The Windsors and Europe


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Queen Elizabeth did attend king Boudewijns funeral, so that's wat makes it strange no-one is here today. And yes, they are family (I guess by king Albert, husband of queen Victoria?)

Oh, Laurent showed up. With sunglasses ...


King Christian IX of Denmark was a great-great-grandfather to both Queen Elizabeth II and Kings Baudoin and Albert II. The Queen is therefore a third cousin to Baudoin and Albert.
 
I'm surprised and saddened that the House of Windsor did not see fit to send royal representation to the late Queens funeral, relying on ambassadorial presence instead.

I hate to see offence given for no apparent good reason..
 
Interestingly no one from the BRF was present to the funerals of King Leopold III back in 1983 ...
 
I think a boycott of upcoming British royal events is an excellent idea, It might teach them some respect for their fellow royal families.
 
Interestingly no one from the BRF was present to the funerals of King Leopold III back in 1983 ...

Leopold III was a controversial figure because of his role in World War II. I understand that the BRF would have reservations about being represented in his funeral.

Having said that, I see no plausible reason for nobody in the family to attend Queen Fabiola's funeral. The PoW and the Princess Royal were the only family members with scheduled appointments today.
 
Leopold III was a controversial figure because of his role in World War II. I understand that the BRF would have reservations about being represented in his funeral.

Having said that, I see no plausible reason for nobody in the family to attend Queen Fabiola's funeral. The PoW and the Princess Royal were the only family members with scheduled appointments today.

The Queen and the Duke visited Leopold III and Lilian in Argenteuil on a very public diplay back in 1966. So no Leopold III was not a "persona non grata" for the Brits.
I do think there's no public reason to prevent the BRF to attend the funerals of Fabiola, but maybe there's a private one...
 
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The British Royal Family do seem to have a very patchy record both when it comes to attending Royal events elsewhere in Europe and in its treatment of the Belgian Royal family in particular.

Looking back at British representation, it's clear that the Queen herself has very very rarely attended coronations, weddings and funerals. Why she, as Sovereign, has chosen to do this, I don't know, but it seems that for better or worse, it is the norm. In this context, her attendance at King Baudouin's funeral must be seen as a significant mark of personal respect.

During her reign, she has very often been represented by her husband, her sister (back when she was the first adult in line to the throne) or the Prince of Wales, so basically (one of) the most senior representative(s) possible. On other occasions, the Kents have represented her, particularly when there has been a close family relationship (through Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent) and in recent years, it would seem that the Earl & Countess of Wessex have been the designated family members for such European events. The Duke of York seems to be the "man in the Middle East" & the Princess Royal seems to prefer other sorts of engagements than those involving high ceremonial.

It also strikes me that King Albert II was never awarded the Order of the Garter, making him the only reigning Sovereign/Grand Duke (Liechtenstein & Monaco excepted - and monarchs where the previous sovereign is still alive) never to have received this honour during the Queen's reign. He never made a State Visit to the UK, either, if I'm not mistaken.

If indeed no senior royal is able to make the trip (a big "if") I'm wondering if it would be worse to send a minor royal than none at all.
 
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William is at the National Arboretum unveiling a memorial in Straffordshire and later has engagements in Birmingham today.


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I'm surprised and saddened that the House of Windsor did not see fit to send royal representation to the late Queens funeral, relying on ambassadorial presence instead.

I hate to see offence given for no apparent good reason..

Everyones' frustration including my own is very understandable and I have had to resort to logic in order to make some sense of it.

It is worth remembering that the royal families around the world are not engaged in some sort of tit-for-tat competition whereby "if you don't come to this event I will not come to yours" - it simply doesn't work like that.

There is an awful lot that goes on behind the scenes relating to rules and regulations of convention, protocol, precedent, diplomatic issues, government requirements, whether there has even been an invitation, whether the Queen felt she was the only one who should go but couldn't etc etc, and it is additionally unfortunate that the set up here in Britain appears to mean that only State funerals are attended by a member of the British royal family -most usually the heir to the throne.

Britain is not the only country whose government chooses to send ambassadorial presence instead of the country's head of state (royal or other wise) or a member of the head of state's family to an event that is not in itself a State one.
 
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I am very, very disappointed by this, IMO, lack of respect. This has been a long occasion what with the lying-in-state, the wake, the funeral Mass and so on. If "no one" could attend the funeral Mass today surely to God someone was available to turn up over the course of the past few days to express sympathy in person. ??
 
It's dissapointing but it's not the end of the world. But these things happen. Im sure The Queen has wrote personally to King Phillipe apologising for having no one to send. Talks of boycotts for BRF events is rather immature IMO.
 
None of the members of the British Royal Family attended the Funeral Mass for Queen Fabiola of Belgium. Rather an usual decision that hardly can find an acceptable explanation.
 
The Queen of UK did come for Baudoin's funeral.... it would have been nice if someone had represented her today.
 
It's dissapointing but it's not the end of the world. But these things happen. Im sure The Queen has wrote personally to King Phillipe apologising for having no one to send. Talks of boycotts for BRF events is rather immature IMO.

I doubt Queen Elizabeth II has written personally to King Philippe to apologize for the BRF's no-show. Let us hope that the Windsors at least sent the King a condolence message.
 
IMO I think there is NO excuse for them to not be there.... For God's sake even The Empress of Japan made it there and she came from the other side of the world... To me this is very telling: snobbish and superiority on their part....
 
The state news just confirmed that there will be no British royal present, as they did earlier this morning. Avcording to the press only royals who were 'close' to Fabiola will attend.


