QUOTE(TMPikachu @ Feb 6 2006, 06:23 PM) [snapback]4788622[/snapback]
and as Racist as it sounds, for the monarch of a country to be a different ethnicity than his people will just be a bad image, so it shouldn't happen. I don't think too many Indians were thrilled about having a British Empress. Though if the Japanese are really so worried about it, they should do more than just pass silly laws, get their sons to study abroad and bring back some blue eyed brides.
I don't think it sounds that racist, but I would take a look at European monarchies and their ethnicity.
To me it looks like the European monarchies are all one big in-breeding family, they all seem to be each others cousins.
The British queen is of German stock- though whether you count this as a different ethnicity, depends on your view of races (If white is white, full stop, then you probably won't) and I think it has been pretty common in Europe to have had a King of a territory who was not from that ethnicity: Charles V of Spain, William the conqueror. However I can't find a non-European monarch ruling a European country.
And in China the last group of emperors were Manchu- admittedly now this is part of zhongguo and they are Chinese nationality now- who at the time were foreign barbarian invaders. Also looking back to the Yuan, Mongols held the Chinese throne. However how physically dissamilar these groups were I don't know (and I don't want to get into any of those genetic marker conversations) however I don't think there have been any non-mongoloid emperors of China.
So are we saying it's OK to be a foreign ruler as long as you don't look to dissimilar, that to radical a departure from the standard look would negate the monarchs role as the "embodiment of the people."
So it seems that ethnicity based on Nationality doesn't matter, it's the physical dissimalarity from your subjects.
P.S. On an interesting note the most fervent royalist I know is my girlfriend's mum, she is a Mauritian and left when it declared independence from Britain, she still believes this to have been a mistake, and as a dark-skinned subject had no problem with the white King.