200 Years after the Battle of Waterloo - 18 June 2015


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The pictures are beautiful.
Aren't there any kind of directors or someone who guides the guests to stand for the pictures??!!
I mean HGD Stéphanie can't be seen behind Queen Mathilde, she could have changed her place with the Tall Prince Napoleon!!
 
I assume they wanted descendants of the main Waterloo commanders in the front, which would be Blucher, Wellington and Napoleon.

Although it is nice that the HGD and HGss were included in the photo, they do not descend from any commander of Waterloo. I wonder why they were included in the photo in the first place.
 
I assume they wanted descendants of the main Waterloo commanders in the front, which would be Blucher, Wellington and Napoleon.

Although it is nice that the HGD and HGss were included in the photo, they do not descend from any commander of Waterloo. I wonder why they were included in the photo in the first place.


Yes, you're right. It should be better arranged next time.

I guess they were invited for the 3000 troops from Nassau.
 
Guillaume's ancestor was Colonel The Hereditary Prince Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg (later Duke of Nassau), who served with Wellington during the Waterloo campaigh. Prince Wilhelm was father of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (the first monarch of Luxembourg).
 
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RTBF broadcast the ceremony today morning.... excellent weather and beaufiful ceremony.
 
Yesterday , no Federal Minister welcommed HRH the Prince of Wales. A shame !
 
Handshakes at Hougoumont after 200 years

After 200 years the current heads of the Wellington, Bonaparte and Blucher families have come together on the Waterloo battlefield
Before visiting the farm, the Duke of Wellington and his wife Princess Antonia von Preussenand led the Prince of Wales, wearing the badge of the Royal Dragoons and Queen’s Dragoon Guards, and the Duchess of Cornwall, wearing the brooch of the Royal Lancers, on to the battlefield. They walked up a dusty track through sprouting wheat fields to survey the landscape where Napoleon’s and Wellington’s armies faced one another.

The Duchess of Cornwall has a family connection to Waterloo: her great-great-great-grandfather John Whitehill Parsons fought in the battle with the 10th regiment of light dragoons.
Handshakes at Hougoumont after 200 years - Telegraph


Duke of Wellington: I wish my father had lived to see the Waterloo commemorations
In his first interview since inheriting the title, the Duke of Wellington reveals how his family is preparing for the 200th anniversary of Waterloo

Duke of Wellington: I wish my father had lived to see the Waterloo commemorations - Telegraph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNAEV8SHq9g

Prince Charles and Cameron hear stirring tributes to heroes of Waterloo at St Paul's service to mark 200th anniversary of toppling of Napoleon* | Daily Mail Online
 
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Is it only my impression or was the Duke of Kent the only guest who bowed to the King and Queen of the Belgians ?

Making a révérence or a bow is unusual at the Belgian, Luxembourgian and Dutch Courts. Big chance that many guests knew this and kept it with a nice handshake.
 
Video:
The Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister have arrived at a memorial service for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry announced the arrival of Charles with the Duchess of Cornwall for the service at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The Earl of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Boris Johnson and descendants of those who fought in the bloody battle, including the 9th Duke of Wellington, were among those at the service
Home - ITNSource News
 
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The Mail Online apparently failed to note the presence of the King of the Netherlands among the guests in the Belgian ceremony. A huge gaffe, not only because of who King Willem-Alexander is, but also because of the key role which Willem-Alexander's ancestor, the future King Willem II of the Netherlands, played in the Battle of Waterloo.
 
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The Mail Online apparently failed to note the presence of the King of the Netherlands among the guests in the Belgian ceremony. A huge gaffe, not only because of who King Willem-Alexander is, but also because of the key role which Willem-Alexander's ancestor, the future King Willem II of the Netherlands, played in the Battle of Waterloo.

Well, I don't think we should expect too much of the reporters from Daily Mail... :p

That they even notice that there were other nations present at the battlefield besides the French and British, would be remarkable!
 
I tottally agree with both Mbruno and Muhler.
 
Well, I don't think we should expect too much of the reporters from Daily Mail... :p

I fear you hit the nail right on the head with that ;) They often are in the habit of updating their artcles later on, so hopefully they'll do so again ;)


In addition to the ones on the previous page of this thread here are some more galleries from today:



** robinutrecht.photoshelter gallery **


*** ppe gallery ** gettyimages gallery - June 18 **


** dpp: Commemoration of the bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo **


** zimbio/gettyimages: Official Belgian Federal Government Ceremony To Commemorate The Bicentenary Of The Battle of Waterloo **
 
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We know that the French only send their ambassador, according to the Belgian tv that is due to some sensitivities. But who represented Germany?
 
I fear you hit the nail right on the head with that ;) They often are in the habit of updating their artcles later on, so hopefully they'll do so again ;)


In addition to the ones on the previous page of this thread here are some more galleries from today:



** robinutrecht.photoshelter gallery **


*** ppe gallery ** gettyimages gallery - June 18 **


** dpp: Commemoration of the bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo **


** zimbio/gettyimages: Official Belgian Federal Government Ceremony To Commemorate The Bicentenary Of The Battle of Waterloo **


Are Mathilde and Maxima curtsying to each other in the pictures posted above ? Is that some kind of personal joke between the two queen consorts ?
 
Are Mathilde and Maxima curtsying to each other in the pictures posted above ? Is that some kind of personal joke between the two queen consorts ?

No, they are avoiding clashing hats!
 
We know that the French only send their ambassador, according to the Belgian tv that is due to some sensitivities. But who represented Germany?

I've read that Germany also sent the ambassador only.
 
