Wedding of William & Catherine: Arrival of the Foreign Royals

[chelly]

Someone commented on one of the shows that there were two entrances into the abby, I wonder if most of them went through the other entrance. Though I can see how some might not know who all the people are especially if they are rarely seen.

 

[Zara04]

It is quite evident that when another British royal wedding occurs (Prince Harry?) someone from The Royal Forums needs to be hired to identify the foreign (and even British royals) properly!

Not that it will matter to them, but is there an address for, say BBC, that we can write/email to in order to let them know that we are disappointed in the foreign royal coverage and how messed up some of the coverage was?

There was a big story about the wedding in one of America's NY papers yesterday (I'm not at home so I cannot look to see which one --- I bought them all! LOLZ) but the writers (three of them for the one article) stated (paraphrasing here), "Prince William and Catherine Middleton took their vows at the same alter Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, the bridegrooms parents, did 30 years ago." ?????????? I emailed the "journalists" that they were incorrect, that the Prince and Princess of Wales did not marry at Westminster but St Paul's. Really, these people have had MONTHS to prep for this wedding...an unprofessional lot, the whole of them!

 

[Zara04]

Someone commented on one of the shows that there were two entrances into the abby, I wonder if most of them went through the other entrance. Though I can see how some might not know who all the people are especially if they are rarely seen.

I believe that the guests entered Westminster through the side door while the British Royal family and the Middletons, as well and William and Catherine arrived through the main entrance.

 

[magnik]

Probably it was said before but it was big dissapointment only few seconds on TV for foreign royals appearance to the Abbey. (I watch it at work. Thank God for the Internet )
Specially if we compare it with other royal weddings from last few years.

 

[charlottestreasures]

Does anyone know who the King of Swazliand brought with him?

 

[Marengo]

Probably it was said before but it was big dissapointment only few seconds on TV for foreign royals appearance to the Abbey. (I watch it at work. Thank God for the Internet )
Specially if we compare it with other royal weddings from last few years.

Well, it was to be expected beforehand. The BBC never showed ANY interest in foreign royalty at previous British royal events, so why would they do it now? And added to that: it seems the British RF couldn't be bothered with it too much either. Very few were invited, the official guest list was full of mistakes, the royal guests were only invited to a lunch, and a dinner (without the bridal couple), the seating arrangement was a mess (the crown princess of Belgium before the Queen of Spain, ruling monarchs on the 5th row, behind ex-crownprincess Margarita of Romania etc etc. So in short: the British RF and the British public don't care at all. We should have send an ambassador instead, it would be more than sufficient. Esp. since William never showed the slightest interest in his royal 'collegues' in the rest of the world.

 

[magnik]

Well, it was to be expected beforehand. The BBC never showed ANY interest in foreign royalty at previous British royal events, so why would they do it now? And added to that: it seems the British RF couldn't be bothered with it too much either. Very few were invited, the official guest list was full of mistakes, the royal guests were only invited to a lunch, and a dinner (without the bridal couple), the seating arrangement was a mess (the crown princess of Belgium before the Queen of Spain, ruling monarchs on the 5th row, behind ex-crownprincess Margarita of Romania etc etc. So in short: the British RF and the British public don't care at all. We should have send an ambassador instead, it would be more than sufficient. Esp. since William never showed the slightest interest in his royal 'collegues' in the rest of the world.

Yes. You knwo when you hear BRF's event you think evrything must be perfect... Hmmm Wasn't it I don't know little bit humiliated for the members of the royal families? You know go just for a wedding and that's all.
Or maybe it was this breath of modern???
Why ambassador? Send attache or anyone who would want go form DipCorp.

 

[Diarist]

I've made a similar post in another part of the forum; the problem with the BBC is that standards have slipped over the years. This once great Broadcaster is now mostly in thrall to the Celebrity Culture and 'Ratings Chasing'. In the old days [although I really do mean a good few years ago], the BBC would never have hired a commentator without checking that s/he already knew something about the occasion he was reporting on - often, for factual broadcasts, the BBC staff were trained specialist news journalists - or at the very least, the BBC would have ensured that sufficient training was in place so that no errors were made......

