ANNIE_S
Heir Apparent
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King Felipe and Queen Letizia attend a mass to commemorate victims of two devastating terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, at the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona this morning
Belga Image
https://www.rexfeatures.com/set/9010087
Irish family of four being comforted by Felipe and Letizia is so lovely. Particulaly Letizia and the little girl with her broken arm and
her Dad in his bed (so more serious) smiling at then ... family from the Phillipnes who are totally Irish!
On the Franco-Iberian Royal Message Board the question has been made, HOW the reaction of the Catalan people was, when the King and Queen arrived to mourn together with them.
The Franco-Iberian Royals Message Board: King and Queen in Barcelona--local reaction
I think, that was a VERY GOOD question, as most people know, that Catalan wants to become independent from Madrid and the rest of Spain.
In the past their antipathy against everything Spanish (and with that the RF) has been shown - or shall I say "Shouted" - loudly towards the King and Queen quite often: I remember one time in the Opera, where it was said that Queen Letizia burst into tears after being boooed by the crowd).
HOWEVER it seems that the Barcelona/Catalan people this time really praised the King and Queen for being with them after the attacks. Example: while laying a wreath at Las Ramblas many people shouted "Viva el Rey" and also the Catalan sentence "we have no fear". No Boooes. Good!
It really seems the Catalan people understand, that in these hard times the Royal Family is united with them. Wonderful sign!
BYe Bine
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.
From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
I do not know where you found the information. It is incorrect. King Felipe was there and wanted to be there. It was not the place for Queen Letizia to be there.
Why was it not appropriate for Letizia to be there, (either at the demonstration or at the moment of silence last week)?
Because it's an event of institutional nature. Leaders from all Spanish political parties and all regions were there. None of them brought their spouse.
What did you mean Felipe and Letizia did "absolute minimum" in Barcelona? Felipe got back to the country from a private vacation within 18 hours and attended the minute of silence. He and Letizia visited 3 hospitals and the memorial service. They spent two and a half days in Barcelona. Now Felipe was back to participate in the demonstration. It's the first time a reigning monarch participating in a public demonstration. What other royals have done more than they did after a terrorist attack?
Queen Elizabeth didn't visit Manchester attack victims until 3 days after the incident. She's no where to be seen after London attacks. She sent her family members instead. King Philippe was criticized for going to a luxury spa in Brittany, France and spending the weekend there when Belgium capital was locked down for six days after Paris attack.
It's the King and the King's men who decide who attend an institutional event, not the Queen. Based on a Spanish article, it's the King's men who decided to made Felipe the sole protagonist in institutional events. Queen Sofia visited the hospital and attended the memorial service after Madrid bombing, exactly as Queen Letizia did.
What could they do by hanging around Barcelona between last Sunday and today? Walking the street of Barcelona? Offering hugs? It's not like they could direct the police's work. Actually, their presence adds pressure on security.
King Felipe did more than his father did. Queen Letizia did exactly what Queen Sofia did. I would like to hear what other royal consorts did more than Letizia did. It seems Letizia just can never do enough or do it right in some people's eyes.
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.
From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.
From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
If Letizia wanted to go to the minute of silence and demonstration but couldn't because her husband and/or employees of the royal court decided she shouldn't then fair enough. If you have the link to the article you mentioned above please send it to me because I'd be interested in reading about the rationale behind this decision. I've read the statement about Letizia not participating in institutional acts in general and thought it was vague. If the royal house can clarify their reasoning I think they should. As it stands the statement is open to various interpretations, some less charitable than others.
Comparing the reaction of different royal families to different terrorist attacks, or even the reaction of the former Spanish royal family to the current one is like comparing Letizia to a politician's wife - apples and oranges. Trying to match things up exactly won't work because the composition of the family has changed.. if we were trying to do that I would say three members of the royal family should have gone to the demonstration in Barcelona because Felipe, Elena and Cristina all went to the demonstration after the Madrid attack in 2004. Or maybe one King and one Queen equals a Prince and two Infantas?
I don't think I said or implied that Felipe and Letizia should have hung around Barcelona all last week "giving out hugs." If that's how you choose to interpret my post then I think it's time to agree to disagree rather than keep going round in circles.
Its possible that the girls stayed at the holiday destination and Letizia went back again, or was delayed travelling home with them because they cannot use the same plane, but in general their vacation was pretty much over when the attacks happened.
In Spain, there is lots of critizism in the pink press, not only the absence of Letizia in the first act (labelling it 'institutional' is a lame excuse to many), but also the old topic that the destination of the private holidays is not being disclosed, Felipe was not in Spain when the attack happened, where was he?
Then the photos in the hospital, some media thought is was pathetic because some of the people visited had foreign nationality, had no idea who was coming to comfort them with full press trailing along, some of them were children whose faces were not pixelled out, being exposed to full public attention by a woman who fights tooth and nail for the privacy of ther own daughters who are not private persons but public figures.
No, the pink press didn't like Letizia's absence because they couldn't make money out of her. Letizia sells much more than Felipe does.
If you want to mention the controversy about the photos in the hospital, please provide the full context. Otherwise, it's misleading. It's Catalonia's politicians tried to make a political issue out of the photos. They told the press they would ask Casa Real to take down photos of those children from its website, saying it violated those children's privacy.
Casa Real immediately responded that the Royal Household's protocol staff visited the hospitals the day before Felipe and Letizia's visit. They asked for explicit permission from the hospital, the patient and the patient's parents if the patient was minor. Only when they had the consent from all parties, the photographer of the Casa Real would enter the room to take photos. The press wasn't allowed. That's why they visited 3 hospitals and only photos of two rooms were released. Casa Real said the photos would stay up because they had consent. Catalan politicians had been silent after that response.