"Close" to Fabiola? The woman was consort to one of the most popular and significant kings of modern Europe-a king who was also a member of the Order of the Garter! So when King Albert and Prince Philippe attended the funeral rites of QEII's mother it's because they had a close relationship with her:lol:??

I agree with the others. This is arrogant, boorish behavior of the BRF on a level I could never have imagined. They are the only MAJOR Royal family in Europe who could not be bothered to show proper respect to the woman Point de Vue magazine is calling a legendary queen.

But on the plus side it relieves King Philippe of needing to adjust his schedule when QEII or her husband passes away since they apparently are not that close.:cool:


Thank you Jacknch, for trying to get an answer.
 
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On a side note royal families from Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Monaco didn't show up either ...
 
On a side note royal families from Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Monaco didn't show up either ...

Yugoslavia does no longer exist, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria are non-reigning families, in that case it is about personal relations. We know that the relations with the Braganças, the Orléans, the Habsburgs were there, not so with -for an example- the Hohenzollerns or the Hannovers, to name some families.

The British Royal House however is a reigning one, and the Belgian one is not only a neighbouring reigning monarchy, it is also about a fellow memberstate of the EU, NATO, etc. It is very, very, very strange.

The non-attendance of Monaco lies at hand: just two days ago the princely couple became parents for the first time. They could have sent someone else but I think that the Belgian royal family and the public will understand it, after the happy news over there.

:flowers:
 
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I would love to be a guest at the reception right now to hear what the other European royals think of the British royal absence...
I think Queen Fabiola was held in high esteem by the royals and I have a feeling that this will not be appreciated by them.
The attendance of any of Queen Elizabeths' children would have been appropriate. I find their absence an absolute disgrace whatever the reason is.
I like William, Catherine and Harry but the other British royals have dropped in my esteem.:mad:
 
It just wasn't the biggest royal turnout as some people thought it should have been. I think the biggest royal turn out will happen when Elizabeth passes on.
 
Quite the contrary Dman. I thought the turn-out for Fabiola quite impressive given the fact that she has not been queen consort for 33 years.


The Empress of Japan herself was there, and the former Empress of Iran as well.
 
It just wasn't the biggest royal turnout as some people thought it should have been. I think the biggest royal turn out will happen when Elizabeth passes on.

The Sovereigns of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the former Sovereigns of Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain were there. The only two Sovereigns missing were the Prince of Monaco, for obvious reasons and the Queen of the United Kingdom, for not so obvious reasons.

For a Consort of a King who reigned before the former King, this is impressive.
 
As I wrote in a previous post, where I forgot the Dutch funerals.

I adore The Queen, and I like Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine, but this surprises me.
The British royal family has been present at every major royal funeral in the past 30 years.

The funeral of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral King Olav V of Norway in 1991: Charles.
The funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993: The Queen.
The funeral of Queen Ingrid of Denmark in 2000: Charles.
The funeral of Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 2002: Charles.
The funeral of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh
The funeral of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of luxembourg in 2005: Andrew.
The funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco in 2005: Andrew.

I am sure The Queen has written to King Philippe and that will be a personal message. She doesn't expects other royals to attend her events, it is up to them whether they will come or not.
 
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As I wrote in a previous post, where I forgot the Dutch funerals.

I adore The Queen, and I like Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine, but this surprises me.
The British royal family has been present at every major royal funeral in the past 30 years.

The funeral of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral King Olav V of Norway in 1991: Charles.
The funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993: The Queen.
The funeral of Queen Ingrid of Denmark in 2000: Charles.
The funeral of Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 2002: Charles. The funeral of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh
The funeral of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of luxembourg in 2005: Andrew.
The funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco in 2005: Andrew.

I am sure The Queen has written to King Philippe and that will be a personal message. She doesn't expects other royals to attend her events, it is up to them whether they will come or not.

Well said and many thanks for collating the information.

I think the non attendance of a member of the BRF is not a priority for any of those attending the funeral today.
 
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"There are some long-standing commitments preventing the presence of members of the royal family at the funeral," a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman told AFP.
The Royal Watcher
 
As I wrote in a previous post, where I forgot the Dutch funerals.

I adore The Queen, and I like Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine, but this surprises me.
The British royal family has been present at every major royal funeral in the past 30 years.

The funeral of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral King Olav V of Norway in 1991: Charles.
The funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993: The Queen.
The funeral of Queen Ingrid of Denmark in 2000: Charles.
The funeral of Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 2002: Charles. The funeral of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 2004: The Duke of Edinburgh
The funeral of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of luxembourg in 2005: Andrew.
The funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco in 2005: Andrew.

With all due respect, the fact that the BRF has been represented at all major royal funerals over the past 30 years only makes it more incomprehensible that they did not bother to send any family member to Queen Fabiola's funeral and fuels the speculation that it might be something personal.
 
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Or they all had an engagement today and they weren't going to canceled them for a funeral of a non-immediate member of the family.

So the official response is "too busy to attend" ...
:ohmy:

Shocking how this happen all the time, all over the whole with people from all different background
 
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Very few people in the world are as busy and have as many commitments as the Pope, but even he managed to send a nuncio to Brussels to represent him.In comparison the idea that each and every member of the House of Windsor was simpy too "busy" and had events that could not be rescheduled strikes me as just beyond ridiculous. They are, according to their enthusiastic fans at least, THE most significant and senior of the Royal houses and are supposed to set the standard for classy behavior. That is not the case here.

The fact that I admire HM QEII as much as I do makes this rare misstep on her part even more baffling.

This is not a post to bash the BRF. I have had QEII and the DoE on a pedestal since I was a child. But frankly I think they botched this one big time, and yes...it does change the way I think of them just a little.:ermm:
 
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