The Crown as a Death Sentence

Power, might, fame — the alluring power of these concepts hardly requires clarification, as does their downside. The lucky ones, the chosen by fate, often become victims of a terrible game where everything precious is at stake: happiness, love, personal freedom, and sometimes even life itself, which in this case is no longer God’s gift, but a bargaining chip of politics. I do not argue that attitudes towards power vary; for some it is a drug, for others a poison, but in both cases one should not expect a happy ending. No leniencies — the cap of Monomakh, as is known, is heavy.