I wasn’t surprised by the fact that the Spanish royals and British royals did not send anyone to Prince Christian’s big 18th birthday party/gala over the weekend in Denmark. The gala was well-attended by the Scandinavian royals, including high-ranking princes and princesses of Sweden, Norway, Belgium and The Netherlands. There were also “Greek royals” in attendance, because these people are all related by blood or marriage. The Spanish royals tend to avoid this kind of stuff, but I would assume that King Felipe and Queen Letizia were probably invited to the party. It’s not clear if the Danish royal family invited anyone from the Windsor clan though. Who would they invite? William and Kate? The Wessexes/Edinburghs? Sophie and Edward traditionally get this kind of assignment, so it’s curious to me that they didn’t attend. But the fusspots at the Mail think it should have been Will and Kate, except of course Will and Kate were “too busy” to attend.
It was one of the most glamorous events in this year’s social calendar, with royals from around Europe gathering in Copenhagen to celebrate Prince Christian’s 18th birthday. The glitzy gala at Christiansborg Castle was an opportunity for future Kings and Queens to mingle with one another – yet senior members of the British Royal Family were nowhere to be seen.
It’s not the first time that the likes of King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, The Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have been absent from a celebration held by a European royal household. In September, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf marked his golden jubilee with a lavish banquet at the Royal Palace, where guests included Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Norway’s Queen Sonja and Denmark’s Princess Mary – but senior British royals failed to make an appearance.
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter told FEMAIL that it’s likely a busy schedule and the slimmed-down monarchy to blame for the lack of British royals at their European counterparts’ festivities.
Prince Christian is a four-times great grandson of Queen Victoria and a distant cousin to Prince William. His grandmother Queen Margrehte was the late Queen Elizabeth’s third cousin and the pair enjoyed a warm relationship. But rather than travel to Denmark for the lavish occasion, the Prince of Wales, 41, journeyed to France with his son Prince George, 10, to watch Wales take on Argentina in the quarter final of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
It’s unclear if Kate and William – or any senior British royals – were invited to Prince Christian’s 18th birthday party. But Dickie has said it’s unlikely an invitation would’ve been accepted due to the British royals’ busy schedules.
He said: ‘Royal diaries are generally completed a good six to seven months in advance. There are minor gaps to allow for last minute engagements as we saw this weekend with The Prince of Wales at the Wales Rugby World Cup quarter final and The Princess at the England match. British royals are not fussy – busy, yes. There are only eleven working royals, all with particularly full diaries and even royals are allowed down time.’
‘Of King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Golden Jubilee – this was September when Prince William was preparing for Earthshot in New York, and The King, preparing for his State Visit to France. In the past, the late Queen who was of a similar generation to the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish monarchs, would more than likely have received an invitation and, while not attending herself, would have asked one of her family to represent her depending on the nature of the engagement.’
He added: ‘I believe the UK population at large would prefer to see the royals, whether in the UK or abroad, at work rather than attend birthday celebrations.’
It looks like the friendships between the British monarchy and European monarchies died with Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, honestly. King Charles’s court clearly believes that he alone is the most important monarch and he’s not going to send his family members to be friendly with the other royal families. Once again, there’s a huge gap between what Charles did as Prince of Wales versus what William has been doing as PoW. While Charles probably wouldn’t have attended Christian’s birthday party as PoW, he absolutely would have attended Carl Gustaf’s Golden Jubilee and he would have attended King Constantine’s funeral in January. It’s so bonkers that William is telling everyone that he wants to be a global statesman whilst simultaneously refusing to show up to these big international events. King Constantine was William’s godfather! I still can’t get over that. Anyway, I really wonder if the Danes even invited anyone from the Windsor clan.
PS… I still believe Will & Kate are mad about the lack of special treatment they received at the Jordanian wedding several months ago as well. They were treated like every other royal and they weren’t even put close to the front row. Plus, Charles has good reason for not sending W&K abroad: they inevitably make asses out of themselves.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Prince and Princess of Wales (William and Kate) attend Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II’s Royal Wedding Banquet at Al Husseinieh Palace in Amman, Jordan, on June 1st, 2023. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II’s Royal Wedding at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Nieboer/DDP/INSTARimages **USA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II’s Royal Wedding at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Nieboer/DDP/INSTARimages **USA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales during the dinner banquet on Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa their Royal Wedding at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales during the dinner banquet on Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa their Royal Wedding at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales during the dinner banquet on Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa their Royal Wedding at Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Amman, Jordan When: 01 Jun 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
They’ve never attended events like this and will continue not going.
Why didn’t Sophie and Edward go?
