General News about the Danish Royal Family Part 1: December 2008 - January 2013

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

We have 1,000 friends & family (50 of which are BRF).
40 members of foreign royal families, 200 members of Government, Parliament and diplomatic corps have been invited. 60 Governer-Generals from Commonwealth Countries, 80 representatives from charities and 30 members from the forces.

This does miss out a few people, so the numbers maybe a bit off. I doubt any foreign royals except the Greeks will be invited to the Private dinner on the evening of the 29th. However most foreign royals will be invited to the wedding breakfast hosted by the Queen at BP.

The Greek royals are close with most royals in Europe, William hasn't met any more than once perhaps. When it comes down to it, we'll have to wait and see on the day.

Yeah, I guess we will.

It just seems a bit odd in my eyes. 40 foreign royals, they'll drown in the sea of guests. This makes this a British wedding more than a royal event.

Let me try to explain. When I talk with others who are interested in royalty, the impression I get is from then that the BRF are seen as standing away from the rest of the Continental royals - and that's a pity in my eyes.
For about a decade Diana was the star of royalty, partly because she was the only one of her generation, the Continental royal counterparts were either mostly older or younger than her. When she died it is my impression that the Continental interest in the BRF fell dramatically. Charles and Camilla has been reduced to just another CP couple, who are pretty old on top of that, and it's also my impression that the interest in William and Kate isn't that big either.

This wedding has been reduced to "just another royal wedding" by only inviting 40 royals in my opinion and it is in a very real risk of being overshadowed and forgotten in comparison with the Swedish wedding. - Outside of UK of course.

It's like the BRF constitute a little closed club who have chosen to ignore their royal colleagues outside of UK.
Which royals will William and Kate associate with outside of UK, if they don't build up a network? I've seen in plenty of interviews how Continental royals discuss issues among themselves and ask for advise, which is a sound thing to do, considering their unique position.

Well, it's their wedding. But I don't have to be a prophet to predict that what I wrote above will come up during the coverage of the British wedding.

[Viv]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Apparantly the Norwegian royals haven't recieved an invitation, - at least not yet.

IMO the Norwegian court is keeping their cards close to the chest! My best bet is that the Norwegians have been invited; the NRF and the BRFare usually close! There was a big BRF turn out for King Harald's 70th birthday bash, and the CPly couple attended the PoW/Parkes Bowles wedding in 2005!

Originally Posted by Muhler

The article is a bit unclear. There are 1.900 guests invited to the church. So what is all this about? Has BT misunderstood something?

BT misundersttod something? I wouldn't be surprised!

Originally Posted by Muhler

I mean, for a "wedding of the century" 40 royals ain't much and this will no doubt be seen as a snub, at least by the media in a number of countries.

There was a big European RF attendance at the 1981-wedding; but then again it was about the wedding of the heir apparent. What would protocol call for in this case? The presence of a monarch? I doubt it! The attendance of an heir apparent? I won't bet on it! Somehow I doubt that all continental RFs will be invited! Apart from the Norwegians the BRF is not spending much time on their colleagues on the Continent!
Come to think of it: Someone please tell me why the Middle-East invitations are leaked (if they were?)- and not the continental?

Viv

[Duke of Marmalade]

The BRF can afford to be, lets say, different and do things their way. Due to history, they are the most known and probably most important monarchy in the world, cover a vast empire due to commonwealth etc. Ask people even in the most remote corners of the world, they will most likely have heard of QEII, Charles or Diana while they have no clue about other monarchies, let alone their representatives.

This wedding is the place to be seen and QEII's invite will be the hot ticket of the year. Europes royals will be crazy about showing up because it will guarantee world-wide coverage, the BRF are still the epitome of royalty, nobody can beat their fame.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Yeah, I guess we will.
Let me try to explain. When I talk with others who are interested in royalty, the impression I get is from then that the BRF are seen as standing away from the rest of the Continental royals - and that's a pity in my eyes.

