The Windsors and Europe


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
:previous: But he's still in the line of succession and he is the Queen's son.

If position in the line of succession is so important, Beatrice should be sent to these events instead of Edward. But Beatrice does not perform official Royal duties.:xmasbell:

And Edward may not, once Charles succeeds.
 
:previous: But he's still in the line of succession and he is the Queen's son.

If position in the line of succession is so important, Beatrice should be sent to these events instead of Edward. But Beatrice does not perform official Royal duties.:xmasbell:
She is also "officially" escort-less, which poses it's own issues fro many people and many reasons.
 
I have now seen through old recordings from 1991.

The day after King Olav's death, Buckingham Palace said in a statement to Norwegian media that either The Queen or The Queen Mother would attend the funeral.

Just before the funeral, Buckingham Palace said in another statement to Norwegian media that The Queen would not attend the funeral due to the tense situation in the world and said that the Prince of Wales would attend in her place.



Oh, yes - the Queen mother couldn´t leave London due to the gulf conflict, too, cause she had to advise the Prime Minister...:whistling:
 
Oh, yes - the Queen mother couldn´t leave London due to the gulf conflict, too, cause she had to advise the Prime Minister...:whistling:

I just write what NRK said in 1991.

As I said in my earlier post. I have now seen through old recordings from 1991.

The day after King Olav's death, Buckingham Palace said in a statement to Norwegian media that either The Queen or The Queen Mother would attend the funeral.

Just before the funeral, Buckingham Palace said in another statement to Norwegian media that The Queen would not attend the funeral due to the tense situation in the world and said that the Prince of Wales would attend in her place, The Queen Mother was not mentioned in this statement.
 
Oh, yes - the Queen mother couldn´t leave London due to the gulf conflict, too, cause she had to advise the Prime Minister...:whistling:

The Queen Mother was also 91 at the time. Maybe she was not feeling well.

There's no need to judge her for something that happened 23 years ago.
 
She is also "officially" escort-less, which poses it's own issues fro many people and many reasons.

:huh: Why on earth would this be an issue? What are people worried about?
 
I believe that is the reason why Andrew hasn't been the one to go - Edward has Sophie while Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie aren't married and so aren't sent to represent the BRF at events like weddings.
 
I believe that is the reason why Andrew hasn't been the one to go - Edward has Sophie while Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie aren't married and so aren't sent to represent the BRF at events like weddings.

But why? Does anyone know the reasoning behind this policy? Is a single human being some sort of threat? Is it feared they won't be able to control their amorous desires and will make indecent advances towards other wedding guests? I really don't understand why the fact a person is not married should impair their ability to represent the BRF. I'm sure Charles represented them in the years between being married to Diana and Camilla.
 
Charles went to Felipe and Letizia's wedding by himself, Queen Silvia of Sweden attended the wedding of Guillaume and Stephanie without her husband and Queen Margrethe of Denmark and the Empress of Japan attended the funeral of Queen Fabiola without their husbands. I don't think being married or not having a partner to go with is a barrier.
 
What do you think if Prince Andrew with Princess Beatrice or Prince Andrew with Princess Eugenie were to represent the BRF?

 
I doubt at this moment in time Prince Andrew will begin representing the BRF at European weddings and other events given the things he has going on at the moment.
 
:previous: Yes, I doubt that this is the time to be sending Andrew anywhere to represent the BRF. But if these Epstein allegations weren't floating around I think it would be fine for him to be partnered with one of his daughters for such an event.
 
I might be seen as a good way to introduce a younger generation of Royals to their European counterparts.
 
The BRF have regular contact with the Europeans - just not at official events. Most of the European royals visit London during the year and stop off and see HM and other members of the family, if there. The Norwegian family used to meet up with the BRF during their summer cruise from Balmoral - which doesn't happen now due to the decommissioning of Britainnia. The BRF also attends events with their German relatives and run into the other European royals at those events - they simply don't attend the European royal events all that often.


Why send a married Edward over a single Andrew to a wedding - many reasons:


1. Edward is married so has a wife to talk 'women's stuff at a wedding' and not only talk the 'men's stuff' which a single Andrew would be limited in talking


2. Edward and Sophie are closer in age


3. Andrew's own marriage ended in divorce and he has never been far from scandal - he is the least respected of The Queen's children both at home and internationally - not seen as a 'good' person
 
I think those are basically the reasons Edward and Sophie go. They were married relatively recently and at similar times to the others (Philippe in 1999, Haakon in 2001 etc.) and they are much closer in age to their counterparts. I always think Edward is much older than other royals as he is the Queen's youngest son when he is in fact younger than Philippe and only 3 or 4 years older than Willem, Felipe and Frederik.

They are going through the same life stages as the other royals as their children are all very similar ages, thus they have things to talk about. It made sense to send them at the time to the weddings as I am sure the Queen felt they would "fit in" much easier than Andrew.

They have since made firm friends with the other Royals - it's reported that they visit Willem-Alexander in the Netherlands and when they went to Denmark for Nikolai's confirmation, they stayed with Frederik and Mary not Joachim and Marie. They are of course meant to be friendly with Albert and Charlene and even attended Martha-Louise's 40th birthday as friends, not representatives. The same went for Willem-Alexander's 40th in 2007. Edward did attend things as a "single man" (already with Sophie, just not engaged). I am sure he attended one of the Infanta's weddings and definitely attended someone's birthday where they all were given baseball caps. It was perhaps due to this that Edward continued with the tradition of attending when he married as he already knew a lot of the others.

