Royals at the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris: December 7-8 , 2024

[Sunnystar]

The First Lady, Jill Biden, was seated on the other side of Brigitte Macron, so the US was well-represented and prominently seated next to the Macrons. The royals present were on the other side of the aisle. I haven't watched the entire service yet (been watching skating since the middle of the night - Grand Prix Final in Grenoble!), but I was also a bit surprised that no one from the Spanish royal family attended. I can understand Felipe & Letizia's reasons for not going, but I'd have hoped Queen Sofia would have been able to go instead. Do we have any reason why Charlene did not accompany Albert?

 

[ricarda]

The danish royals host the Egyptian state visit so they hardly had any choice…

I was wondering why Princess Marie (who had an event in France on the 4th) did not stay in France to represent Denmark at the reopening. Her presence at the state visit was nice but not necessary IMO.

 

[Frelinghighness]

So needy

 

[Alison H]

The Dutch Prime Minister went to the ceremony. According to wikipedia Queen Sonja of Norway was there too. I could not find the representative for Spain or Denmark. Liechtenstein was represented by prince Philip.

But considering the amount of presidents there, it is indeed surprising so few European monarchs were. Perhaps the French presidency sent the invitaiton to political leaders for the most part.

From what the press here have said, the invitation was sent to the King as head of state, not to the Prime Minister. So William went, to represent the King. The fact that several members of the government have put their big feet in it with Donald Trump, whereas Trump is known to be a fan of the Royal Family, was no doubt also an issue (!), but it would have been the royals who were invited.

 

[iceflower]

Do we have any reason why Charlene did not accompany Albert?

She attended the traditional charity Christmas Ball in Monaco, she is Patron of.


Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were among those who attended the first mass and consecration of the main altar this morning, December 8:


** Pic ** gettyimages gallery **

Messe inaugurale de Notre-Dame de Paris | Cour grand-ducale

Site officiel de la famille grand-ducale luxembourgeoise, le rôle de Chef de l'Etat du Grand-Duc.

monarchie.lu

 

[fandesacs2003]

I was surprised not to see Queen Maxima. If I'm not wrong she is still Catholic. Her presence wouldn't hurt IMO as it was a solemn religious event, not a ball. Same for the Spanish royal couple , but who knows?
I well also saw Princess Camilla of Bourbon deux Siciles and her husband (forgot his name) without their daughters.

 

[maria-olivia]

To me strange Royal attendences , Prince Philip of Liechtenstein representing his Country and his wife were among the public , Princess Marie as french could have represented Denmark as she came for the President of Egypt. The Royals of Spain who had attendances in their Country could have send an Infanta, the Netherlands a Bourbon Parme

 

[fandesacs2003]

If I'm not wrong the only non-christian country representative was Prince Moulay, brother of King of Morocco. Cudos.
No-one else

 

[Blog Real]

Live: France Notre Dame Mass

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg are present:

https://c4.quickcachr.fotos.sapo.pt/i/Gb217c150/22713277_N3g39.png

 

[Adda]

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg are present:

https://c4.quickcachr.fotos.sapo.pt/i/Gb217c150/22713277_N3g39.png

Also present: Philipp and Isabelle of Liechtenstein and the Counts of Paris.

 

[Hannelore]

The danish royals host the Egyptian state visit so they hardly had any choice… The swedish King and Queen are busy with the nobel week and the King’s sister died 3 days ago so the Prime Minister went to Paris instead… Dunno where the Norwegian King and Queen was but they are almost 90 so i don’t think anyone expected them…. There was a terrible explosion in The Hague in Netherlands today with at least 4 people dead and several people missing so perhaps the Dutch RF thought it best to not appear in a festive mood in France.

Everyone can’t just drop everything ! Some will always have to politely decline even if they wanted to go

The Dutch royals were spending the weekend in Malaga.
But he's a protestant king after all, and I don't think WA is that invested in diplomacy behind the scenes.

 

[Biri]

If I'm not wrong the only non-christian country representative was Prince Moulay, brother of King of Morocco. Cudos.
No-one else

Only because Morocco is a dormer Protectorate of France.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I was also surprised about that… At least Queen Sofia is usually a regular atendée at events like this..

Very surprised not to see Queen Sofia but given her age the cold weather perhaps not.
No Princess Charlene either.

 

[iceflower]

Very surprised not to see Queen Sofia but given her age the cold weather perhaps not.
No Princess Charlene either.

