Oh dear…. Quel dommage…!
It seems Her Majesty The Queen is decidedly peeved that French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to issue a proper invitation for her to attend next week’s observance of the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.
One wonders, however, whether she is more displeased with Sarkozy for allegedly perpetrating this Napoleonic snub or with British PM Gordon Brown for letting him get away with it.
Whatever the case, Sarkozy only added insult to injury on Wednesday when - in reaction to jingoistic taunts by rabble-rousing UK tabloids – he declared that the Queen was “naturally welcome as head of the British state.” After all, he might as well have declared that if she’s going to raise such a hissy fit about it, then she can come too!
But nothing demonstrates how much Her Majesty has been affected by this royal snub quite like the pithy, formal announcement Buckingham Palace made yesterday in response to Sarkozy’s informal invitation:
Neither the Queen nor any other members of the royal family will be attending the D-Day commemorations on June 6 as we have not received an official invitation to any of these events.
Meow….!
Meanwhile, the French insist that, after issuing a proper invitation to the prime minister, they considered it Brown’s responsibility to give due notice to the Queen and others in the British delegation. They also note that the British have been rather indignant towards their jingoistic reverence for holding these D-Day observances at five instead of ten-year intervals.
“Bollocks!” say the British. They insist that Sarkozy orchestrated this oversight to ensure that the occasion focuses entirely on the Franco-American alliance; and, in particular, so that he can bask in President Obama’s reflected glow all by himself.
Of course this is all so petty as to be puerile. But the British have a point. Indeed, here’s how I presaged this scheming among European leaders to court Obama:
The courting of [presidential candidate] Obama reached a climax in France, where President Sarkozy was anxiously awaiting his arrival like a high-school nerd who scored a date with the homecoming queen. Though, perishing the thought of being shunned, British PM Gordon Brown made quite a public show of waiting with bated breath for his quickie as a thoroughly exhausted Obama paid a courtesy call at No. 10 in London … on his way back to America.
[Beware Barack, don’t believe the hype, TIJ, July 27, 2008]
But the French also have a point. Because as soon as PM Brown knew of the Queen’s interest in attending this (odd-year) commemoration, he should have procured a proper invitation from the French; end of story! Therefore, especially given reports that she had already “cooled on Brown because of his habit of appearing late for their weekly audiences,” the Queen is probably more displeased with him than she is with Sarkozy.
In any event, neither the French nor the British can deny that there would be no fuss if George W. Bush were still president of the United States. More to the point, I suspect it was only after Her Majesty became so enamored with the Obamas during their recent state visit that she decided she would like to be by his side for his first D-Day commemoration as president.
Unfortunately, by then, it would have been too onerous for Brown and Sarkozy to make all necessary arrangements for her visit, which “normally take up to six months to prepare” … properly. Ironically, this fact alone betrays the silly and resentful nature of this cross-channel spat.
All the same, I am mindful that the Queen is the only living head of state who served in World War II.
I have no doubt, however, that the French will help her get over this snub by according her due deference – in their inimitable style – in 2014. I just hope Obama is reelected in 2012 to make the occasion complete for her….
Related commentaries:
Beware Barack, don’t believe the hype
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