They represent the Queen well and the other Royal families do not seem to have a problem with their attendance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Royal non-presence at Fabiola's funeral

I've followed the discussion and media about the shameless absence of UK royals at Fabiola's funerals. E II should have been there - she attended Baudoin's funeral in 1993.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The relationships of the British royal family with their continental counterparts are most likely excellent. It was just an unlucky gaffe that no one from the British royal family was present at the funeral of Queen Fabiola but allez.... next time, at another royal event, we will see them again.
 
I saw yesterday on ARTE two British films one concering King George V and another his wife Queen Mary.
Very disapointed about their political , family and parental Behaviour.
 
I saw yesterday on ARTE two British films one concering King George V and another his wife Queen Mary.
Very disapointed about their political , family and parental Behaviour.

Much to my chagrin, I've managed to miss seeing those documentaries when they've been on here; I'd like to see them very much.

I am not sure what it was about their behaviour that disappointed you, though, from what I do about that pair, I can guess at some of it.

I think it is always a good idea to remember that, despite their prominent social position, George V and his wife, and all the succeeding British monarchs and their consorts, are only human like the rest of us and are just as likely as any one of us to have politically incorrect views or to make a mess of their personal relationships and make mistakes with parenting.
 
Please note that personal attacks on royals as well as the subsequent posts have been deleted. At this time, I would like to remind everyone of the following TRF rule;
  • Insulting comments about other posters and royals are not permitted. Criticism is acceptable; insults and flames are not. We expect our members to treat each other with respect.

Any and all additional off topic posts will be deleted without notice.

Zonk
British Forums Moderator
 
Last edited:
I happened to come across a painting I've not seen before. Its by Andrew Festing who's painted portraits of the Queen on a few occasions. For the Queen's 50th wedding anniversary (1997 I think) he did a painting of the Queen, her family, and most interestingly in this context, the Crowned Heads of Europe. I think its a remarkable thing to have done for your 50th wedding anniversary and shows that the Queen clearly places a high regard on her European counterparts.

Andrew Festing's Official Website - Gallery
 
Many thanks for posting this link - I never knew such a painting existed. I think the painting says an awful lot about who the Queen is most close to in terms of friendships considering it is a gathering for her wedding anniversary. I can make out the following people: -

Queen Margrethe, King Harald and Queen Sonja (although it could be Queen Anne Marie seated next to Margrethe), ex-King Constantine, Queen Beatrix,
King Simeon, King Michael and Queen Ann and CP Margarita of Romania.

There is also a gentleman seated with Queen Beatrix - could that be King Hussein of Jordan?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Where is Andrew in the painting? I can see Charles, Anne and Edward but no Andrew. I spotted the others as the men have the suit on with the red that they were when they attend dinners at Windsor Castle, but I don't see another man wearing that suit.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm sure he's in there somewhere,personally I find it hard to make out any but the most central people. I'd love to see this painting!!
 
Isn't that Andrew seated behind Princess Margaret. Edward is standing next to him. He's face a woman whom I can't make out.
 
Last edited:
Yes - that is Andrew behind Margaret.
 
Nice photo thanks for posting.

Representatives from these monarchies in Europe did not attend the Queen and Philip's 50th wedding anniversary on November 20, 1997 at Windsor Castle.

Belgium
Luxembourg
Spain
Monaco
Liechtenstein
 
Though there is no concrete answer, I'd like to provide my best opinion. I attribute it to a few factors: 1. Precedence and Rank- as a sovereign and head of the common wealth, the Queen would easily "usurp" the person for whom the event is in honor; the fuss would be about Queen Elizabeth and my guess is she wouldn't like that. 2. Protocol- for centuries, it has been protocol that reigning monarchs didn't attend funerals of individuals outside of their family. Queen Victoria didn't attend the funeral of her prime ministers because protocol dictated against it. Queen Elizabeth has made a few exceptions in her reign by attending the funeral of King Boudin of the Belgians, Diana Princess of Wales, Lady Thatcher, her Nanny, and a few other notable individuals. 3. Schedule- Queen Elizabeth is very busy; sometimes the monarch's schedule is planned 2 years in advance. 4. Age- though the Queen and Prince Philip get around very well, it is very laborious and exhausting for them to travel so frequently abroad. 5. Impractical- the security detail and royal staff necessary to take an overseas trip is burdensome.
 
This article gives a perspective on why the BRF is "somewhat isolated" from other European royals.

One consequence of the Queen’s long reign is that other European royals have become somewhat isolated from the Windsors.

The Queen — long accepted as the Grand Dame of the European crowned heads — rarely attends the weddings or jubilees of her royal cousins these days.

It used to be the convention that the Prince of Wales would go in her place. But no longer. With some monarchies — notably the Belgian, Spanish and the Dutch — adopting a policy of abdication, Charles is said to prefer to avoid the company of young kings, such as Felipe of Spain, 47, Philippe of Belgium, 55, and Willem-Alexander, 48, of Holland, who all have the chance to make their marks as monarchs in middle age.

‘The Prince detested what he took to be sympathetic looks and comments that occasionally reached his ears when he appeared in such company,’ says a long-standing official.

‘He doesn’t want sympathy — he hates it. So, by agreement with Buckingham Palace, he no longer has to attend such occasions.’

This can lead to some tricky situations.

For example, at the glittering 75th birthday celebrations for Queen Margrethe of Denmark there was no British royal presence.

‘With so many crowned heads present, it meant that only Charles would have been of appropriate senior royal rank to attend,’ says an insider. ‘But he didn’t go.’

The Royal Family’s only Dane, the Duchess of Gloucester — the former Birgitte van Deurs, who worked as a secretary at the Danish embassy — would have been the obvious other choice, but sources say she was not of sufficiently senior rank to represent the Royal Family.
Prince Charles' VERY mixed feelings over the Queen's record reign revealed | Daily Mail Online
 
Back
Top Bottom