Spotted! A real Turkish Princess!

A true Turkish Princess has enamored many, in the past few days. No one knew of her until her grandfather Osman Nami Osmanoğlu, who is the grandson of Sultan Abdülhamit II. passed last week. Roxanne Kunter is the direct descendant of a throne owner.

True Beauty!

I was one of the many who were taken by her beauty when I saw her picture taken at the funeral, on the front page of the Sunday paper. She had a scarf loosely over her hair to oblige with the protocol of a mosque. Actually it is no surprise that her looks would be breathtaking. She comes from a long, long lineage of beautiful women. The Ottoman Empire ruled for around six hundred years. The Sultans had harems and were procreating only with the most beautiful women from different regions of the world. So many genes of beauty entered that family tree that it is normal that Turkish Princesses look like fairy tale beauties. Aside from her gorgeousness, her royalty manifests through the strength in her eyes. Her great grandfathers were some of the most powerful, most feared men in world history. It is visible in her eyes that she comes from that lineage.

Her presence in the flesh touched me, as not much is heard of the royal family’s current life, unless one passes. In the beginning of the last century, after the revolution, when modern Turkey was formed, the Ottoman Royal family had to go into exile. Many members moved to Europe. I guess due to fear of take over, for a long time they were kept away.

Royal life in the Ottoman Empire was cut throat competitive in the literal sense. As there were many beauties in the Harem, the ruling Sultan would have sexual encounters with more than one lady. The first born son would be heir to the throne. Many brothers from different mothers are known to have killed each other for the crown. The one to survive it all and make it out alive got the throne. The same rule applied for the mothers of the Sultans. As long as she is exquisitely beautiful, even a slave girl could end up part of the Harem, so in that sense there were no cast systems or other upward mobility obstacles in the Ottoman Empire. The same way little Christian boys, enslaved from captured regions were raised to become top commandants of the Ottoman army. They would be rich and very well respected not only within the nation but anywhere they go, as they had important ranks in a strong Empire.

Compared to other strong kingdoms of the world, at the time there was a much stronger sense of possibilities in the Ottoman Empire, the ability of social and economic mobility.

A slave girl could become the mother of the next Sultan. Of course in her former land she probably was royalty, enslaved thru invasion of her country. This still seems more democratic as people were not stuck in the rank or class that they were born into. People were making an effort to place their girls in the Harem as young, as age of two so she would be raised in the Palace taught all kinds of etiquette and proper manners suitable to be part of the royal environment, until she reached the proper age to meet the Sultan. Once part of Harem, even if the Sultan never showed interest in her, they had to find her a suitable husband, possibly a promising young officer who would provide well for her. So contrary to common belief Harem was a place that people wanted to become part of, as it was a gateway to a certain life, linked to the royal family.

Then again survival was key. Members of the Harem were assassinated by rivals as soon as the pregnancy was noticed. A girl who was impregnated by the Sultan had to hide her pregnancy, until she could inform him or someone close to him. Once she had the boy, she had to look out for him, until he gets the throne. The survivors were not only the most beautiful ladies but also very intelligent ones, with a strong sense of survival and very sharp manipulation skills. The Ottoman gene pool was not only filled with beauty, but also with intelligence which explains part of the success of the empire for as long as it lasted.

When I read the news that another member of the Royal Ottoman family had died at the age of 97, for a moment it made me wonder how he must have felt, being denied of his royal treatment, even though he is a direct descendant of the Sultans, that as a nation, we all are so proud of. Then again, none of those Sultans got to live to be ninety. None had peaceful lives either.

Reminiscing on our history made me notice that; although the Ottoman Empire was ‘just’ in the sense that they were way ahead of the world with the possibility of a ‘nobody’ having a chance to become ‘somebody’ while the rest of the world was comfortably racist against anyone that could be viewed as a lower rank, at same time because the one in charge had all the power, our history is filled with incredibly unjust events that took place while fighting for power.

They say history repeats itself. Sadly in this day and time, I observe that those in charge lose their sense of fairness against those they rival with, although it is very essential to maintain and stabilize fairness for the benevolence of the whole nation, and future generations. At the time leaders were brutal as survival was at stake even for members of the royal family, yet now it is a democracy. No one is beheaded when they loose power.

It is time to keep the interest of the people and future generations, ahead of the ‘whatever it takes, to survive’ attitude!

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