As Lex, probably wisely, decided not to have any comments on his posting about No. 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor I thought I would put up a link to my own posting on the subject.
May I just add that there is no need to worry about Her Majesty: she will survive this snub and continue serenely on her way. The last politician who thought he could supplant her in people’s hearts and minds was Tony Blair. Ha! That’s all I can say, to quote Bertie Wooster. Ha!
What official reason did the 3 naricssists give for this disinvitation?
Or did they even bother to give a reason?
Thanks, Helen.
A much more rational and fact-based post than mine.
I can barely type I despise these people so much.
That’s OK, Lex, I loathe and despise them as well. The only reason we are getting is that it was some sort of a muddle. Each thought the other was inviting her and the French are now saying that she is, of course, welcome to come, should she want to. Quite rightly, she has refused. I have this great dream that as the three narcissists appear, the veterans with one accord turn their backs on them. Sadly, they are not the sort of people who would behave so badly.
Perhaps she should have a ceremony at the villages and harbors where the ‘armada’ embarked upon their quest. I don’t believe there has been much accorded to the ‘base’ that allowed the expeditionary force to succeed.
There must have been a lot of sacrifice that is undocumented, sadly.
So, that is my suggestion. Visit the southern ports and villages. Hail those that may have stayed home, but worked their fingers to the bone to enable the victory that came ten months later.
tom
An absolutely atrocious act. I like the idea of visiting the armada origin points while the Treacherous Three meet. Better yet, may she sail on a vessel with veterans of that time to pay homage to the graves of her people in France. The men (and women) of that time (and hopefully their grandchildren) who would sail with her would rightly treasure the time with their fellow veteran for eternity.
The effrontery of the little, largely ignorant, minds in power these days (the ignorance of the populace that supports them doesn’t bear thinking about) is disheartening.
You wrote: Queen Elizabeth II is the last living head of state who served in uniform in World War II.
Don’t forget Joseph Ratzinger, who served briefly in the German army in WW2, was held by the Americans as a POW, and is now head of state of Vatican City State.
My only comment on the other post is that for some reason the headline is garbled – I am running firefox… the word after subaltern cannot be read.
On your comment of the Ratzinger, I think it was summed up best by “Junior” the cop who wears his bullet-proof vest outside of his uniform, in a recent (fictional, of course) episode of Reno 911! when the Vatican comes to visit and he says “We love your nazi pope!”
Don’t know what Reno 911 is and it doesn’t sound like I want to know. Wikipedia says about Pope Benedict XVI:
In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigours of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family’s home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp, but was released a few months later at the end of the war in the summer of 1945. He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year. So yes, he was in uniform but, somehow, it is not quite the same. Interesting that they were drafting 16 year olds as early as 1943. By 1945 they were down to 15 year olds.