Lutienne II

Lutienne II (born Lutienne Aþal Hraina Kairine fajana Drakobaurg; 2 6, 1974) is the current Queen of Raiftsmark, serving as of Raiftsmark. She is the second child of Alaweis IV and Paitra, Queen Mother; she has an older brother (Prince Pairtsabal) and two younger brothers (Crown Prince Xriso, Prince Darius). She ascended to the throne on 12 25, 2003 during Kaurissmas, following her father's ceremonial abdication due to old age.

Lutienne was born in the infirmary of the Drakopyll Palace. She was born during the reign of her father and spent most of her life as the Duchess of Tarispaulei, the customary title for the second in the line of succession to the Katalese throne; her older brother, Pairtsabal, was the Crown Prince of Raiftsmark during that time. She attended public schooling in Aþasdaur for her early life, but would attend higher education at the prestigious University of Hastabaurg in Sundemarck. After her completion of two simultaneous bachelor's degrees in political science and military history, she joined the Sundish Foreign Legion under the alias of Aleiwia Amslo, a decision kept secret from the Sundish and even Katalese public. During this period of absence, practically disappearance, from the public radar, Lutienne would participate in various Sundish military operations: her participation in the Milima War as part of the TTO intervention is attested, while her involvement in various other military operations is strongly suggested. She attained the rank of major by the end of her 14-year commission. After controversy surrounding her enlistment in a foreign military and rumors of war crimes committed by her unit during her military career arose, she left the Sundish military and became Deputy Foreign Minister to the TTO of Raiftsmark. She married Pandenulf Randewski, Brigadier of the Household Brigade of Sundemarck, in 2013 right before her coronation in the same year.

In early 12 of 2013, her father announced his planned abdication to the surprise of the Katalese public. Unprecedented in royal tradition, Lutienne would be appointed as his heir, skipping over the heir apparent Pairtsabal presumably for his controversially opulent and lavish lifestyle. Although suggested to have been excluded from the line of succession entirely, Pairtsabal was nonetheless allowed to retain an honorary. Lutienne would be crowned the Queen of Raiftsmark on Kaurissmas of the same year, becoming the second female monarch to ever rule the country.

Early life and education
Lutienne was born at 03:14 local time on 2 6, 1974 in the infirmary of the House of Drakobaurg's main residence - Drakopyll Palace, Aþasdaur - additionally the traditional birthplace of all Katalese monarchs. Her twin brother, Xriso was born on the same day, though technically later than her. She is the second child of then-King Alaweis IV and Queen Consort Paitra. She is the fourth grandchild of the late King Sigiwardus III and his then-Queen Consort Airmunahilds (who is still alive at the age of 101 as of 2024).

She was christened Lutienne Aþal Hraina Kairine fajana Drakobaurg on 3 15, 1974 by the Archbishop of Katal Segeric Weihsbrand (who serves to this day) at the Cathedral of the Entombing of Kauriss. It is on this occasion that she would be named Lutienne; after her ancestor Lutienne I (r. 1636-1719), the first (and at that point only) female monarch of the country. Aside from Weihsbrand, her godparents were Audagairns fan Grausskild, Lukilswaurd of Raiftsmark; Princess Brunhilde, ; and Karl VIII, Duke of Maigebaurg. She was affectionately nicknamed "Tenny" by her close family. Lutienne's early life was spent in the expansive estate of the Drakopyll Palace, taken care of by her mother Paitra and grandmother Airmunahilds. As the second child of the King and thus second in the line of succession, she held the customary title of Duchess of Tarispaulei from her birth until her eventual coronation.