I’m guessing they didn’t go because Charles wasn’t going to pick up the check for hotel and airfare.
William seems to have no idea that you end up a statesman at 40 from having attended all these sorts of small events in your 20s and 30s, so that you have shared memories with your peers. Such a fool.
From what little I’ve read, this wasn’t considered to be a state occasion but more of a family birthday party. I’m surprised that Letizia and Felipe weren’t there with Leonor since Felipe and Frederick are first cousins.
And if the ‘Greek’ royals were there I would expect the Spanish to be there as well, since Sofia is the sister of the late King Constantine.
Leonor is now in a military training programme and her sister is attending Atlantic College in Wales.
Felipe and Frederick are not first cousins. Felipe is first cousins with Pavlos (Felipe’s mother and Pavlos’s father are brother and sister) and Frederick is first cousins with Pavlos (mothers are sisters). But I don’t believe there is a direct blood relation between Felipe and Frederick unless you go back generations (to George I of Greece?)
As @Anotherlily wrote, crown princess Leonor is in military training, she couldn’t come. King Felipe attended princess Ingrid Alexandra’s birthday party alone, but his family was surely invited there too. He’s IA’s godfather, but not prince Christian’s so Felipe prioritizing her birthday is natural. I doubt the Danes would snub either the british or the spanish RF. The british are clearly more comfortable with the arabic royals.
@hopey There are a few blood ties but nothing on the first or second cousin level.
Queen Victoria—Beatrice—Victoria Eugenie—Juan—Juan Carlos—Felipe
Victoria—Arthur—Margaret—Ingrid—Margarethe—Frederick (so 4th cousins)
Felipe is also descended twice maternally from Victoria
Victoria—Victoria—Sophie—Paul—Sophia—Felipe (again 4th cousins)
Victoria—Victoria—William—Victoria Louise—frederica—Sophie—Felipe (fourth cousins once removed)
Both are descended from christian IX of denmark
Christian ix—William (George I of Greece)—Constantine—Paul—Sophia—Felipe
Christian—Frederick—Christian—Frederick—Margarethe—Frederick (again 4th cousins)
Felipe and Frederick, while not first cousins, used to be quite close and hang out together along with Pavlos. I think those three were together in the bar when Frederick met now Crown Princess Mary. For a good while after Felipe and Letizia married they would both show up at these events with the Scandinavian Royals but that has not happened lately. Has Letizia either declined to attend or not been invited?
*Puts on tin foil tiara*. From what I can tell, Leticia has not shown up lately at any events where Marie-Chantal has appeared. I wasn’t aware of any tensions between those two until after the church/photo op incident between Letizia and Sofia. Marie-Chantal posted a very pissy, soon deleted, comment on either Twitter or Instagram indicating that Letiza’s true (meaning mean) personality was shown by that event and how elders must be respected above all. It was said that Marie Chantal is a gossip and would bad mouth Letizia. So, maybe the Danes don’t want to invite Letizia to events? Maybe Letizia doesn’t want to have to make nice with Marie Chantal? Interestingly, there will soon be a state visit by Spain to that region. I will be curious to see if Marie Chantal shows up!
Letizia and bought-a-title-with-daddy’s-money Marie-Chantal have never gotten along.
1) MC wanted daddy to buy Felipe for her but Felipe refused
2) MC is close friends with Criminal Cristina
Adding, she settled for Felipe’s dim uni roommate, Pavlos, when Felipe refused. She wanted a title, he needed money. MC & Pavlos are a match made in PR-loving, pretend royal status heaven. They both know the game and have settled with their business arrangement.
BTW everybody wanted Felipe. Mary went for him first that night in the pub, then at Nikolaos. Joachim steered clear so she went for Fred.
This is all so interesting y’all. I never knew the tidbits about MC-Felipe. It would make sense then why there would be lasting tension between MC and Letizia. I believe MC and Letizia were pictured together for the first time in ages earlier this year at Constantine’s funeral events? Folks made a big deal about it because of that whole spat they had.
Their non attendance could have something to do with protocol plus the fact that they may not be that close . Most of the European Royal Houses are distantly related ( most of them share two ancestors King Fredrik of Denmark and Queen Victoria of the UK .
For instance Queen Margaret of Denmark is late Queen’s Third Cousin ( her mother was a great-great grand daughter of Queen Victoria )which makes Prince Christian a fifth cousin to PW. While Queen Margaret was close to the late Queen, not so sure that their children are close. However there is a possibility that if this was a wedding, they would have been a representative from the BRF
Because Edward is ill? He looked appalling the last few times he appeared in public and in fact is rarely seen at the moment. Sophie if i am not mistaken hosted the Duke of Edinburgh awards recently, Edward was nowhere in sight. I hope for their sakes, and their children’s sake, that i am wrong here.
