Independent Royalist Party of Estonia

Independent Royalist Party of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Rojalistlik Partei) was a frivolous political party in Estonia in the formed in 1989[1]. It is now defunct.[2]

The party, widely considered a humorous expression of protest, was successful in the 1992 Estonian parliamentary elections, with 32,638 votes, gaining eight seats in the parliament (Riigikogu). Its most prominent members were known humorists Priit Aimla, Kirill Teiter and Ralf Parve, and the party was led by Kalle Kulbok.

The party's official programme called for establishing Estonia as a monarchy, as modeled by Sweden and Norway. In 1994 they asked Prince Edward, of the United Kingdom, to be crowned King of Estonia, as he was far enough down the line of succession and fairly popular; Buckingham Palace politely declined the request, stating it was "a charming idea, but a rather unlikely one".[3]

In practice, the party's main achievement was consistent ridicule of laws its members found ridiculous, for example, getting rid of the proposed hour of prayer in the parliament by repeatedly performing a stylized "Neopagan" rite, complete with tambourine. The party also performed an "eating strike", as opposed to the simultaneous hunger strikes by some pro-Russian politicians.

List of members who served in Riigikogu

References

  1. ^ Grofman, Bernard; Mikkel, Evald; Taagepera, Rein (1 December 2000). Fission and fusion of parties in Estonia, 1987-1999 (PDF). Irvine, California: University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Eesti erakondade ajalugu". erakonnad.instituut.ee. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  3. ^ https://estonianworld.com/life/britains-prince-edward-was-asked-to-become-the-king-of-estonia/
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