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Reply With QuoteWhat a slap in the face! Thousands of British and Canadian soldiers lost their lives on the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy in the fight to liberate France and the French can't even bother to invite their head of state.
Buckingham Palace has ruled out the Queen attending next week's official D-Day commemorations in France.
Royals Not Invited To D-Day Commemoration
Neither she nor any other member of the Royal family will join the events to mark the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings because they have not been invited, said a Palace spokeswoman.
Instead Prime Minister Gordon Brown will represent the UK alongside British veterans who took part in the 1944 invasion which helped defeat Hitler's Germany.
The absence of the Queen from the guest list for this year's D-Day commemorations was perceived by some as a deliberate snub by the French authorities.
Officials in Paris responded by insisting she was welcome and blaming the UK Government for deciding who should attend what they said was "primarily a Franco-American ceremony".
French government spokesman Luc Chatel said pointedly: "It is not up to France to determine the British representation."
But Buckingham Palace made it clear the Queen would not be attending the events in Normandy, while stressing that she was not upset about the situation.
A spokeswoman said: "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. We would like to reiterate that we have never expressed any sense of anger or frustration at all, and are content with all the arrangements that are planned."
British Normandy veterans expressed sadness at the absence of the Queen, who served in uniform during the Second World War as a driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
John Painter, 84, who landed at Arromanches in 1944 as a 19-year-old, said from Normandy: "As a soldier you do feel you are serving the Queen - the Royals are important figures and are extremely supportive of the military. Their absence will of course be noted."
WTF ,,Well if le frogs are saying she is welcome ,, wheres the invite , to this mainly Franco American ceromony .I knew there was a reason i dont like the French .But the Palace should be angry that no invite is forthcoming
Last edited by tankie; 28 May 09, at 22:46.
TANKIE.
What a slap in the face! Thousands of British and Canadian soldiers lost their lives on the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy in the fight to liberate France and the French can't even bother to invite their head of state.
Typical 'FROGS'. No love lost there.
I was shocked myself to learn of this. Hopefully, Mr. Sarcozy warms up to the fact that without her majesty and King Georges support France would never have been liberated to begin with. I mean you talking about the representative of two very important allies Britain and Canada during WWII. Many lives were given in that great cause and both monarcs stayed in Britain during the bombing campaigns with their people in a show of ubber support for the empire and its subjects when they were offered safety here in the US and they politely refused. Even De Gaulle fled to the US.
My only concern is one must also wonder how many more anniversaries will her majesty be able to attend in the future owing to her health. IMO, with her absent there is no British presence since she was alive then and has more knowledge of those troubled times then anyone and Brown wasnt even born yet for years to come.
Give the lady her due she was a rock while others were weak as water.
One can only wonder if this important anniversary is becoming more the spectacle to the modern world and less on the rememberence side and its true meaning as it relates to the elder and those who lived and breathed it instead of reading about it.
Last edited by Dreadnought; 29 May 09, at 15:33.
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
Franco-American?
3 out of 5 beaches were British/Canadian and the French did bugger all until we got near Paris.
And we accused Kim of rewriting history.
Chimo
Not to mention the Dutch, Norwegian, Polish sailors and other nationalities who were present at the invasion.Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers
As usual, Her Majesty and her family are handling it with considerable aplomb and class...and the French are handling it in a ham handed matter.
I am glad, for once, the US is keeping out of the middle of this one.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is to know to not use it in a fruit salad.
I think the royals have too much class to throw a fit.
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
King George VI, Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth just days before the D-Day landings June 6th 1944. Wondering how many invitees of the upper eschelon can say they were there.That is outside the lads ofcoarse.
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
The Queen's diary is written well in advance and if this date wasn't pencilled in as an ' official invitation' then HM will have had a very good reason not to attend. The security for her visit would be a nightmare and I don't think she would want to put that extra stress on the Ceremony. The Ceremony is for the fallen and not for visiting Royalty from any Country.
She could piss them all off and sail past on a HMS Daring with the Royal Family and a very lage "jack" at the mast. That would solve the security issue very quickly. Shame her carriers arent ready yet that would even be better.
Or recommision this puppy for a day cruise for the Royal Family and squeeze off a few rounds as a salute! HMS Belfast.
Last edited by Dreadnought; 29 May 09, at 18:33.
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
Looking at the picture posted by dread of the queen I must say I am impressed at her economic sense and her dry cleaners in that she has appearently not updated her wardrobe in 60+ years.
If this post is in bad taste just eat some british food it'll make it seem better tasting.
The Queen has always dressed in accordance with respect to her public. How can you dress royal and with extreme high dollar clothes and jewels in those days when all money and materials was going towards the war effort to defeat Germany, Britain was a mess after the Blitz, people were starving and hospitals overun with wounded and infastructure in ruin. The princess (queen to be) dressed as not to insult the people that would one day call her the "Queen". Respect given, Respect recieved.
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
Churchill would agreesqueeze off a few rounds as a salute! HMS Belfast.
Well when the opportunity presents itself....Churchill would agree
Stops them from getting any silly ideas later on i suppose
The best part of repentance is the sin
Col sir , in my original post ref this , i used the emoticon of roll eyes for exactly that which you say ,,,,,,
but ya cant write the frogs off as complete disasters , they did invent the B/Job (allegedly) and have been sucking and kissing arses ever since
TANKIE.
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