The Monarchy That Stumbled Over Its Own Proclamation

News article published in the newspaper O Século on January 24, 1919

The Monarchy That Stumbled Over Its Own Proclamation

Our capital was the scene of events that, despite the proclaimed solemnity, took on a more novelistic quality than that of a chronicle of the restoration of state order.

As is well known, on January 22, 1919, a group of military personnel seized the Monsanto Fort and raised the monarchist flag there. A connection was established with the Monarchy of the North movement, originated in Porto, and with Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro, with the aim of coordinating the insurrection and giving it a political dimension.

Symbolically, the project was perfect, but its execution proved to be less convincing.

At the same time, the monarchists, led by Hipólito Raposo and Alberto Monsaraz, prepared to seize the radio station in Monsanto in order to communicate with Porto. On January 22, during the capture of the Monsanto Fort, a public rally was held to mark the official reading of Alberto Monsaraz’s proclamation, which turned into an embarrassing episode: hesitations, stutters, and prolonged pauses gave the impression that the proclamation was an irony.

The incident sparked bewilderment and suspicion, with some even speculating that the reader’s strange behavior had been prompted by a possible bribe in the form of Port wine, offered by a recently notorious group of criminals who had seized seventy-five thousand metric tons of wine under inexplicable circumstances. According to the monarchists in the North, this wine was destined to be turned into biofuel to meet the needs of war and progress.

This episode raises questions about official discipline and management, and shows that the monarchy can stumble not under the blows of its enemies, but due to its own words.