GracieGiraffe
Heir Presumptive
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I wouldn't expect the Queen or DoE to go, at their ages. As for the rest of them, well it does seem shocking.
However, that reason for his absence is understandable. Out of all the Members of the BrRF, only 3 or 4 had Engagements today, so AFAIC that statement from the BP Press Office there were long standing Engagements keeping someone from the BrRF from attending?
The Daily Mail comments section is always full of people whinging about something.
These actions are arrogant but I think this is what we can expect of the BRF It appears as if the BRF view themselves as true royals and have the audacity to pick and choose which events are worthy of which level of representation. It is also arrogant to brush it aside as not important or worth people showing their dislike of this. The mere fact that there is talk about the lack of royal representation means that it matters to some.
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The Queen sent her Ambassador - who represents the British State, whose Her Majesty is the Head. And Buckingham Palace gave an explanation to why no one from the British Royal Family attended.
But some people here just want to be right about their imaginary truth and have a reason to bash the Windsors. This whole thread is ridiculous and very unnecessary.
I don't know if you follow the British royal family. It works differently than the Danish. In the Danish royal family it is Queen Margrethe who make the decisions.I've seen the explanation that the Foreign Office should have "advised" against the BRF attending the funeral in order not to antagonize UKIP. If that is correct, and with politicians you never know, then it would be a major blunder by the UK government.
UKIP may be against the EU but as far as I am aware they are not against foreign relations.
If this should be correct then the British government has a duty to take the responsibillity and be exposed as bungling incompetents.
However if the government lets the BRF take the heat it will surface eventually who was behind the "advise" and then the government will be exposed as bungling incompetents and cowardly.
This smells more to me like a "Friday-afternoon-decision" by QEII. We all make mistakes and so does QEII, she's only human.
That the PR office appears to have handled this very badly afterwards is another matter. The excuse that all working members of the BRF were otherwise engaged is indeed a very lame explanation. Especially if it turns out that several members of the BRF were not on the job Friday - and you can rest assured that there will be some digging into that!
IMO the best way to handle this would have been to say the truth: That it was decided to let the British ambassador to Belgium represent Britain. Nothing else - but that's too late now.
Security is not a valid excuse either, since several heads of states did go to the funeral.
The problem is of course that each time there is a royal gettogether we sit here discussing why the BRF were again underrepresentated, if represented at all. It may not be meant as a snub, but in some cases it feels like a snub. Be that as it may, the BRF have their way of dividing the jobs between the various members.
And as I understand it, when there is a major royal event, the Continental royals extend a general invitation, while the BRF send out specific invitations. (Example: It was questioned here in DK why M&F didn't go to W&K's wedding, it was revealed that they simply had not been invited. otherwise it's more than likely they would have gone instead of QMII). We can debate whether that approach is a good idea from now until the cows come home.
But not attending the funeral of a very treasured member of the international royal club, that was a mistake and I'm sure the BRF is well aware of it.
I don't believe the BRF intend to snub anyone, I don't even believe they feel superiour. What I suspect is that there is a misconception ingrained in QEII that the British think the BRF is superiour and that the BRF has to act the role so to speak.
Reinforced by another misconception that the British consider themselves an island race preferring to keep a healthy distance to the Continent in particular and that includes the BRF rubbing shoulders with other royals. So the BRF obliges.
However, the world has changed. This is no longer 1955. The British have changed, Britain has changed. I don't think the British mind the BRF joining the royal gettogethers nowadays. (On the contrary. I think it's a wet dream of many royal watchers to see W&K in full gear at major international royal events.) It is after all not the first time the BRF got the public opinion wrong.
Perhaps Charles will change that once he becomes king? I hope so.
There is no way in this world the other royal families will retaliate with boycuts or excuses. Their advisors and the foreign ministries would be up in arms at the mere hint of anything so childish.
The Queen is known to listen to all her advisors, maybe a little too much. And she is not the type of person that tells people what they should or should not do. This is one of her few weaknesses.
The Queen is not the type of person that forces family members to go to a funeral, if they do not want or have time to attend.
I am sure The Queen intended to send someone.
I'm sure I have seen a "The Queen is the boss. She is the one deciding who does what and goes where" repeated countless times in some of the BRF threads...
Isn´t this single example telling you something? I firmly believe the Windsors just collect what events they wanna take part in and in which they don´t. And there´s no offence, snub or arrogance intended. They just do what they think is right to do. I think at this point they aren´t any different like most Britains, who feel very strongly to be "Islanders" (We here, they on the continent. Or like George V put it "Abroad is awful!")!
I'm not surprisis a serious disconnect between the BRF and their counterparts in Europe that's going to increase once Elizabeth dies.
The younger british royal generation seems more interested in meeting celebrities than meeting other royals in Europe. When William and Kate can meet celebrities in NY but the BRF can't spare a "family member" 12 hours to attend a royal funeral, people will criticise.
There is a fundamental lack of manners not to send a royal representative to a royal funeral. The ambassador represented the UK government, NOT the royal house.
12 hours? The whole thing could have been been done and dusted in about 5 as it only takes around an hour and a half to fly from London to Brussels.
12 hours? The whole thing could have been been done and dusted in about 5 as it only takes around an hour and a half to fly from London to Brussels.
Absence of British royals triggers controversy
There was not a single member of the British monarchy to be seen at Queen Fabiola's funeral on Friday morning. The absence contrasted sharply with the presence of many other members of royal families from across the globe. This triggered angry and disappointed reactions on social media in the UK.
Top story from the Belgian VRT1 news:
Read more here: Absence of British royals triggers controversy