Prince Dimitri of Lovia

HRH King Dimitri I of Lovia, born Dimitri Thomas Noble (April 13, 1991, Noble City), is the current ruling monarch of Lovia and a Lovian statesman and businessman. He is the sixth ruling monarch of Lovia, the nephew of the unmarried king, Arthur III. He was crowned on November 9, 2007 in the Palati Daidalo. For personal reasons, he stepped down as King of Lovia in August 2008. The kingdom had since then been abandoned and was later replaced by a state democracy. On November 9, 2009 however, Dimitri Noble returned and was crowned for the second time.

King Dimitri is elected Governor of Sylvania in 2008 and a Mayor of Noble City since the death of King Arthur III. He is also active in several neighborhoods and smaller projects. Beside his political tasks, he is a student, businessman, author, occassional producer nd actor, a sigillist and philanthropist.

In late 2009, HRH King Dimitri I announced to be in a relationship with Mary Elisabeth Nelson, a Lovian graduate student and university researcher. The couple has been engaged since December 3 and is planning to get married in 2010.

Biography
The King of Lovia is the youngest King ever, and among the youngest ruling Monarchs around the world. Yet, he has had an interesting life as monarch and there is a lot to tell about his young life.

Early life
Princess Sarah gave birth to a son on April 13, 1991, in the Noble City General Hospital. Prince Thomas and his loving wife named the healthy son Dimitri Thomas Noble, and he became known to the public as Prince Dimitri. It’s not certain why the parents chose a rather unusual name for Lovian royalty.

The happy family lived in one of the living areas of the Old Royal Palace in Noble City. They moved in 1995 to a house in Artista because Sarah needed rest and healthy air, due to her illness. Dimitri’s younger brother, Prince Alexander, was born in 1995, just after moving to the artist neighborhood. The family moved back to the Royal Palace in 1998. Princess Sarah died that year, suffering from cancer. His father, Prince Thomas, died in a car accident in the Autumn of 2005.

The little prince went to kindergarden in his native city and to primary school, earlier than most children. He was a very clever child with a lively interest for art, books and society. He loved to draw and paint as a child, but this talent receded into the background when his studies became more demanding. He skipped twice a class and at the age of sixteen he entered the Nobel University.

His parents tought him many languages, such as Dutch, French and some Spanish and German. In school he was teached Latin, which the monarch used often while reading classic Roman and Greek literature.

Ruling Monarch (2007-2008)
His uncle, King Arthur III died in 2007, after a period of illness. There was no direct successor for the reign of Lovia. As both Prince Thomas and his wife Sarah had died earlier, their eldest son would become King of Lovia. Princess Elisabeth and Prince Sebastian were also on the list for the inheritance of the throne, but at the end, Prince Dimitri was chosen as the successor. On November 9, 2007, the Royal Advisor and Master of Ceremony Yuri Medvedev, a friend from school from a rich family, crowned the King. As the tradition in Lovia requires, no religious symbols or actions were taking and the King was crowned surrounded by friends and political people.

King Dimitri I started his reign with the writing and signing of the new Constitution, which was able to substitute the former law. He created a new Congress, with two drafting and voting Chambers. He set up Federal Elections and State Elections. On Inauguration Day 2007 Dimitri’s friend Yuri Medvedev was elected Member of the Congress and Prime Minister. The two got together and chose which MOTC would get which department. The new government, Medvedev I called, started on February 1.

The king studies English Philology and Literature at the Nobel University and manages to attend other courses on politics and law. Rumors said the king would attend Princeton or Yale to continue his studies else. The king himself has never confirmed such rumors, but family members and close friends are thought to have said he had planned study trips to the United States or Europe or to attend college at famous universities for one or two years.

On April 13, 2008, the 265th birthday of Thomas Jefferson, King Dimitri of Lovia celebrated his 17th birthday. He was surprized by many friends, including the well-known Secretary of Culture, Heritage and Education, who offered His Majesty a lovely cake and flowers in the name of his department. Also Pierlot McCrooke congratulated the young monarch around 10 AM.

After leaving the throne
King Dimitri renounced in August 2008. He also stated that he would leave the country for a while; he said he needed some rest after a hard period in the political world. Later on he announced a probable return "when the time is there", though not as king. He sometimes still visited the country, what brought happiness to everyone. So stated Lars Washington: «It looks like a big reunion here!».

Lovia went into deep recession, partly as a result of the financial crisis, in late 2008. The political landscape was even worse off: no general elections were organized at the beginning of 2009 and as of February 1, 2009, the country was officially ungoverned. Though Lovia had no legal authorities, there were little outbreaks of violence. In fact, the nation looked abandoned. In the Summer of 2009, former Prime Minister Yuri Medvedev staged a peaceful coup, which failed to restore the democracy.

Second reign (2009)
On November 9, 2009, Dimitri Noble was crowned for the second time, now at the Capitol.

Private life
Being very keen about his privacy, very little is known about his personal life. There have been rumors about relationships, but none of them has been confirmed by any official source, nor has convincing evidence been revelated.

