Klaudia I

Klaudia Kawalec in 2009

**Klaudia I** (Klaudia Odeta Renata Kawalec; born September 6th, 1988) is Królowa of the State of the Tsarkans.

Klaudia was born in the Ironhold Palace during the reign of her grandfather, Seweryn IV, and was ten years old when her father, Andrzej I, ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Tioderon, making her the heir apparent. She attended the Girl's Preparatory Academy of Kiwerdima from the first through twelfth years, before enrolling in the State University of Solasca. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology in 2010, before beginning a career in the Tsarkan Royal Army as an intelligence officer. After the assassination of her father in 2011, Klaudia ascended to the Tsarkan throne and led the monarchy's war effort during the ensuing Tsarkan Civil War.

During the civil war, Klaudia was officially coronated by Bellkeeper Iwan II on April 29th, 2012.

## Early Life and Education

Klaudia was born September 6th, 1988, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, Seweryn IV. She was the first child of Książę Andrzej Kawalec (later Król Andrzej I) and Honorary Księżniczka Nadia Kawalec (née Pietrzykowska). Her parents had one more child, Wincenty, born August 4th, 1994. On December 4th, 1988, Klaudia was officially baptised into the Faith of the Bell by Bellkeeper Edmund I, in the presence of the Holy Bell and within the Order's Citadel. She was given the name *Klaudia Odeta Renata*.

Seweryn IV died on April 30th, 1998, and Klaudia's father ascended to the throne as Andrzej I, with Klaudia immediately being declared the heir apparent. On November 16th of that year, Klaudia attended her father's coronation at Krolesiiwka Bellhold.

When Klaudia turned five, a collection of tutors headed by governess Faustyna Łuczyńska was appointed to oversee her education. Klaudia then commenced classes at the Girl's Preparatory Academy of Kiwerdima on August 18th, 1991, a popular private school attended by many noblewomen throughout recent Tsarkan history. She would attend this academy from school years one through twelve, before graduating on May 18th, 2006. During her school years, Klaudia is said to have performed above average, and completed four years of both Scuthian and Katrosean.

Klaudia was the first heir apparent to attend public university among the House of Kawalec, as in the past, female heirs had focused on house duties, and male heirs had enlisted in military academies. In November of 2006, she was admitted to the State University of Solasca, where she majored in psychology and minored in Scuthian language. Klaudia became the first heir apparent to earn a university degree, graduating on May 6th, 2010.

## Heir Apparent

Klaudia was declared heir apparent by her father, Andrzej I, on May 8th, 1998. A practice dating to the early nineteenth century, Klaudia was the seventh heir appointed by her preceding monarch as opposed to taking power through the standard succession path of male-preference primogeniture. This decision was mostly made given the young age of Klaudia's brother, Wincenty, who was only four years old at the time of his father's ascension. She was formally crowned as the heir apparent by her father on August 2nd, within the Great Hall of the Ironhold Palace, and within the presence of members of the nobility, members of the Order of the Bellkeepers, and members of the media, who televised the crowning live.

Most of Klaudia's time as heir apparent was taken up by academics, and as such, her public duties were limited. She made a handful of speeches throughout her time as heir apparent, but eventually withdrew from the public entirely when she began a career as an intelligence officer within the Tsarkan Royal Army. With that, she became the twenty-seventh heir apparent to join the military, as part of a long-lasting Tsarkan royal tradition.

## Reign

Klaudia ascended to the Tsarkan throne following the deaths of her father and brother, on December 21st, 2011. Assassinated as part of a plot to abolish the Tsarkan monarchy and aristocracy, Klaudia's father and brother were only two of several to be killed during the 2011 Tsarkan attempted coup d'état, masterminded by Mieszko Bartkowicz of the Tsarkan Republican Coalition. She became the sixth-youngest monarch in Tsarkan history upon her ascension, becoming the reigning Królowa at age twenty-three.

Klaudia gave her first speech to the nation on January 3rd, in which she paid tribute to her father and brother and reaffirmed her administration's commitment to eliminating republican terrorist organizations. During the speech, she specifically made mention of the Tsarkan Republican Coalition, the Citizen's Movement of Tioderon, and the Anti-Monarchist League as terrorist groups of note. Many historians recount this speech as the unofficial start to the Tsarkan Civil War, as in the direct aftermath, republican rebels began a two-months long campaign throughout Solasca and the surrounding countryside to overthrow the monarchy through warfare.

Several assassination attempts were made on Klaudia throughout these first two-months of open war, before the Tsarkan Royal Armed Forces defeated the disorganized republican revolutionaries during the Battle for Solasca and forced them out of the capital. Metropolitan police forces and reservists occupied the city in the aftermath of the campaign, and commenced a years-long effort to eliminate any remaining republican holdouts. This 'government occupation' has been criticized heavily since, though it is generally considered to have thwarted many potential terror attacks on the city's civilian population. Following this victory, Klaudia was officially coronated by Bellkeeper Iwan II on April 29th, 2012. Attendees included many of the surviving Tsarkan nobility, members of the Order of the Bellkeepers and the media, and select invitees from among the city's civilian populace. Intense background checks and searches were conducted on all attendees in order to thwart potential assassination attempts, and Klaudia was surrounded by as many as twelve armed bodyguards at all times throughout the ceremony.

## Media Image and Public Opinion

Since her birth, Klaudia has been the subject of both local and international media attention, which increased as she matured, and centered around her future as a potential monarch.

One of the major focuses of the media throughout Klaudia's years as heir apparent was who she might marry from among either the local Tsarkan nobility or foreign aristocracy. As Klaudia transitioned into life in university, however, she eventually became overshadowed by her brother, Wincenty, who most people believed would soon be appointed as the new heir apparent. Media attention died off even further once Klaudia enlisted into the Tsarkan Royal Army, however, in the aftermath of the the 2011 coup attempt and her subsequent ascension to the Tsarkan throne, Klaudia once again became the interest of news agencies worldwide.

Press initially had little if any direct access to Klaudia, as with the ongoing war and the threat of assassination, she was at all times surrounded by armed soldiers and presented herself to the public very rarely. Beginning in August of 2013, however, she began making regular appearances to the press and used her position as monarch to act as a means of communication between the people and the government. Most notably, she participated in a press tour from August 16th, 2013, to January 7th, 2014, in efforts to raise more donations to help civilians impacted by the war and discharged veterans.

Since the end of the civil war, the press has more regularly sought to use Klaudia as a means of sensationalization, especially considering the reorganization of the government and the controversial political environment that has emerged post-war. Notably, members of media unintentionally blockaded Klaudia's motorcade from leaving the Ironhold Palace for the State Building of the Chamber of the Szlachta on May 27th, 2014, and had to be removed by members of the Royal Army.

## Residences and Finances

*See Also: Finances of the Tsarkan Royal Family*

In 2014, Klaudia's estimated personal wealth was $278.6 Million. This wealth includes the values of the immediate royal family's various properties throughout the State of the Tsarkans worth $156.7 Million, jewels and clothes worth $12.6 Million, shares and investments worth $54.2 Million, artworks and artifacts worth $46.4 Million, and cars worth $8.7 Million. The entirety of this wealth was inherited by Klaudia from her father while exempt from inheritance tax, as per the Royal Inheritance Mandate of 1878.

The current residence of Klaudia is the Ironhold Palace in the suburbs of Solasca, the capital of the State of the Tsarkans. With an estimated worth of $38.9 Million. Klaudia also owns the Nowotny Castle located within the hills outside of Solasca, which is used by the royal family as a temporary residence in times of instability and during certain summers.