Rather accurate, though hey, standing up to Luria Nova despite our miserable army is enough to bloat our egos.
And yea, ducal territory changes have always been a very thorny issue in D'Haran politics. Dukes have always been jealous, in a way, and the Dragon Monarchs had put in a tradition of setting their duchies' extent in stone. There is still a great feeling that the ruler can decide what regions belong to which duchies. Still, Nebel joined my duchy of Paisly, which was an unprecedented move and created no fuss. Duke Rurik might not be pleased, though (he is not very vocal), and many might expect it to be a temporary thing (I don't know myself).
We've embraced the republic, but we still consider Cenarious Stormrage to be D'Hara's Dragon King even today. And we retain much of our monarchist culture: elections are rare (quarterly), and electoral campaigns against incumbents are also rather rare or otherwise rather low profile, only a handful have a right to actual vote (lords), etc. I think the sole possible exception might be the general title.
We have a "republican form of governance". 
The House of Lords is quite powerful, though, and I believe this predates the republic considerably (though not as formally and perhaps with a different name and more elastic admissibility). It's not codified in any laws, but leaders that make the mistake of ignoring the House of Lord get serious reprimand for it. The House of Lords expects to know everything the ruler does beforehand, or at least before any deals are signed.
The House of Lords is a very jealous body, and aren't ones to let it slide when they're ignored.
I recall Rurik telling Edimillison if he ever wanted to switch allegiance to Paisly he was free to do so, but he would leave Nebel behind. Rurik doesn't speak much in public, but I'm sure he's fuming.
