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Las desafortunadas mantillas de las Trump en el Vaticano
The unfortunate Trump mantillas in the Vatican
Despite being guided by the laudable intention of following protocol, Melania and Ivanka have ended up being a laughing stock in social networks.
Halfway between birds of prey, the crime of Puerto Urraco and the witches of Zugarramurdi, the "duet" of first American ladies , Melania and Ivanka , appeared like in their audience with Pope Francisco. With the best of intentions, they attempted to comply with Vatican protocol without achieving the true purpose of the rules of the small religious state: avoid calling attention.
Donald Trump and his family arrived at the Vatican on May 24 with the purpose of smoothing rough edges with the Pope, who remains ideologically opposed to the US president on so many issues. After the brave courage on her trip to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, in which Melania Trump looked beautiful disregarding the rules that exist on the use of hijab, the first lady seemed to triumph with her style message in defense of freedom and women. In Israel , without a specific protocol, everything was smooth as silk except the slap that Melania gave Trump when on arrival in the country he pulled his hand after getting off the plane.
Upon arrival at the Vatican, however, the Trumps have left historical images in our retina. Both Melania and Ivanka followed the norm of appearing black, since the white is supposed to be reserved for the queens of Catholic countries in their papal audiences, with the so-called "white privilege", a subject that is not even written but which is usually respected. Melania and Ivanka avoided necklines, wore a long skirt below the knees and wore long sleeves. They did not flaunt important jewels, nor did they wear excessive makeup that could shock.
But the duo of first ladies arrived with ridiculous mantillas which immediately caught the attention of international photographers. Trump's wife, in her attempt to emulate Jackie Kennedy at JFK's funeral, opted for an excessively small mantilla that did not even rest on her shoulders, giving rise to a kind of "hood" with lace edging. Ivanka, on the other hand, found herself "definitive" with a black tulle headband that gave her an air of black widow who called in too much attention.
Both mantillas broke with the true protocol of the Vatican, that without going into deeper detail, it observes the norm of discretion, humility, absence of adornment and the unwritten rule of trying to go unnoticed.
Suffice to note that the Reina Sofía has attended hearings without mantilla - although she wears one in multitudinous big events of the Vatican, something also emulated by Doña Letizia . Queen Maxima, catholic and Argentine as the Pope, but reigning in a Protestant country, attended her audience with the Pope dressed in a black dress and a simple long mantilla over the head, since in Holland there is no tradition of mantilla with comb. Juliana Awada did the same.
It is curious that the same woman who refused to cover her hair in the Arab countries a few days before, would cover them with pleasure in the Vatican. There can be three main reasons for this. The first is that Melania is probably Catholic , since in its country of origin, Slovenia, at least 60% of the population declares itself as such. Slovenia borders the northeastern Italy, and is close to Venice and Trieste. Probably for her the visit to the Holy Father was something special. The second reason Melania Trump could choose to wear mantilla is that represents to Americans , of which 25% is Catholic.