The British Royal family are like no other royal family in Europe.

Originally Posted by Muhler

and it's also my impression that the interest in William and Kate isn't that big either.

William is heir to the heir, and has gone from University straight to military duty. But I do believe that he should have done something more to encourage friendships with foreign royals, and not just wait for his wedding. I have said many times that foreign royals will attend this wedding out of courtesy to The Queen or because it is a royal wedding, not because they are friends with William or actually wish to be there.

Originally Posted by Muhler

This wedding has been reduced to "just another royal wedding" by only inviting 40 royals in my opinion and it is in a very real risk of being overshadowed and forgotten in comparison with the Swedish wedding. - Outside of UK of course.

Like I said, it could be 40 invites sent to each royal house, not individual royals. Therefore that would save time, because the head of the house can choose who can attend the wedding instead of detailing an invite to someone who might not attend.

Originally Posted by Muhler

It's like the BRF constitute a little closed club who have chosen to ignore their royal colleagues outside of UK.
Which royals will William and Kate associate with outside of UK, if they don't build up a network?

Completely agree, Charles has friendships with many royals, even the ones younger than him. He has attended many heir weddings, a lot were represented at his 60th birthday party. William should have done more.

Originally Posted by Viv

There was a big European RF attendance at the 1981-wedding; but then again it was about the wedding of the heir apparent. What would protocol call for in this case? The presence of a monarch? I doubt it! The attendance of an heir apparent? I won't bet on it! Somehow I doubt that all continental RFs will be invited! Apart from the Norwegians the BRF is not spending much time on their colleagues on the Continent!
Come to think of it: Someone please tell me why the Middle-East invitations are leaked (if they were?)- and not the continental?

The Queen is quite close to the Monarchs of Europe, they may attend on her behalf and not for William.
Victoria did the nice thing of inviting William and Harry to her wedding, i'm sure the same gratitude has been given. The heir weddings that Charles has attended, will also have been given invites and they might wish to attend.
The Middle East royals IF that is the real list, some names on there I doubt highly, would probably have been done to "show off".

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

This wedding is the place to be seen and QEII's invite will be the hot ticket of the year. Europes royals will be crazy about showing up because it will guarantee world-wide coverage, the BRF are still the epitome of royalty, nobody can beat their fame.

The way you talk about this wedding and the BRF is as if it were the Oscars and HM was the giver of the awards. Fame is a word that should be associated with royalty, not IMO.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

The BRF can afford to be, lets say, different and do things their way. Due to history, they are the most known and probably most important monarchy in the world, cover a vast empire due to commonwealth etc. Ask people even in the most remote corners of the world, they will most likely have heard of QEII, Charles or Diana while they have no clue about other monarchies, let alone their representatives.

This wedding is the place to be seen and QEII's invite will be the hot ticket of the year. Europes royals will be crazy about showing up because it will guarantee world-wide coverage, the BRF are still the epitome of royalty, nobody can beat their fame.

That's exactly what I will contest.

That notion that the BRF are the "front royals" and that this will be the "wedding of the century".

Sorry, things have changed within the past twenty years.
The BRF are still the most well-known royals generally, but I'd say that status is on the way down.
Nowadays royal watchers keep informed via the Net and there is an information exchange about royalty that was unimaginable twenty years ago. People follow events in monarchies from countries whose press corps rarely ever mentioned these monarchies at all.
English is now such an international language in the information exchange that the benefit the BRF had in that respect is also being eroded.

And last but not least, those of us who live in monarchies may be less inclined to be awed by the BRF. Speaking for myself: The BRF is just another royal family, a family which, unfortunately, doesn't interact much with my own royal family and as such don't get that much attention from me.

So don't talk about the "wedding of the century" to me. - That was in my eyes the Victoria & Daniel wedding, followed closely by Mary & Frederik. The William & Kate wedding is in my eyes just another royal wedding. - It cannot be compared to Charles & Diana, which took place in another era.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Muhler

So don't talk about the "wedding of the century" to me. - That was in my eyes the Victoria & Daniel wedding, followed closely by Mary & Frederik. The William & Kate wedding is in my eyes just another royal wedding. - It cannot be compared to Charles & Diana, which took place in another era.