Nowadays, the BBC looks for 'fashionable personalities' as presenters - and we end up with a strange mixture of footballers' girlfriends, breakfast tv presenters more usd to doing lots of quick 'magazine type items', former reality tv stars, 'auto-cuties' who are basically blonde idiot women who can do no more than read what is front of them on the screen......anyone of experience or gravitas seems not to be wanted! The number of times I have heard BBC presenters say things like ' Lady Jane Smith' when they really mean 'Lady Smith', because they can't tell a Knight's wife from an Earl's daughter etc. Newspapers are a little better because of their habit of 'check, check and check again' and their journalists will try to seek guidance from someone who actually knows, but with the BBC, it's just based on 'a pretty face' so much of the time......

 

[Lumutqueen]

BBC is the best broadcaster around, far better than ITV or Sky or Channel 4. The commentators did a spectacular job on Friday. I was shocked by what the guests were saying more than anything.

 

[Jacknch]

With regard to the BBC coverage, my main complaint is about the fact that they panned away or switched angles at crucial moments - such as when Catherine's veil was lifted and when they spent too much time focusing on the choir boys.

With regard to the overseas royals, we had such a treat with CP Victoria's wedding showing everyone arriving that whatever the BBC did would not be enough. The BBC will always identify the King of Norway and Prince Albert of Monaco at British events.

The problem I think lies with the fact that we had a relatively long processional route. As one person is about to arrive at the Abbey so another is about to leave the Palace and Clarence House and the hotel. Focusing on the foreign royals just as William is about to leave the Clarence house (or whatever) would be impossible. At CP Victoria's wedding (and Felipe and Letizias) everyone simpling walked from one building to the Cathedral, so is was easy to spend time identifying and showing different people as their journey was short and so there was not much else outside their route to show.

 

[melina premiere]

I hope we will be able to see more royals at the monegash wedding.
The foreign royals were never seen in all the most important british weddings as the Wedding of Princesse Diana and Charles.
There was not rule to place the royals, the queen Sophia was behind the crown princes of Belgium, Prince Albert of Monaco who is a sovereighn prince was at the third file, He should be placed near the the couple of Luxemburgh who was at the second file. English protocole mixed the royal, In the other country, the kings and quenns, the prince sovereighn or grand duke sovereighn are at the first line. The king Constantin who did not rule was before prince Albert of Monaco.

 

[CrownPrincess5]

Albert is the reigning monarch so I think we'll see a lot of royals at the wedding. At least I hope so

 

[EIIR]

As I posted elsewhere, the vast majority of British people don't even know there are other royal families in the world. They wouldn't recognise any of the foreign royals. This is why the BBC, a broadcaster funded entirely by the British taxpayer, did not spend time on their arrival at the Abbey. It is the duty of the BBC to reflect the interests of those who fund it and if they had spent a lot of time on the foreign royals they would not have been doing that.

As a licence fee payer I have no issue whatsoever with the BBC coverage, they gave the very large majority of British people exactly what they wanted, which is not pictures of people they wouldn't know from Adam.

 

[Frideswide]

As I posted elsewhere, the vast majority of British people don't even know there are other royal families in the world. They wouldn't recognise any of the foreign royals. This is why the BBC, a broadcaster funded entirely by the British taxpayer, did not spend time on their arrival at the Abbey. It is the duty of the BBC to reflect the interests of those who fund it and if they had spent a lot of time on the foreign royals they would not have been doing that.

As a licence fee payer I have no issue whatsoever with the BBC coverage, they gave the very large majority of British people exactly what they wanted, which is not pictures of people they wouldn't know from Adam.

Ah, but! The BBC's charter states that its mission is to "inform, educate and entertain".

So what if people wouldn't recognise (for instance) the recently-married-themselves Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband; it's the BBC's job to identify them to the viewers. What makes you think that endless shots of the choir reflect the viewers' interests more than being introduced to handsome and glamorously attired Princes and Princesses?

But sadly Diarist is right, and the BBC does pander these days to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I hope we will be able to see more royals at the monegash wedding.
The foreign royals were never seen in all the most important british weddings as the Wedding of Princesse Diana and Charles.
There was not rule to place the royals, the queen Sophia was behind the crown princes of Belgium, Prince Albert of Monaco who is a sovereighn prince was at the third file, He should be placed near the the couple of Luxemburgh who was at the second file. English protocole mixed the royal, In the other country, the kings and quenns, the prince sovereighn or grand duke sovereighn are at the first line. The king Constantin who did not rule was before prince Albert of Monaco.