Charlene attended an event in Monaco that same evening, see my post above


The Count of Paris today shared some photos from last weekend, which show that while the Countess of Paris did not attend the reopening on Saturday, she did attend the mass on Sunday:

Prince Jean - Comte de Paris on Instagram: "Monseigneur le comte de Paris a assisté aux cérémonies de réouverture de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, célébrées par l’archevêque de Paris, Mgr Ulrich Laurent. Samedi soir, le Prince Jean d’Orléans ét

427 likes, 2 comments - comtedeparis on December 9, 2024: "Monseigneur le comte de Paris a assisté aux cérémonies de réouverture de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, célébrées par l’archevêque de Paris, Mgr Ulrich Laurent. Samedi soir, le Prince Jean d’Orléans était accompagné du prince...

www.instagram.com

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Did any Catholic Royal from Italy attend?

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Obviously there has been controversy within the government and La Zarzuela about the absence of Spain at the reopening of Notre Dame

Foreign Ministry considers its disagreement with the Royal House regarding Notre Dame “spoken and clarified”

Eduardo González The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged its displeasure with Zarzuela for not having informed it of King

thediplomatinspain.com

 

[sophie25]

Obviously there has been controversy within the government and La Zarzuela about the absence of Spain at the reopening of Notre Dame

Foreign Ministry considers its disagreement with the Royal House regarding Notre Dame “spoken and clarified”

Eduardo González The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged its displeasure with Zarzuela for not having informed it of King

thediplomatinspain.com

I feel that someone from the royal family should have gone, Spain is the largest Catholic monarchy in Europe and it was very noticeable that they were absent.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

It is a bit of embarrassing that, obviously due to lack of communication, Spain had no representative at the ceremony, if not the King, then the PM or the respective minister should have attended.

 

[Adda]

Did any Catholic Royal from Italy attend?

Well, if you count the Duke and Duchess of Castro and their daughters..

 

[An Ard Ri]

Well, if you count the Duke and Duchess of Castro and their daughters..

I didn't know they were in attendance at Notre Dame , I must have missed them.

 

[iceflower]

I didn't know they were in attendance at Notre Dame , I must have missed them.

Here they are:

Princess Camilla di Borbone delle Due Sicilie on Instagram: "Samedi soir nous avons eu le privilège d’assister à la réouverture de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. C’était un moment fort, plein d’émotion, qui marque la renaissance de ce lieu emblé

3,763 likes, 58 comments - camilladebourbon on December 10, 2024: "Samedi soir nous avons eu le privilège d’assister à la réouverture de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. C’était un moment fort, plein d’émotion, qui marque la renaissance de ce lieu emblématique chargé d’histoire. Un immense...

www.instagram.com

 

[An Ard Ri]

It is a bit of embarrassing that, obviously due to lack of communication, Spain had no representative at the ceremony, if not the King, then the PM or the respective minister should have attended.

The king and Queen cannot attend everything.
Queen Sofia or the Infanta Elena could have been sent to represent the king.
I'm not sure if the communication mix up was from the French/Spanish government or Zarzuela?

 

[lula]

The king and Queen cannot attend everything.
Queen Sofia or the Infanta Elena could have been sent to represent the king.
I'm not sure if the communication mix up was from the French/Spanish government or Zarzuela?

Queen Sofia is now an older woman, a long event, which was also initially planned to take place in part at this time of year. Infanta Elena is not officially part of the Royal Family, she can attend some minor events of a social nature in Spain, but she cannot represent Spain institutionally abroad.

The problem was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy in Paris, but the minister decided to blame the Royal Family and the Ministry of Culture instead of admitting their mistakes.

 

[anonymoususer]

Donald Trump was in the front row, next to Macron. I don't think anyone bothered too much with protocol.

Agree

 

[An Ard Ri]

Queen Sofia is now an older woman, a long event, which was also initially planned to take place in part at this time of year. Infanta Elena is not officially part of the Royal Family, she can attend some minor events of a social nature in Spain, but she cannot represent Spain institutionally abroad.

The problem was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy in Paris, but the minister decided to blame the Royal Family and the Ministry of Culture instead of admitting their mistakes.

Queen Sofia was in NYC in October a much longer flight than Madrid to Paris.
It did make the SRF look bad due to non attendance and despite it not being their actual mistake!