Totally agree, except for me it's M&F then V&D.

[rob2008]

Fred and Mary will definitely go. There is no way that Mary will miss this huge glittering international event.

[Viv]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

The BRF can afford to be, lets say, different and do things their way. Due to history, they are the most known and probably most important monarchy in the world, cover a vast empire due to commonwealth etc.

Agree, I won't challenge your argument ! The BRF is first and foremost focused on the UK and the Commonwealth.
However leaving out the continental RFs completely could possibly backfire, and I doubt that they(the BRF) will. Suppose they invite the heirs apparent with their spouses; they would take up some 15 seats if my count is correct!

Viv

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Muhler

That's exactly what I will contest.

That notion that the BRF are the "front royals" and that this will be the "wedding of the century".

Sorry, things have changed within the past twenty years.
The BRF are still the most well-known royals generally, but I'd say that status is on the way down.
Nowadays royal watchers keep informed via the Net and there is an information exchange about royalty that was unimaginable twenty years ago. People follow events in monarchies from countries whose press corps rarely ever mentioned these monarchies at all.
English is now such an international language in the information exchange that the benefit the BRF had in that respect is also being eroded.

And last but not least, those of us who live in monarchies may be less inclined to be awed by the BRF. Speaking for myself: The BRF is just another royal family, a family which, unfortunately, doesn't interact much with my own royal family and as such don't get that much attention from me.

So don't talk about the "wedding of the century" to me. - That was in my eyes the Victoria & Daniel wedding, followed closely by Mary & Frederik. The William & Kate wedding is in my eyes just another royal wedding. - It cannot be compared to Charles & Diana, which took place in another era.

Thats your term Muhler, not mine
William & Kate are no heirs therefore the comparison is lacking. Even though there will be live coverage across the globe what is not usually the case for a heir wedding of other monarchies.
I do agree with you that the BRF is in decline but no more than all other royal houses. As long as QEII is still alive, the BRF are "front royals", like it or not.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Viv

Agree, I won't challenge your argument ! The BRF is first and foremost focused on the UK and the Commonwealth.
However leaving out the continental RFs completely could possibly backfire, and I doubt that they(the BRF) will. Suppose they invite the heirs apparent with their spouses; they would take up some 15 seats if my count is correct!

Viv

If we count 40 foreign royals. That will amount to 20-30 countries in total, considering that some countries will only send one representative, without a spouse.
That will just about cover Continental Europe and the Middle east, Thailand and Japan. - No Queen of Tonga this time. (You may remember how she stood out, during the coronation of QEII). No ex-kings of Serbia or Rumania.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

Thats your term Muhler, not mine
William & Kate are no heirs therefore the comparison is lacking. Even though there will be live coverage across the globe what is not usually the case for a heir wedding of other monarchies.
I do agree with you that the BRF is in decline but no more than all other royal houses. As long as QEII is still alive, the BRF are "front royals", like it or not.

You are right.
I should have been more clear. It's just that I've seen that phrase a number of times now....

It's just that there is a general feeling that the BRF are snubbing other royal houses, I'm talking about the general perception here that I hear on street level. And it has been mentioned in every major royal coverage I've seen on Scandinavian TV for the past decade or so.
At M&F's weddng, who from the BRF showed up, was it Charles, I can't even remember. Other royal houses had more representatives or were represented by the monarch.
The same thing about Victoria and Daniel's wedding. Was it Edward how showed up. - At a wedding where there were litterally loads of monarchs present.
It is in my eyes odd, how the BRF do things.

I realise that William and Kate are not the heirs or current CP couple, but they are the ones who will get all the attention, even if and when Charles does become king. Their situation as such is pretty unique.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to thrash the BRF, I just wish they would, pardon me, get their fingers out and adapt to a world that has changed.

