Why was Padme the Queen at age 14!?!?

Why was Padme the "Queen" (Queen Amidala) at such a young age of 14? WHy would Naboo Intrust the entire planet's command to a a young teen?... and in AOTC, She said even SHE WAS NOT the youngest Queen before!!... What tha Crap!?!?!?

 

i think its just a matter of culture, besides.. she couldnt be TOO much older than Anakin

 

She had been raised in politics. A lot of the children on Naboo are.


So their elected officials are often young.

 

Never know, maybe Palpatine rigged the election so when he would send the Trade Federation to blockade, the youngest and most naive leader would be in power.

 

I wouldn't call Padme naive. Sure, she gets fooled by Palpatine, but so does everyone else.

 

Well, yeah. lol By "naive," I meant by his standards:

DARTH SIDIOUS
Queen Amidala is young and naive.
You will find controlling her will
not be difficult. You have done well,
Viceroy.


Leading up to TPM, he probably thought she was some dopey kid that would cave under pressure. You can kinda gather from the dialogue that he knows how easy it is to manipulate her, so if anything, he's probably the one that convinced her and her family to run for office, knowing he could pull her strings like a cute little puppet. (yes, I love Natalie. )

 

There've been younger Kings / Queens / Dalai Lamas in real life, too.
Think of King Tut.


Rick McCallum loves you!

 

and the last caesar of rome was 13

 

Yeah, and Millard Fillmore was only . . . wait . . . never mind.

"And a child shall lead them." I don't know what that's a quote from but it sure has some resonance. Doesn't it?

 

The difference is those people inherited teir positions.


Amidala was given hers. But like I said, she has been in politics all her life. She was raised to understand everything about them, and has been forced to mature to a stage where she was ready to bear the burden of leading her planet at that age.

 

Lucas originally wrote Leia to be a 14 year old ruler. I think he wanted to highlight how peaceful and forward thinking their planets were that they could feel confident with and trust a very young, female ruler.

 

wasn't king tut 17?

 

I thought Tut was like around 11 or 12?

At any rate, we don't know enough about Naboo culture to understand why their queens are often young.

 

"and the last caesar of rome was 13"

maybe that's why he was the last lol

 

Supposedly she wasn't the youngest leader of Naboo either. I guess they like their rulers just like she likes her guys-young.

 

""And a child shall lead them." I don't know what that's a quote from but it sure has some resonance. Doesn't it?"

King Josiah Text: 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 Main verse: 2 Kings 22:2

Does anyone remember something called "The Childrens' Crusades"? After many years of Medieval Europe attempting to subjugate the Holy Land, there emerged a school of thought which lasted relatively briefly.

The premise was that only children were pure enough to go to the Holy Land and wrest control from the Muslims. Of course, this endeavor was a complete failure, and the children who weren't killed outright were sold to slavers.

There are instances where a young ruler is accepted in an act of desperation, because there is nobody else from their royal line to continue. But supposedly the Naboo elect their rulers, so perhaps they are under the impression that only children have sufficient purity to rule a country without falling prey to corruption. Just a thought.

 

This is a weak argument against TPM.

Amidala has been politically active since a child.

History is full of precedents for young rulers chosen by a people. Some of those are mentioned above and others include a teenage Alexander the Great, many European monarchs, and the Last Emperor of China was Pui Yi, who ascended the throne when he was a child.

Childhood and adolescence being a time of learning and play is a contemporary construct.
Centuries ago, people were considered adults much earlier.

Our modern prosperity allows society to delay adulthood.

That's why you have 20 and 30 year olds who play Playstation and post on forums dedicated to Star Wars.

Alexander the Great was conquering nations in his 20's and early 30's.

We....we play Star Wars.

 

OMG LOL!!!! HAHAHAH SHANE P COULD NOT HAVE SPOKEN MORE TRUER WORDS!!!!

 

The citizens of Naboo are all pedophiles, which is why they like their kings and queens to be so young.

 

^^^ Those EU writers have gone too far this time

 

As was pointed out, all those young leaders inherited their positions, they didn't get elected to them. There is no comparision to the Naboo Culture. People back then only lived 30 years; so 14 would be considered adult. The Naboo are a futuristic society. Who would in their right might would elect a kid to run their entire planet? Just imagine your country run by a 14-year old.

 

If that 14-year-old had been trained all their life to lead a country, and had not wasted their days playing dolls or video games, I wouldn't mind having that particular person as a leader.


Essentially, she was already an adult, unlike most 14-year-olds in our society.

 

Naboo society allows youngsters to get into service and duty. Padme grew up learning about politics and service to her homeworld.

Besides according to certain book sources she wasn't the youngest Queen ever elected so it seems quite natural for her to be Queen, on Naboo anyway.

Plus in history as has been mentioned there have been many a young monarch/ruler.
In the UK for example Henry VIII's son Edward became King in his teens.

 

Maul 13:

"The Naboo are a futuristic society."

Ummm....a long time ago....

Lucas has always used themes and trappings from HISTORY throughout the saga.

A 14 year old ruler is no different.

 

she was young, but very gifted and talented. she was a genius in politics and a great leader actually. maybe Naboo's culture had something to do w/ it, too. she was wise and inspirational, too.