Royal grumbles
In contrast to some other members of her family, it’s pretty rare that Queen Elizabeth II makes political waves. But a lunch held last Friday for royals from around the world to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee turned out to be something of a p.r. disaster. First, there was the news that Queen Sofia of ...
In contrast to some other members of her family, it's pretty rare that Queen Elizabeth II makes political waves. But a lunch held last Friday for royals from around the world to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee turned out to be something of a p.r. disaster.
In contrast to some other members of her family, it’s pretty rare that Queen Elizabeth II makes political waves. But a lunch held last Friday for royals from around the world to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee turned out to be something of a p.r. disaster.
First, there was the news that Queen Sofia of Spain had decided not to attend the event to protest an upcoming visit by Prince Edward to the island of Gibraltar:
"The government has considered that, under the current circumstances, in would be inappropriate for Queen Sofia to attend Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee," a statement from the royal palace in Madrid said.
British ambassador Giles Paxman went to Spain’s foreign ministry last week to hear about the conservative People’s party’s "displeasure and upset" at Prince Edward’s planned June trip to the Rock.
The dispute over Gibraltar has flared up again since Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy came to power.
Then, there was controversy over the guests who did attend, particularly Bahrain’s King Hamad al-Khalifa. Anti-monarchist groups held portests outside Buckingham Palace:
When the country’s King Hamad Al-Khalifa arrived at the Castle he was personally greeted by the Queen, who smiled as she shook his hand and the pair laughed as they shared a joke.
Republic’s chief executive Graham Smith said: "The Queen cannot hide behind protocol and precedent, this is a crisis of her own making.
"The British people strongly support the struggle for democracy in the Middle East and around the world – this is a catastrophic error of judgment that has already prompted a fierce backlash.
"The Queen owes a personal apology to all those fighting for freedom in those countries and to the families of those who have died doing so."
Other controversial guests at the lunch included Swaziland’s King Mswati III, the former Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, who stepped down over a corruption row, and Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud — the Saudi ambassador to Britain.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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