Commemoration of the Start of WWI in Belgium: August 4, 2014


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I don't remember Camilla or Sophie being criticised for smiling at solemn events in the same way Kate has been.

Both Camilla and Sophie have had their fierce criticisms written in vomit, vitriol and poison. Now both ladies have faded into the background and Miss Middleton, the newcomer, has taken the spotlights. Now she is the favorite target. The Daily Mail has the best pictures but is also the worst tabloid of all. It is especially worse because when you buy The Sun or The Mirror, you know you are reading an absolute rag. The Daily Mail however presents itself as a serious newspaper and does not have the same "trash" feel as The Sun or The Mirror. That is the danger of the Daily Mail, it gives some credibility to the most insane stories.

:ohmy::sad::ermm:

I don't understand the protocol for the seating arrangements or the speeches myself.:cool: William was outranked by every other Royal in attendance.

The Duke of Cambridge represented the United Kingdom, together with France and Germany THE most important West-European countries battling in Flanders and Northern France. This is shown by the prominent seatings of Mr Hollande, Mr Gauck and the Duke. Of course there were also Austria-Hungary, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, etc. in Central- and East Europe.
 
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great event, the world wars have been such important events in modern history that it is good to see they organised a very proper event to commemorate it. i was however surprised not to see more monarchy representation...

kate looked spotless as usual. however, i was surprised by the protocol: why did william get to pronounce a speech, together with king Philippe of the begians and not felipe, who outranks him?

shame guillaume didn't bring his belgian-born wife, it would have been very fitting for her to attend the commemoration in her country.

Luxembourg of course was also invaded and occupied by the Germans even before they rolled into Belgium, so, in a way, the ceremony was remembering that too and Guillaume's presence made sense.

August 4th marks the day of the violation of Belgian neutrality when Britain declared war on Germany. I believe Germany had already previously declared war on France on August 3rd and the Germans invaded Belgium precisely to get into France and catch the French army off-guard. Prince William spoke representing the Queen, interestingly not only as the monarch of the United Kingdom, but actually as "Head of the Commonwealth" as he said in his speech. That means he was representing not only the UK, but Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and other territories of the British Empire which, in 1914, were not independent nations yet and, therefore, on August 4th, automatically entered into war with Germany together with the UK.

President Gauck spoke representing Germany, while president Hollande represented France, the other major part to the war. And, of course, the Belgian prime minister and King Phillipe were there as representatives of the invaded nation. What I fail to see is what Felipe VI was doing in Belgium, considering that Spain was neutral in WWI !
 
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What I fail to see is what Felipe VI was doing in Belgium, considering that Spain was neutral in WWI !

King Felipe attended because he was invited, like other heads of state and representatives of more than 80 countries.
World leaders commemorate WWI outbreak - Daily News News IOL.co.za

It would have been nice, if King Felipe's and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's spouses were in attendance too. [/FONT]

We can see from this photo that most of the invited guests attended without their spouses.
http://www.casareal.es/sitios/Lista...ICIO_DE_LA_I_-ES-139734/20140804_lieja_08.jpg
 
8:30pm William & Catherine and Harry will attend a Commemoration Event at Saint Symphorien Military Cemetery.
 
We in Belgium are deeply impressed by the 2 Speeches of the President of Germany.
He wanted personally to go to Leuven , our Unversity since 1425 where the Germans destroyed one of the world most important Library of the world.
 
We in Belgium are deeply impressed by the 2 Speeches of the President of Germany.
He wanted personally to go to Leuven , our Unversity since 1425 where the Germans destroyed one of the world most important Library of the world.

As a Lutheran pastor and former civil rights campaigner in East Germany, Mr. Gauck must feel very strongly about unjustified aggression. I only heard his speech in Liège, where he was genuinely apologizing on behalf of Germany for the suffering his country caused to Belgium in the past. I wonder how Germans at home reacted to the speech though. Have they found it too apologetic ?
 
The German Presidents speech impressed very many people here in Britain too. His acknowledgement of the utterly unjustified aggression against Belgium answers the question that many here [and elsewhere] have asked - why did we go to war in 1914 ?

It was good, and fitting that he spoke in this way, on the centenary of perhaps THE most formative event in modern World History, and one that has shaped all our todays.
 
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... [snipped]
We can see from this photo that most of the invited guests attended without their spouses.
http://www.casareal.es/sitios/Lista...ICIO_DE_LA_I_-ES-139734/20140804_lieja_08.jpg
The European attendance protocol is as odd as Europe. Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie could have attended. I highly doubt her agenda was very busy.



https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/2389564.html#comments

The above link contains various photos from Commemoration of WWI in Belgium. King Felipe is such a charming gentleman.
 
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As a Lutheran pastor and former civil rights campaigner in East Germany, Mr. Gauck must feel very strongly about unjustified aggression. I only heard his speech in Liège, where he was genuinely apologizing on behalf of Germany for the suffering his country caused to Belgium in the past. I wonder how Germans at home reacted to the speech though. Have they found it too apologetic ?
From what I heard on the news and on a discussion panel of phoenic (one of the high quality chanels focusing on documentaries and and serious reporting), the speech of President Gauck was very well received here in Germany. Commentators said the he found the right kind of words in his speech. Mr. Gauck is very well respected here, and I doubt that there will be criticism of his speech.
 
Just watching the Presidents of Ireland and Germany with the King of the Belgians and Duke of Cambridge laying wreaths.