This wasn't a state occasion this was a close knit wedding, people possible sat where they wanted to sit.

As I posted elsewhere, the vast majority of British people don't even know there are other royal families in the world. They wouldn't recognise any of the foreign royals. This is why the BBC, a broadcaster funded entirely by the British taxpayer, did not spend time on their arrival at the Abbey. It is the duty of the BBC to reflect the interests of those who fund it and if they had spent a lot of time on the foreign royals they would not have been doing that.

I completely disagree with everything you said, a person could pick up any magazine and see that there are royals in other countries. People aren't stupid. The wedding had commentators, if a foreign royal walked into the church as they did, the commentator as Huw did often would announce who the royal was. Therefore apparently enlightening the masses who you say don't know foreign royals exist. Numerous royals were announced and discussed upon their arrival, so I don't see what you're talking about. Nobody is asking for 'a lot' of foreign royal coverage, but a bit more would have been nice. Those masses you speak of would have recognised royalty more easily than the flowers or the choir boys or the musicians which were shown in their place.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

So......Pippa's dress was not designed for her because 2 years ago Cameron Diaz wore exact dress in red to Golden Globes.....interesting

Similar...only the silhouette is the same, but many differences.
Golden Globes 2010 Best-Dressed: See Who Looked Radiant On The Red Carpet (PHOTOS, POLL)

Well, in this case, I think it is unprofessional of those who ultimately was responsible for TV broadcast, to show singers and musicians instead of specially invited heads of state. If one television viewers see a royal wedding, is currently royals more interesting than the chorus and church bells that are photographed in artistic angles.

Isn't that the truth. The outlet on which I watched showed Elton John NINE times during the ceremony. One more time and I was just going to load the dishwasher.

 

[Diarist]

Ah, but! The BBC's charter states that its mission is to "inform, educate and entertain".

So what if people wouldn't recognise (for instance) the recently-married-themselves Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband; it's the BBC's job to identify them to the viewers.

Exactly my way of thinking: my main criticism was that when the cameras picked up shots of foreign Crowned Heads arriving, mostly no attempt at identifying them was made. Apart from the fact that commentators are meant to commentate, in my humble opinion there are lots of interesting points that connect many foreign monarchies etc with our own; this is particularly because of Queen Victoria having had a large number of children who married into European Royalty and some of these marriages have impacted on the present Order of Succession; apart from Dynastic connections, our own Royal Family is particularly friendly with many Foreign Monarchs and a good commentator should be able to draw interesting facts to viewers' attention.

Finally, there is another reason - I understand that other countries round the world chose not to station their own broadcast teams in London and instead took the BBC's Royal Wedding feed in its entirety, which in turn has earned valuable revenue for the BBC. Their viewers may well have welcomed identification of the various Crowned Heads that the BBC cameras picked up.

The above are only my humble opinons and are of course not meant to offend anyone.

Alex

 

[EIIR]

This wasn't a state occasion this was a close knit wedding, people possible sat where they wanted to sit.



I completely disagree with everything you said, a person could pick up any magazine and see that there are royals in other countries. People aren't stupid. The wedding had commentators, if a foreign royal walked into the church as they did, the commentator as Huw did often would announce who the royal was. Therefore apparently enlightening the masses who you say don't know foreign royals exist. Numerous royals were announced and discussed upon their arrival, so I don't see what you're talking about. Nobody is asking for 'a lot' of foreign royal coverage, but a bit more would have been nice. Those masses you speak of would have recognised royalty more easily than the flowers or the choir boys or the musicians which were shown in their place.

Perhaps the extremely small percentage of Britons who read Hello or Majesty might recognise some of the foreign royals, but other than that there is no coverage of foreign royal families in the British media. I don't remember any mainstream media reporting of any of the Danish, Norwegian, Dutch royal weddings. The media in Britain reflect, on the whole, what the people want to see. Otherwise, they wouldn't sell any newspapers, or have viewers watching their programmes. If the people wanted that sort of coverage they would be emailing and writing in to the BBC in numbers; this plainly is not the case.

On this forum we see everything through the very distinct prism of our being passionately interested in royalty. The vast majority of people are not. I have seen other criticism of the BBC's coverage but this is the only place where a failure to concentrate on foreign royal families was mentioned.

 

[EIIR]

Ah, but! The BBC's charter states that its mission is to "inform, educate and entertain".