For her primary and secondary education, Lutienne attended the Royal Academy of Wh. Alaweis in Aþasdaur, a private and royally chartered traditionally attended by the royal family and much of the aristocracy of Raiftsmark - a prestigious status which made academic life within all the more competitive. As is traditionally demanded, members of the royal family did not receive preferential treatment, attending classes normally as with the rest of the students. While her academic history was reportedly average comparatively to the rest of her grade, she excelled athletically: Lutienne practiced ballet from the age of 5, then switched to martial arts at the age of 10. When she reached the secondary grade in the Academy, she joined its club, even managing to become a member of the collegiate fencing team. She received the silver medal in an interschool fencing competition, and was reportedly scouted for potential recruitment into the national fencing team Framskip Anwig - unheard of for a female athlete at the time. She would take up shooting some time during her teenage years, regularly joining her father (a relative rare opportunity considering his otherwise absence in the household) on hunting trips in the royal estates, as well as safaris in both Raiftsmark and at times beyond. "All you write home about is your everlasting love for steel", wrote her mother, replying to a fully-detailed letter from Lutienne about one of her safari trips.

In a rare interview about her childhood life - any interviews at all were rare in general - Lutienne echoed sentiments from Wh. Alaweis alumni regarding the especially rigorous and intensive nature of the academy's curriculum, though approvingly remarked that she was "glad" to have attended it. Reports on cases of verbal and physical abuse by both staff and students notwithstanding, she stated that "tales of its relentlessness are true, if at times embellished. I found it to have taught me a great deal of valuable lessons about myself - it's a trial by fire you'd have to experience yourself to truly appreciate." By the time of her graduation, she proved to attain "satisfactory" grades in her academic subjects, in contrast excelling in physical education.

During her enrollment in the Royal Academy, her youngest brother Darius would be born in 1979. Xaris fan Titanja, royal historian and biographer, attests that Lutienne maintained a close relationship with her brothers from childhood. Despite intermittent disruptions owing to her scholarly obligations, she is said to have made sure to spare time to interact and care for her siblings. She shared an especially close bond with Xriso, who being from complications of birth, oftentimes relied upon her sister for regular travel - an impromptu duty she took to gladly. The exception to this was with her older brother Pairtsabal born in 1963, who she stated in her biography was difficult to connect with because of their difference in age, though less official sources have suggested a greater disdain on her part towards her older brother.

After her graduation, Lutienne matriculated abroad in the prestigious University of Hastabaurg in Sundemarck, pursuing a dual major in and. Her final thesis was on the sociopolitical effects of papal influence in the secular political sphere in Hatar, with a focus on the Katalese Crusades and resultant breakup of the Synodate of Katalia into Raiftsmark and. During her junior year, she would attend the Alufest Maskarade, an illustrious gala convened by the aristocratic houses of Hatar and participated by important personages around the world. In accordance with the traditions of the Maskarade, should multiple suitors court an attendee of the gala, said suitors must engage one another in a trial of combat for the right to attend the gala with the attendee. Lutienne would successfully duel two would-be suitors for her own hand, though she notably lost in her final bout to Pandenulf Randewski, Duke of Sandmar and later uncle of the current King of Sundemarck, Visimar IV. He would attend the Maskarade with her hand.

Military service
Immediately after receiving her two baccalaureates in political science and military history in 1996, Lutienne would enlist in the Sundish Foreign Legion under the alias of Aleiwia Amslo, entering with the rank of. Relatively little record (or at least those that can be attested) exists of her time in the Sundish military: the royal family has maintained confidentiality over relevant matters, even more so as Lutienne rose to the throne in 2013. Indeed, she has essentially vanished from the public for this entire duration, with minimal communication from her royal estate with both the press and public - most such communications would only amount to a "no comment". Most outstandingly, all communications from her estate ceased between 2002 and 2009, which when coupled with her total absence from any Katalese state occasions attracted the unwanted attention of foreign media. Throughout this process, Katalese media remained notably silent on the matter, in adherence with unspoken protocol to leave all reporting on the royal family to the : Thrym Wilja.

