camarilla n : a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue [syn: cabal, faction, junto]

English

Noun

1. A secret, usually sinister, group of conspiring advisors close to the leadership; a cabal

Quotations

• "The same lack of accountability has been even more disastrous for the two state-owned banks, which exist primarily to funnel IMF and World Bank funds to the president and his camarilla in the form of unsecured loans." — Wall Street Journal, September 20, 1990

A camarilla is a group of courtiers or favourites which surround a king or ruler. Usually, they do not hold any office or have any official authority but influence their ruler behind the scenes. Consequently, they also escape having to bear responsibility for the effects of their advice. The term derives from the Spanish word, "camarilla" (Diminutive of Cámara), meaning "little chamber" or private cabinet of the king. The term also entered the German language and is used in the sense given above.

Examples

In particular, two groups which are called camarillas are those which surrounded the Emperor Wilhelm II and the President Paul von Hindenburg.

The camarilla of President Paul von Hindenburg

• Oskar von Hindenburg, the son of the President, nicknamed "[t]he President's son unplanned for in the Constitution."
• Otto Meissner, secretary of state, chief of the presidential office
• General Kurt von Schleicher, head of the military office in the Defence Ministry, later Chancellor
• Franz von Papen, Chancellor

Other

• Camarilla is also the name of a "faction" in the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

See also

• Cabal
• Cabal Ministry
• Cliveden set
• Kitchen Cabinet
• Éminence grise
• The School of Night
• Makhzen