So what if people wouldn't recognise (for instance) the recently-married-themselves Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband; it's the BBC's job to identify them to the viewers. What makes you think that endless shots of the choir reflect the viewers' interests more than being introduced to handsome and glamorously attired Princes and Princesses?

But sadly Diarist is right, and the BBC does pander these days to the lowest common denominator.

They were informing the British people of the beautiful indiginous flowers on display in the Abbey, the awe inspiring British music being played, the magnificent history of the Abbey itself. All these things are much more relevant in the BBC's mission to 'inform, educate and entertain' than pointing out princesses who do not and will never have any relevance in the lives of the British people in order to satisfy the very small number of people who may be interested.

 

[Zara04]

I hope we will be able to see more royals at the monegash wedding.
The foreign royals were never seen in all the most important british weddings as the Wedding of Princesse Diana and Charles.
There was not rule to place the royals, the queen Sophia was behind the crown princes of Belgium, Prince Albert of Monaco who is a sovereighn prince was at the third file, He should be placed near the the couple of Luxemburgh who was at the second file. English protocole mixed the royal, In the other country, the kings and quenns, the prince sovereighn or grand duke sovereighn are at the first line. The king Constantin who did not rule was before prince Albert of Monaco.

Seems to me that King Constantin is related to Prince William, while Prince Albert is not related to the BRF at all. This may have had something to do with the seating arrangements.

 

[MRSJ]

Seems to me that King Constantin is related to Prince William, while Prince Albert is not related to the BRF at all. This may have had something to do with the seating arrangements.

Is it possible no assigned seats? Bc other guests had no assigned seating so maybe Royals sat in their section wherever they liked too

Constantin is also his godfather

And Albert is related to the BRF through some long ago relative- Ella explains www.royaltywithellakay.com

 

[sugarbaby318]

I think they were seated alphabetically. Which is strange.

 

[mika1971]

I agree. She is quite squeletal in that dress. She should have had a jacket or something. Her back looks awful.

 

[Frideswide]

They were informing the British people of the beautiful indiginous flowers on display in the Abbey, the awe inspiring British music being played, the magnificent history of the Abbey itself. All these things are much more relevant in the BBC's mission to 'inform, educate and entertain' than pointing out princesses who do not and will never have any relevance in the lives of the British people in order to satisfy the very small number of people who may be interested.

They could have covered all of it. They could have made more use of split-screens at various points, and they could have recorded more footage of the guests for showing later on.

I echo Diarist's comments on the links between the royal families. Sure, many people are unaware, but this is not to say that they won't find these things interesting when told of them.

Unfortunately the BBC these days seems to be staffed by people with attitudes like yours. Perhaps you're one of them.

 

[Grandduchess24]

may I ask why the king and queen of sweden or prince carl phillip or madeline attend the royal wedding with victoria and daniel?

 

[MRSJ]

may I ask why the king and queen of sweden or prince carl phillip or madeline attend the royal wedding with victoria and daniel?

The King and Queen were invited but otherwise busy so they sent Daniel and Victoria as representatives. Madeline is in NY but also they were not choosen by the King and Queen to represent Sweden, just the CP couple were

 

[wartenberg7]

Is it possible no assigned seats? Bc other guests had no assigned seating so maybe Royals sat in their section wherever they liked too

Constantin is also his godfather


Unassigned seating is highly unlikely! King Constantine is still a "Majesty", though being an ex-monarch! The Prince of Monaco is not even a "Royal Highness", but "Serene Highness". So I assume the greek king still ranging before the Prince of Monaco when it comes to seating at a british royal event.
Kinf Constantine is a very close relative (and closest friend of Pr. Charles!)
of the brit. Royal Family - just remember the Duke of Edinburgh being a Prince of Greece before he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947!

 

[Mirabel]

Albert is the reigning monarch so I think we'll see a lot of royals at the wedding. At least I hope so

I hope the BRF sends someone other than Edward and Sophie Wessex.

Nothing against them, but they seem to be dispatched to all the European weddings. It would be nice to see someone else for a change!

 

[muriel]

I hope the BRF sends someone other than Edward and Sophie Wessex.

Nothing against them, but they seem to be dispatched to all the European weddings. It would be nice to see someone else for a change!

Fair point, but I would be surprised if anybody other than Edward & Sophie went.

 

[Zonk]

Especially since the Wessex attended the Entrhonement ceremony of Albert.