News regarding her enlistment in the Sundish military broke when the Rauchenbaurg Freistairno, a Sundemarck-based newsmagazine, published an issue titled The Invisible Princess in 2009 analyzing her disappearance from the public eye. In this issue, investigative journalists from Freistairno, noting Lutienne's unexplained absence since her graduation from Hastabaurg, analyzed the contents of the rare royal communiques mentioning her and the various statements and pictures released by her estate since her graduation. They concluded that Lutienne had assumed the identity of Aleiwia Amslo to join the Sundish Foreign Legion, and had transferred to the regular Sundeswehr some time after she reached the threshold for. Records attest that she would join the Nr. 5 Freihas Wardarus-Brigade (5th Independent Parachute Brigade) after her transfer, participating in various Sundish military operations throughout her career in the military, which would all in all last from 1996 to 2010. Notably, while she used her assumed identity for all official records, her true identity was an open secret in her unit: she was known by the nickname "Royal Pain", among many other similarly regal titles. By the end of her commission in 2010, she would attain the rank of, granted command over a of 150 men.

Controversies
Although details on Lutienne's career in the Sundish military is scarce (for obvious reasons), more information has occasionally surfaced after the Rauchenbaurg Freistarno's exposé piece, more often than not suppressed through the broad laws written into Katalese legislation. The most substantiated of these was her deployment as part Sundemarck's operations during Operation Savannah Storm, the ABC intervention in Blausland in 2002. A Katalese royal's involvement in a conflict which Raiftsmark itself was not part of, and one which had not actually enjoyed full approval in both the legislature and public, was controversial. This alongside the fact that a royal so high up in the line of succession (second-in-line then) was implicated in active combat, one which involved boots on the ground and even operations, urged questions regarding the exact intentions of the royal family which had presumably allowed her to go this far. Fringe theories about an indirect attempt at removing her from the line of succession and supposed interpersonal conflicts which had led the royal family to such a point notwithstanding, the royal family has refused any official comment on her career in the Sundish military.

The Nr. 5 Freihas Wardarus-Brigade which she was a part of would be an additional attractor of controversy. Given the secrecy which the unit operated under, various rumors have arisen regarding her exact activities within the unit and with the Sundeswehr in general, most unconfirmed. Amongst all these, the for her career was the implication of the Brigade in the "" of Blausland Security Service insurgents. An anonymous whistleblower attested that her company had carried out such interrogations themselves, suggesting either her direct or tacit approval of such methods (which have been equated to torture in oriental law). Though unattested, speculations on Lutienne's direct involvement in the interrogation of insurgents exist, supported by her implied approval of such methods in past statements and royal interventions.

While her deployment in Blausland during the Milima War is the only confirmed conflict she participated in during her Sundish commission, varying evidence has strongly suggested her involvement in various other conflicts, generally as part of other international deployments of her brigade. Based on publicly available information, elements of the brigade were deployed to southern Avarda in 2005 as part of the peacekeeping mission Operation Dousing Spring; to the Territory of Murog in 2006 as part of the peacekeeping mission Operation Constancy of Reason; and to locations around Rhodin in 2008 as part of counter-terrorism operations falling under Operation Bluegrass Wall.

Reactions after the revelation of her long and secretive career in the Sundeswehr were mixed, but were mainly negative in local Katalese audiences. Conservative news anchor Xrisan Maiksbrun, echoing sentiment in nationalist circles, called for her to be stricken from the line of succession for the "treasonous" activity of fighting for another country's military. The outspoken anti-monarchist exile Dieter Leist deemed it to be further proof of the "negligent and wanton behavior" of the Katalese royalty, views which were variously imitated by republican news sites. Public opinion generally oscillated between these two extremes - the political clergy were initially primed to draw on these sentiments for ammunition, but an internal missive from the Archbishop Segeric Weihsbrand would silence all public comment on the matter from the Katalese Church. In a rare statement from the royal family, it was expressed that Lutienne nonetheless remained an "integral member" of the family - suggesting no change to her status as a potential heir to the Katalese throne. Reactions in Sundemarck itself was more apathetic - those with an opinion on the matter largely expressed pride regarding the membership of a prestigious figure in their national military, though republican segments of the public took it as further encroachment by the Hatarian royal establishment.