We know that the French only send their ambassador, according to the Belgian tv that is due to some sensitivities. But who represented Germany?
my bolding

What sensitivities? France represented by Napoleon I lost the battle 200 years ago. If invited, President Hollande could have come and have paid respects to French soldiers, who died on the battlefield.
 
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To the French the entire issue of Waterloo and Napoleon is still a touchy one. I read earlier this year that the didn't want to have any sort of anniversary at all - no doubt because they lost. I imagine they won't want to be involved in any commemorations of the Battle of Agincourt in October either.


Remember that in 2003 during the State Visit to the UK the name of the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle was changed for the night - out of respect for French sensibilities over their defeat at that battle.
 
To the French the entire issue of Waterloo and Napoleon is still a touchy one. I read earlier this year that the didn't want to have any sort of anniversary at all - no doubt because they lost. I imagine they won't want to be involved in any commemorations of the Battle of Agincourt in October either.


Remember that in 2003 during the State Visit to the UK the name of the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle was changed for the night - out of respect for French sensibilities over their defeat at that battle.


I would bet that with Waterloo there's an additional sense of loss than the typical defeat might have.

For better or for worse, under Napoleon France was able to regain some of what it had lost during the revolution - and I don't mean in terms of royalty or pomp and circumstance, but in terms of prosperity and national pride. France was everyone's enemy the moment the revolution started, but for a time under Napoleon they were able to regain some of the ground they had lost and proved themselves to still be in the game so to speak (successful military campaigns in Spain and Italy certainly helped).

Waterloo ended that. I mean, yes, the decline started well before Waterloo, but Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo is what definitively ended it. Napoleon was exiled, France was forced to accept a monarch again the game changed for them basically.

In the 80 years (or so) following the French Revolution, France went through incredible political chaos. First a monarchy, then a republic, then an empire, then a monarchy followed by a very brief empire ending in Waterloo which was followed by that same monarchy, then a second republic, then another round of monarchy and empire (I can't remember which came first, but the reigns of Louis Philippe and Napoleon III), followed finally, in 1870, by a third republic - which lasted almost as long as all the regimes since the first republic combined. Now, 200 years after Waterloo, France is on it's 5th Republic. But, had Napoleon not lost Waterloo it's possible that France could have avoided some of that chaos (or not... It's also possible that one of Napoleon's siblings would have just killed him in his sleep and seized the throne... They were an interesting family...).
 
Following their defeat at Waterloo, [as Ish has detailed] France spent the rest of the century trying [more or less bloodily] to decide what form of government to have. All the while their hereditary enemy, Britain was busily assembling massive economic superiority, and the largest empire the world has yet seen.

So of course they don't care to be reminded of the fact. WHY would they ?
 
I think the outcome would have been inevitable anyway.

Even if Napoleon had won the battle at Waterloo, Russian and Austria-Hungarian armies were being mobilized. It would not have been the last battle.

The French army was weakened after the losses in 1812 in particular and not least after Leipzig in 1813. The cavalry in particular was depleted.

So at best Napoleon could have hoped for a reasonable position to bargain from. But few would have trusted him. So Napoleon had to go, he was too dangerous for the rest of Europe to have around.

Napoloen was a brilliant reformer, and a great general, but he sucked when it came to winning the peace. Especially after his diplomatic genius Tallyrand (spl?) left him. So Napoleon had to go, no matter how many victories he would have won in 1815 and later on.
 
The clarifications and explanations are very much appreciated. :flowers::flowers:
Europe defeated the French army led by Napoleon after a disastrous campaign in Russia.
 
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The clarifications and explanations are very much appreciated. :flowers::flowers:
Europe defeated the French army led by Napoleon after a disastrous campaign in Russia.

I'd say it really started after the victory at Austerlitz in 1805 and certainly after the campaigns in 1808-1809.

Napoleon missed tow crucial opportunities to establish a long-term peace with France as the dominant (but not too obvious) European power.
Keep in mind that Britain by 1807 was politically and commercially isolated - and not particular popular on both sides of the Atlantic.

Another thing is that Wellington could very well not have been available as commander at Waterloo. He was offered the post as commander for the campaign in North America after the IMO idiotic American declaration of war with Britain in 1812. (There is after all a reason why the White House ended up being called that!) But Wellington declined the offer and was available at Waterloo.
However the battle was still close, as a considerable part of the French army was detached from the main army and did not march towards the sound of guns. Otherwise the Prussians might not have been able to turn the battle around.
 
I am confused about the Wellesley family titles though. Isn't Arthur Gerald Wellesley, the heir apparent to the current Duke of Wellington, addressed by the courtesy title of Marquess of Douro, whereas his son (and second in line to the dukedom), Arthur Darcy Wellesley, holds the courtesy title of Earl of Mornington ?

You are right. I assume the titles got mixed up by the press as the previous duke died recently and Earl Mornington became Marquess of Douro etc. I didn't see the official statement of the palace so i do not know if the press copied it from the palace or not.

The point is that the titles used by the eldest son and grandson of the Duke of Wellington are courtesy titles, so it isn't authomatic that the eldest son of the Duke of Wellington uses the title of Marquess of Douro. It is wery well possible that Arthur, who has always been known as Earl of Mornington since he was born, has decided to continue using that title instead of the more senior title of Marquess of Douro.
This has already been done in the past; i.e. the son of the current Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, who has always been known as Earl of Burlington from his birh until his grandfather's passing in 2004 and who was professionally known as Bill Burlington, chose to continue to use that title instead of the title of Marquess of Hartington.
 
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