fashioned activity was very common for the Monarch: "... several thousand years ago though, I mean. Lady Nicolette said she knew the Empress was a conservative, but even this reactionary request was surprising."

The matter settled, Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said over the next 8 months, the two Anantos will be considering perpetual suitors who meet Her Imperial Majesty's qualifications. "We are looking closer to home first," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "But if we have to we will go abroad." She wanted to make it clear that this was not an arranged marriage for the Empress. "Nobody is promising any marriages," she said, emphatically. "Her Imperial Majesty has asked us to locate strong potential suitors but intends to get to know the one she chooses before setting on a match. The man has to be intelligent and funny over all. It will help if he brings heritable titles, but that's not required. He should be older than she: She does not intend to marry, as she puts it, 'some juvenile just out of the NSP.' He has to also be willing to sacrifice a lot of his own personal privacy, which is part of dating a monarch, and has to be kind and gentle."

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland added, "She didn't say it, but Lady Nicolette and I have decided also that he has to be decent looking. She didn't add that to the list, and I don't think she really cares, but that's for us: The Empress' Consort can't look like a complete meathead or be deformed. He has to be someone we would be proud to see on our money."

@LaModa