Public service
Lutienne did not renew her commission in the Sundeswehr in 2010, opting to return to Raiftsmark after an and attend to public duties again. For the first time since her graduation in 1996, she finally reappeared at a royally presided event during, though more public appearances were rare until public opinions cooled. In 9 of the same year, she would be appointed by royal recommendation as the Deputy Foreign Minister to the TTO of Raiftsmark, nominally based upon her academic credentials - a baccalaureate in political science - and perhaps more substantially, her unstated experience with operating within the TTO military framework. Notably, her brother Xriso was incumbent as the Foreign Minister to the TTO of Raiftsmark at the time, raising questions of royal nepotism.

While as Deputy Foreign Minister, Lutienne is known to have unofficially served in an advisory capacity to her brother on matters relevant to the military, these informal duties of hers contentiously overlapping with military attachés of the Hosts Militant of Katal already in the diplomatic delegation. Reportedly proactive in her relatively brief career in diplomacy, nevertheless, she rarely appeared in the public in her capacities as the Deputy Minister. Likely in anticipation of (unannounced) plans for her upcoming coronation, she would step down from her diplomatic duties in 4 19, 2013.

Coronation
In an unexpected address from then-regnant Alaweis IV (forenotice was only given to the press just a day before), the King would announce his planned abdication from the throne, citing his advanced age. To the surprise of practically the entire public, Alaweis would declare his heir to the throne to be Lutienne, unprecedentedly bypassing the then-Crown Prince Pairtsabal. Though he offered no explanation for this extraordinary break from traditions for royal succession, the action is commonly viewed to be a repudiation of Pairtsabal's opulent and extravagant lifestyle - his exploits and cavorting had profoundly eroded the prestige of the royal family, generating plenty controversy regarding the accountability of the family to Kaurissemite values and to a lesser extent, the public. Through this decree, Pairtsabal would lose his status as Crown Prince, the title transferred over to her sister. Lutienne would be Crown Princess of Raiftsmark from her de facto installment on 5 1st to her coronation on 12 25th later that year.

On Kaurissmas 2013, Lutienne would be crowned as Lutienne II, becoming the Queen of Raiftsmark, Archduchess of Katalhabana, Stewardess of Aþasdaur, alongside various other titles customary for the holy monarch of the country. She is the second woman to become a Katalese monarch, her antecedent being her eponymous Lutienne I (r. 1636-1719). While she made no mention of her older brother during her coronation speech, her first royal decree hours later would assign him the long-vacant of Count of Botl fan Gaspardaur, confirming his removal from the line of succession. Her younger brother Xriso would become the next (and current) Crown Prince, while her father was granted the title of King Emeritus of Raiftsmark - both would be retained in the Privy Court of Raiftsmark in a nominally advisory capacity.

Domestic policy
After the 2018 Rauchenbaurg attacks by republican terrorists, Lutienne has pushed for the implementation of several "national security" legislations, bolstered by a contemporary upswing in public opinion of the royal family and overall reactionism in Raiftsmark. Among these were provisions which expanded the existing state apparatus for surveillance and policing, particularly modernizing it for further censorship of the Internet. Particularly, new regulations would see all international internet traffic passing into Raiftsmark funneled through a located in the Ministry of Public Welfare headquarters in Aþasdaur. All such traffic would be subject to a which purportedly filters out "terrorist, agitating and subversive content" - which according to international observers has additionally included "immoral" content such as pornography, drug use, and gambling. The Host of the Katalese Gendarmerie, Raiftsmark's federal police force, has also been empowered to arrest and prosecute citizens found to be consuming such terrorist and "immoral" content, or attempting to circumvent content filters. In 2020 alone, Liberty International (an organization criminalized in Raiftsmark) calculated that there were at least 10,000 people incarcerated using aforementioned "national security" provisions.

Foreign policy
The reign of Lutienne II has been characterized by a shift towards favorability of the TTO, seeing further integration into the bloc's military framework. Economic cooperation between Raiftsmark and TTO-aligned members, most especially its fellow monarchist and reactionary countries (like Sundemarck and Rithaland), has been a top concern.