Affair with Mary Elisabeth Nelson
November 12th, 2009, La Quotidienne announced the following: "Lovia has a Queen!" In the article, the author Alexandru Latin writes that sources say Mary Elisabeth Nelson, a young university assistant and researcher, aged 18, is engaged in a relationship with HRH. "Some sources say she'll be the King's bride" and "[...] other sources claim to have seen them frequently together." HRH would have responded by denying the rumors, saying "You know, I [...] am befriended to Mary Elly, nothing more, nothing less." The news appeared in Hurbanova Novine as well. The rumors began when a November 9 poll in La Quotidienne revealed the wish of many Lovians to have a queen.

It was November 14, 2009, when the same newspaper came up with the evidence of Mary Elisabeth's relationship with Lovia's most powerful man. In the afternoon, the newspaper published an article entitled Mary Elly admits: "Dimitri and I are in love". In the article, it is revealed that Miss Nelson was at the King's palace the day before, and they had been intimate in the Royal Gardens. A picture of the couple shot by one of the Quotidienne journalist accompanied the article. Miss Nelson would have admitted to "having a special connection" with the King to the journalists. Both The Noble City Times and Hurbanova Novine published the story within a short time. No official declarations have been made by HRH King Dimitri yet.

On November 17, 2009, HRH King Dimitri officially recognized his relational involvement. In a press conference, he explained the situation and asked for respect and patience. Since then, media commotion has dropped.

On December 3rd, King Dimitri and Mary Elisabeth announced in The Noble City Times to be engaged. They are planning to get married in 2010.

Social policy
The King's best known social policy used to be: "everybody deserves a chance". It has always been one of Lovia's most important policies and still was under the reign of King Dimitri I. An example that is often given to illustrate this, is the following: Pierlot McCrooke, in Libertas and other wiki nations also known as Klaast, had a criminal record in foreign nations. He was known as a vandalist and a childish person. As Pierlot moved to Lovia, he was warmly welcomed (I hope you enjoy your stay. Any questions? You know where to find me. (smile)). Though, some people told HRH that he was a criminal in Libertas. The King responded by saying I want to give him a first chance in Lovia. In the end, Pierlot has proven to be a good citizen with the right people around him and tolerance and support.

HRH opposed significant differences between social classes and the idea of those classes itself. He did not want to introduce a nobility in Lovia, nor did he want special statutes for citizens with great efforts. Instead, he launched the Gifts and Awards organization, a popular way of saying thank you to somebody without granting him any special rights or titles.

Other social policies include tolerance, towards all religions, races, origins, political opinions and gender.

Cultural policy
King Dimitri I was one of the Lovian monarchs with the widest cultural interests. His Majesty was a great supporter of popularization of art and culture. He supported the Lovian Museum for Modern Art and started his own art museum. This museum, the Royal Art Gallery in King's Gardens, was built to exhibit all art owned by the royal family, again to give the people a chance of getting familiar with all kinds of art.

Democracy policy
As framer of the Constitution, Prince (at that time) Dimitri wanted to ensure democracy, freedom and a good separation of the powers, though that was more difficult due to the low population numbers. In the Constitution the different powers and their abilities were enshrined. The Ruling Monarch and the demoractically elected Prime Minister governed the nation (the executive branch), while the elected Congress was the legislative branch. Justice was a separate branch, though had some links to the executive branch, because the Supreme Court Judges were appointed by the Secretary of Justice and the Prime Minister. The Constitution was considered to be a good base for democracy, regarding the small possibilities of a low-populated nation. There had been much criticisms on the the power of the King, which was partly described in the democratic Constitution, and partly depended on the personal interpretation of the King. After the third amendement however, the state form was changed and the function of king was abolished.

Art and literature
His Royal Highness loves to read literary works. Until short he poorly did any reading, due to homework and government issues, but as of 2009 he has embraced reading as a hobby. HRH is known to be a well-read person in both English and Dutch language literature. His favorite authors are thought to be: Leo Tolstoy, Walter Moers, Walter Van den Broek, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vergil, Horace, Homer, Jules Verne, George Smith, Chekhov etc. He wrote his first book himself in 2008, the non-fiction Lovian society book The Stairway. It is said King Dimitri I was willing to write more often, and might even try poetry.

Dimitri I is a great fan of art, especially Romanticism and American Art. In his Royal Office at Palati Daidalo he has tried to collect great pieces of art. He frequently visited the Lovian Museum for Modern Art in both Newhaven and Little Europe. As of April 2008, the Royal Art Gallery in King's Gardens opened as an initiative of the King. In this museum the royal family exhibits all their great art collections, such as The Fighting Téméraire. This painting King Dimitri bought himself earlier that year, and has become one of the key symbols of the Dimitrian monarchy.

Legacy and public opinion
Buildings, rooms and streets named after him: Yuri Medvedev made two art works of HRH Dimitri I, based on his pictures.
 * The Noble Buildings in Newhaven,
 * The Noble Hall in the Lovian Museum for Modern Art,
 * The Dimitri Street in King's Gardens,
 * The King Dimitri Hotel in Downtown Noble City,
 * The King Dimitri Foundation.

King Dimitri I was a rather controversial person in most UWN nations. In Adlibita, Mäöres and even Libertas criticisms were made on his power in Lovia and the "abuse" of these powers. Still, in Lovia he was seen as quite a good monarch, being devotated to his task. He himself declared he loved Lovia and would do anything for his nation.

Ancestry

 * Note: Lavender colored boxes: Ruling Monarch of Lovia
 * Note: Cornsilk colored boxes: civilian