Who advised the Queen to walk into the Abbey escorted by Andrew??

[TinyTortoise]

This seems to be the most tone deaf and damaging decision. It's a public facing event with international leaders and royals. If it was a closed family gathering I could understand it - he is her son still- but why on earth would they allow him to escort her to her seat?! He should be invisible from now on and never represent the RF again. He could have attended and stood somewhere out of the way. She could have chosen anyone to escort her. It's staggeringly awful!

Yeah - how some people like to hysterically overreact at a guy going to his father's memorial service escorting his 95 year old mother.

@PurpleDaisies

It never occurred to me that anyone would raise their eyebrows at the Queen being escorted into and out of Westminster Abbey by her son, today. It seemed quite normal to me.

You genuinely didn’t consider that her son who has very recently paid £12m to make allegations of sex trafficking go away and had to give up his royal title might raise a few eyebrows? Really?

Well, I didn't, because, surely, no one has more right than a son to be at his father's memoral? 🤔

All this crap about a son helping his mother when she has other sons and a daughter to help who didn't have to pay off millions to avoid court

Did the alleged victim get a previous pay off for allegations? Twice then, without having to go to court. Maybe we haven't heard the last of her....

@Frangiblepins88

Yeah, I'm opposed to the monarchy myself, but the idea that the queen should've been anywhere other than with her recently bereaved grandchildren somewhere very private at that point is fucking deranged. It speaks well of her that the hysterical amongst the public weren't her priority in that situation and she had to be talked into coming back. Of all the legitimate things to criticise the queen for, it beggars belief that some people choose that.

We all know that situation could have been managed much better if the Queen had acted more promptly and broadcast a filmed public statement from Balmoral acknowledging the loss of Diana. If she had done that, and not waited until much later on, she could have stayed up in Scotland looking after the boys, without any of the public outcry from London. They didn't do this however because their first instinct was to somehow try and play down Diana's death, just as they had stripped her of her HRH title when she was alive. They wanted her to go away quietly in other words - twice! They didn't even initially see the need for a public funeral fhs! So the public outcry, although ill-judged, was not without a context.

The context was utter hysteria and it was inexcusable. It was also sufficiently batshit that I doubt a filmed statement would've been sufficient to calm the baying mob. There's no getting round the fact that the queen was in the best place and doing the right thing on that particular occasion.

And it's a public memorial with members of parliament and royals from other countries attending so he should have been sat behind a pillar not front and centre stage with the queen

@Shtfday

Oh for goodness sake leave the Queen alone. He is her son first and foremost and this was a memorial for her Husband.

I'm afraid that monarchy doesn't work like that. If you choose to live your life in front of the public and the public are your "subjects" - and indeed you need subjects in order to reign - then you have to be conscious of the public impression you are making. It wasn't a private event, it was broadcast across the nation and beyond. Harsh though it sounds, you can't apply private sentiment to public occasions.

We are paying for these people - I think it was downright insulting to the public by the queen to have a court Dodger accompanying her

So many forelock tuggers on this thread....it's quite pathetic really

@Frangiblepins88

Yeah, I'm opposed to the monarchy myself, but the idea that the queen should've been anywhere other than with her recently bereaved grandchildren somewhere very private at that point is fucking deranged. It speaks well of her that the hysterical amongst the public weren't her priority in that situation and she had to be talked into coming back. Of all the legitimate things to criticise the queen for, it beggars belief that some people choose that.

We all know that situation could have been managed much better if the Queen had acted more promptly and broadcast a filmed public statement from Balmoral acknowledging the loss of Diana. If she had done that, and not waited until much later on, she could have stayed up in Scotland looking after the boys, without any of the public outcry from London. They didn't do this however because their first instinct was to somehow try and play down Diana's death, just as they had stripped her of her HRH title when she was alive. They wanted her to go away quietly in other words - twice! They didn't even initially see the need for a public funeral fhs! So the public outcry, although ill-judged, was not without a context.

Agree completely with this @Frangiblepins88. It was fine to stay at Balmoral to support the boys, but the Queen's error of judgement was in not making a speech or statement herself earlier. She could have protected the boys more effectively by putting herself in the line of sight, as it were, and speaking earlier to say that Diana would be be honoured but that they would be shielding her sons as they grieved.

She's lived her whole life for show, walking into her hubands memorial service with her son I couldn't get worked up about to be honest.

This is a memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh.

These are who they are.

I hate breaking this to you all...

they don't care

Nor do the govt (as evidenced by partgate etc)

It's quite sweet you all think that public opinion matters at all to the UK elite.

🙄

@ChiswickFlo

I hate breaking this to you all...

they don't care

Nor do the govt (as evidenced by partgate etc)

It's quite sweet you all think that public opinion matters at all to the UK elite.

🙄

😅😅 so true! They do not give a flying fuck what us great unwashed think

She could have protected the boys more effectively by putting herself in the line of sight, as it were, and speaking earlier to say that Diana would be be honoured but that they would be shielding her sons as they grieved.

It's quite optimistic to think this would've been sufficient to stop the demands for her to leave them and return to London.

@HermioneWeasley

It shows contempt for public feeling and why the monarchy are completely out of touch and archaic

This.

I’ve never really had much of an opinion on the Royal family, but their support for this vile human being is an absolute disgrace.

Yes the Queen is elderly and perhaps deserves a little latitude, but riding roughshod over the feelings of his victim is beyond the pale.

They are all quite obsessed with public opinion actually - because they want to keep the monarchy going. They know they can't do that without public support.

i wonder who advises them.
another home goal after the dreadful tour.

There's a sort of tension between royal entitlement and not giving a fuck and craven dependency on public goodwill.

@Samcro

i wonder who advises them. another home goal after the dreadful tour.

Great innit.

@TatianaBis

They are all quite obsessed with public opinion actually - because they want to keep the monarchy going. They know they can't do that without public support.

They affect to follow public opinion when they don't really care about the issues.

But fundamentally they will always do whatever they want. because they can

The context was utter hysteria and it was inexcusable. It was also sufficiently batshit that I doubt a filmed statement would've been sufficient to calm the baying mob. There's no getting round the fact that the queen was in the best place and doing the right thing on that particular occasion

Yes there was hysteria drummed up by the press but I think there was also genuine anger stemming from the fact that the public could sense that the RF's response to Diana's death was not as wholehearted as it could have been. BP had historically been reluctant to acknowledge Diana's popularity. They initially thought that a private family funeral would be adequate which was ridiculous frankly given the level of public interest. And it was reported that PC had a fight on his hands to acquire a plane to fly he remains home. All these things built on the context of the stripping of the HRH title and her ostracisation when she was alive.

@HardyBuckette yep! The reaction of the public during all that was absolutely batshit.
Hysterically crying their eyes out for someone most people didn’t even know. Embarrassing. Those poor boys.

They’re tone deaf!

WOT??