[rob2008]

Originally Posted by Viv

Agree, I won't challenge your argument ! The BRF is first and foremost focused on the UK and the Commonwealth.
However leaving out the continental RFs completely could possibly backfire, and I doubt that they(the BRF) will. Suppose they invite the heirs apparent with their spouses; they would take up some 15 seats if my count is correct!

Viv

Other than Philip, the Windsors , formerly Saxe-Coburg-Gotha turned their backs on their Continental cousins for political reasons to defend the UK and its empire against German expansionism. The Windsors will have to continue returning to their German relatives or else they will be isolated in a kingdom of declining global significance.

[Viv]

Originally Posted by Muhler

At M&F's weddng, who from the BRF showed up, was it Charles, I can't even remember. Other royal houses had more representatives or were represented by the monarch.
The same thing about Victoria and Daniel's wedding. Was it Edward how showed up. - At a wedding where there were litterally loads of monarchs present.

The Wessexes were dispatched to represent the BRF in Copenhagen as well as in Stockholm .........................!

Viv

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Viv

The Wessexes were dispatched to represent the BRF in Copenhagen as well as in Stockholm .........................!

Viv

Charles however, has attended every other royal heir wedding bar another one but I cannot remember which.

[rob2008]

I think it's a deliberate policy of keeping a low profile. The Windsors are the slickest, most glamorous, most studied self aware of dynasties. They don't want to turn the lights up too brightly.

[Lumutqueen]

Even I will admit the most recent thing to come out of the BRF that was glamorous, was Diana.

Maybe this discussion, can be continued in the William & Kate Musing Thread?

[camelot23ca]

I think it's jumping the gun at this point to assume that any royal family has been snubbed - I think it's safe to say that members of every European royal family have been invited but we won't know details until the day of the wedding unless individual royal houses confirm attendance in advance as representatives for the British RF have already stated clearly they won't comment on individual invites.

The British wedding is unique in a couple of ways, IMO. It's unique in that William is not the monarch's child but is still far and away the most high profile member of the family, which creates some contradictory expectations in terms of what kind of wedding, exactly, this is going to be. It's also unique in that the British royals have an international profile that's several orders of magnitude greater than other royal family. I'm a big fan of the Scandinavian monarchies, and I thought both Victoria and Daniel's and Mary and Frederik's weddings were about as close to perfect as you can get... and I'm the only person I know in real life who has a clue who they are. Contrast that to the international attention the British wedding has been getting since the engagement was announced. I'm guessing most people in the world with access to a computer or a television set know who William is, even if they're not interested in royalty. I don't think that means the British monarchy is better than any other, but it does make it different, and it does create a situation where every little thing prior to the wedding takes on a significance it wouldn't with a lesser known group of people. The invitations just went out on Thursday, NO ONE except the British royals and their staff can possibly know the full guest list at this point and yet the media has already started reporting who's in and out, (and why), as if Moses just came down the mountain with the guest list as the royal version of the ten commandments. It's all a bit much!

[Sternchen]

It says over 40

The Prince of Wales - Wedding invitations - The wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton

[Ellainoz]

Sorry if this has been asked before (or somewhere else) but can somebody please enlighten me if Mary & Frederik will get an invitation to the wedding of Kate and William?

[Zonk]

Originally Posted by Ellainoz

Sorry if this has been asked before (or somewhere else) but somebody please enlighten me if Mary & Frederik will get an invitation to the wedding of Kate and William?

We don't know yet.

The BRF has invited over 40 royal families to attend William and Kate's wedding. I see no reason for the Danish royals in general not to have been invited.

That being said, at the present time we don't know if Mary and Frederik will be the Danish royals representing the Queen. At some point (maybe the week or a month before the wedding) I would imagine the BRF will let us know who has accepted.

I am sure we should find this out as we get closer to the actual wedding date of April 29th but after the christening of the twins.