1964 Great Lakes constitutional crisis



In 1964, a constitutional crisis in the Kingdom of the Great Lakes was ignited when the reigning monarch, Louis I announced his intention to marry his longtime mistress Jamie Louise Greenfield, a Sierran commoner and Canaanist. The union was opposed by the ruling National Party and most Prospectors. The Prime Minister, James St. Martin, attempted to remain neutral early in the controversy, but ultimately took an anti-Louis stance.

The crisis ended in a People's Convention, in which a new monarch was directly elected by popular vote, the first and to date, only, such convention to be held since the formation of the monarchy in 1805. Richard II of Superior, Louis' younger brother, was elected King and was coronated a year and a half later, following a lengthy appeal to the Supreme Court by Louis.

The affair has been viewed as the culmination of years of reign under an unpopular King who "was overthrown by his own misactions which created a perfect scandal needed to justify his ousting".

Background


Louis I of Michigan was an unusual monarch from the beginning of his reign. He took an interest in the politics of the Great Lakes and openly made partisan statements, against the recommendation of his advisers. He was notorious for breaking long-established protocol and garnered a reputation as a womanizer. It was not uncommon for him to skip social gatherings in favor spending a night at his Mackinac Island retreat where he typically drank and gambled heavily. Richard Drufeyuss, son of the Lord of Superior at the time, described the King as "Very unkingly".

Louis I met Sierran socialite Jamie Louise Greenfield in 1963 while on a fishing trip in Cancun. The King took an immediate liking to her and the two began a relationship which was kept out of the public's eye. The upper elites of the Great Lakes aristocracy, however, were keenly aware of their relationship and it became something of an open secret. Greenfield would often be seen with the King at private parties and would often tell other patrons that she was a "distant relative" of the King. Rumors as to why their relationship was being kept secret began to circulate among the Great Lake's nobles. One accusation lodged against her is that she was, another was that she was a swinger or polyamorous. The King became aware of these rumors and decided to publicly out his relationship with Greenfield.

Reception to Greenfield
The elites of the Great Lakes were immediately suspicious of Greenfield, not only because of the previously secret nature of her relationship to the King, but because of demeanor in general. Lord Lubin, 5th Lord of Superior, explains: "She can never look you in the eye. Her conversations are terse and she is always found clinging to His Majesty. Speaking as a man who has regrettable experiences with these sorts of women, I must say Ms. Greenfield fits the bill too well". Louis I dismissed doubts raised against his mistress and his refusal to listen to his family or advisers created large amounts of resentment for the King.

Marriage proposal and opposition
Frustrated by the lack of acceptance for Greenfield, Louis dramatically proposed to her on April 18, 1964 during a baseball game in Detroit which he, and other notable guests, attended. The event was widely denounced in the media as "Bombastic" and "Uncooth". Daily Peninsula referred to it as a "Royal Faux Pas". Members of Parliament also criticized the King. Vivian Moruney, a National and then one of only three female representatives in the House, stated in front of a joint session "We have a monarch who is stupidly in love with a foreign commoner. It is of my opinion this Parliament must do everything it can to protect our realm from the foolish actions of His Majesty." Partisan opposition was most vocal among Prospectors although more Nationals in total were against the union of the King and Greenfield. The Nationals reluctance to declare their opposition for the marriage stemmed from the fact that whenever Louis I became involved with Parliamentary politics, it was in favor of the Nationals. Although a few believed having the endorsement of the reigning monarch was an invaluable asset, the vast majority of the party refused to accept Greenfield as their potential new Queen and believed restoring the prestige of the monarchy was more important. Speaker of the House Thomas Kieger famously said "Protocol before politics".

Opposition intensified when it was revealed Greenfield was a Canaanist, which was seen as in conflict with the Catholic monarchy.



Until now, the Prime Minister, National James St. Martin, had opted to remain silent on the issue, only offering vague statements wishing for a peaceful end. However, after May 1964, pressure was mounting for him to choose a side so that Parliament may be more unified in its official stance on the controversy. St. Martin, in a much-anticipated statement, said "The King's actions as of late have been in complete violation of accepted convention. We cannot accept any more meddling in Parliamentary affairs by His Majesty, nor can we accept Ms. Greenfield as our Queen-consort, whose unknown past, and incompatible faith, leaves her unfit to share the throne".

Calls for a convention
By June, and with St Martin's statement, it became Parliament's mission to halt the marriage of the King and Greenfield, or at the very least, prevent her from becoming Queen-consort. Seeing as how Louis was refusing to reconsider his desire to marry Greenfield nor had any intention of abdicating, it was decided removing him from the Throne was the only suitable option. A People's Convention was proposed and endorsed by a petition signed by over 500 thousand people, calling for the election of a new monarch. The legal basis for such a convention was found in Article 3 of the Great Lakes Constitution which states:

It was argued that a popular vote was a legal method of selecting the monarch, which defaults to male primogeniture otherwise. The King disagreed, arguing the provision does not explicitly allow popular elections for the monarch and that while Stephen was chosen by popular demand, so were his descendants. Essentially, it was the Crown's case that the first People's Convention held in 1809, by proxy, elected not only Stephen, but each successive monarch afterwards.

A judicial inquiry was called by Parliament to examine the legality of a People's Convention. Over 150 constitutional lawyers were called to testify their opinion on the matter. The majority opinion was that a People's Convention was constitutionally allowed as nothing strictly forbade it in the constitution, which became the inquiry's conclusion. The Crown's appointed attorney Richard Aspen rejected this finding, arguing Parliament had intentionally called lawyers they knew would be supportive of a Convention. Aspen then appealed to the Supreme Court of the Great Lakes to resolve the matter. The Court agreed to hear the case which was named Aspen v. Parliament.