(200,000 Irishmen fought in the Great War)
 
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A very touching ceremony indeed. Very proud of the royals too. They represented their countries beautifully.

Videos:
The St Symphorien Commemoration Event is being hosted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWCG) and will be attended by William, Kate and Harry as well as the King and Queen of the Belgium and senior representatives from the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Canada. The cemetery carries particular symbolism as it contains near-equal numbers of British and Commonwealth, and German soldiers, including the graves of the first British soldier killed on the Western Front-
http://news.itnsource.com/?SearchTerm=THE ST SYMPHORIEN COMMEMORATION EVENT HAS ROYAL TURNOUT

The Duke of Edinburgh will attend a service of commemoration to mark the start of the First World War at Sandringham Church. He arrives with a female priest-
http://news.itnsource.com/?SearchTerm=DUKE MARKS 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF WWI AT SANDRINGHAM

The Queen will attend a service of commemoration at Crathie Kirk, Ballater, Aberdeenshire to mark the start of the First World War. .
http://news.itnsource.com/?SearchTerm=QUEEN ARRIVES AT CRATHIE KIRK FOR WWI COMMEMORATION SERVICE

British Royals @britishroyals · 1m
After a moving memorial in Mons, Will, Kate & Harry fly to London this evening. They continue WW1 commemorations at Tower of London tomorrow
 
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I love seeing Catherine at these kind of events when other royals attend. That way she gets to now more of them and who knows maybe getting them on her circle of friends.
I would be very happy to see all day, events like this, Catherine and other royals, I absolutey love that! :D
 
Prince William and Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, in Liège | Blogs•Spletnik.ru

It would have been nice, if King Felipe's and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's spouses were in attendance too.


I agree, it would have been lovely to have seen Stephanie since of course Belgium is her homeland . But the Luxarrazzi site said yesterday that GD Henri had originally been scheduled to attend without GD Maria Teresa, so not to expect Stephanie to accompany her husband to this event.

As another poster mentioned I am a little confused by Felipe of Spain's participation.
 
A very touching ceremony indeed. Very proud of the royals too. They represented their countries beautifully.

Videos:
The St Symphorien Commemoration Event is being hosted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWCG) and will be attended by William, Kate and Harry as well as the King and Queen of the Belgium and senior representatives from the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Canada. The cemetery carries particular symbolism as it contains near-equal numbers of British and Commonwealth, and German soldiers, including the graves of the first British soldier killed on the Western Front-
Home - ITNSource News

The Duchess of Cambridge curtsies nicely to the King and the Queen of the Belgians near the end of the video !
 
Prince William and Prince Harry served the British Army, wore military ties and medals. Prince Harry wore his Afghanistan Medal.
 
The medals that William is wearing - and Harry is also wearing the same two - are the Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals - not service medals as such but medals given to a lot of people who were in service situations at the time of the Jubilee. Charles has the same two - along with the Silver Jubilee and Coronation medals and Philip adds the 1937 Coronation medal amongst his. Edward has the Jubilee medals as well as does Andrew. Many people criticise them for wearing these medals because they don't understand what they actually are but...
 
I agree, it would have been lovely to have seen Stephanie since of course Belgium is her homeland . But the Luxarrazzi site said yesterday that GD Henri had originally been scheduled to attend without GD Maria Teresa, so not to expect Stephanie to accompany her husband to this event.

As another poster mentioned I am a little confused by Felipe of Spain's participation.
The attendance situation is quite confusing to me.
 
The medals that William is wearing - and Harry is also wearing the same two - are the Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals - not service medals as such but medals given to a lot of people who were in service situations at the time of the Jubilee. Charles has the same two - along with the Silver Jubilee and Coronation medals and Philip adds the 1937 Coronation medal amongst his. Edward has the Jubilee medals as well as does Andrew. Many people criticise them for wearing these medals because they don't understand what they actually are but...

I think it's important to point out that the royal ladies also receive Jubilee medals but its not talked about. I think Catherine received the Diamond Jubilee Medal but no one has pointed that out for whatever reason.
 
Thank you to one and all for all the links to everything from today. Very much appreciated. There was also a Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa today attended by Harper to mark the events of 100 years ago today. Also an announcement that the announcement of funding for Canadian events to take place w/The World Remembers organization not only wasn't happening, but that the entire thing was being cancelled. No explanation why either.

Typical of the current Cdn Govt when it comes to stuff like this. :(

I think if I can find a light to put out on our Veranda, then I'll take part in the Lights Out event a little bit later. Even if it's only me around here doing it and knowing why I'm doing it, that's okay, because at least someone is respecting the Memory of those who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice starting 100 years ago today.

Speaking of that....To those who are continuing on w/their vendetta against the Duchess of Cambridge in this thread? Words fail me. I just do not understand how some can pick and choose pictures of Kate *before said Ceremonies even start*, but not a one of her during the Actual Service of Remembrance when Kate shows the proper respect and demeanour, and accuse her "of having a History of Disrespectful Behaviour at Events like these". BTW I've seen the full Events those pictures are the "proof" from and in none of them did Kate laugh, giggle, chitter chatter or play w/her hair once the Actual Service began *and* the only time she touched her hair was to flip it behind her whenever the wind had it in front of her face.

The ones w/the History of Disrespectful Behaviour during Events like are not HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, but the ones using the Event to continue w/their venom filled vendetta towards her. As someone who has a Great Uncle who fought at Vimy, not to mention several relations who fought in WWII, that anyone would think of doing such a thing disgusts me to my core.




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