You guys got it all wrong. Christian turned 18, he was allowed to invite all the people he loves to his epic 18th birthday, he went to invite Harry and Meghan but they were on vacation. He did not invite Eggplant Prince and Button Princess because they are not popular among the 18-34 demographic. As simple as that.
.It was for the birthday boy to OK the guest invites. His sisters, brother , cousins, aunts and uncles, godparents, godparents’ children would be on the list. This accounts for the younger teenagers and the tweenagers attending.
The Greek royals would show up to the opening of an envelope
Lol at considering going to a football game work, as opposed to the “frippery” of a birthday party. These people I swear.
ETA: To Kaiser’s point, I think they don’t go places because outside of the UK and it’s sycophantic press they are seen very much as lightweights who aren’t important in the grand scheme of things even among other royals.
Yeah:
He added: ‘I believe the UK population at large would prefer to see the royals, whether in the UK or abroad, at work rather than attend birthday celebrations.’
Any time they leave the house or pick up the phone they count it as ‘work’. Please. Any I completely agree with your point @Dee(2), they know they are not taken seriously and won’t be told they are the specialest and the amazingest so they stay at home. Plus they’re lazy.
Well you don’t have to actively use social skills at a stadium game, as much as you do when you go to a birthday party.
Right? I said something similar below. Or attending a wedding–seen in these photos–is ‘real work’ but again, not the simple birthday party. These people.
Busy diaries??? LMAO ok Dickie, let’s see how busy they are when the end of year engagement numbers come out.
He’s right though, the British public probably would rather see the royals at work than at birthday celebrations. But they ain’t working.
The Duke of Gloucester, who is in his late 70s, has done more royal engagements this year than Kate and Camilla.
There must be something about being the spare which the Duke was. His older brother died weeks after Richard’s marriage to the Danish Brigitte. He was a trained architect. They’re the unsung *actually* ‘never put a foot wrong’, non problematic workhorses of the royal family. Happily married, dignified, no scandals, hard working, kids are scandal free and low key. Their daughter’s amicable divorce was the closest thing to a scandal.
And they frame this “busy diary” business as though save-the-dates for a royal’s 18th birthday wouldn’t have gone out several months in advance, too. It’s a birthday, for Pete’s sake, the date is known well ahead of time.
Meanwhile wasn’t Chucky still changing the date of his coronation as close to the event as February?! So don’t even try this 7-8 months lead time garbage.
ha! garbage exactly!
“Royal diaries are generally completed a good six to seven months in advance”…
(Unless it is the last minute scramble to determine if separated Kate is going to attend her faux-husbands shambles yet marquee Earthsh*t awards or be on-hand for Georges exams)?
IS IT? PHLUEEZE.
People prefer to see them at work rather than birthday celebrations? Hahahahahahahaha. Good one, Dickie.
Mind you, the “work” in question is attending a rugby match…
This would have been a wonderful event for Lady Louise, she is in the age range.
However I’ve always found it odd for other royals to send heirs and the UK someone much further down the line.
Louise doesn’t know any of the other royals who attended, so I don’t think it’d have been nice for her to attend. Margrethe’s maternal grandmother was a British princess so the family used to have close ties to the British royal family, but I don’t think this applies to the younger generation. What comes to Spain, Queen Sofia is sister to the (late) former king of Greece, which makes Anne-Marie’s children and the current king of Spain cousins. They know each other well and Frederik knows Felipe well, too. Felipe is Vincent’s godfather, and it’s known they’ve spent time together. So I believe Leonor would have attended had she not been busy with her military training.
Felipe called Queen Margrethe Aunt Daisy in a birthday video when she turned 80 (during covid). As did the Dutch king (though she is his godmother).
I think Leonor was part of the ‘future royals’ photo shoot. With the heirs, mostly female, of the next generation. Of course no Brits were present.
@bqm, Leonor was not in either of the two “young heirs of Europe” photos
I think this was an interesting event, in that it seems to have been primarily about family and friends and less about diplomacy or foreign relations. The royals that attended have close ties to the Danish family, the heirs who attended reportedly are all fairly close. Nothing indicates that Louise is close to the future queens of Belgium and Norway and the future king of Denmark.
The royal family trees get complicated for me very quickly, LOL, but the British royals and the Spanish royals are also related through Sofia. I think Philip was her first cousin once removed?
Yes, Phillip was King Paul of Greece’s first cousin – so he’d be once removed from Paul’s children – Sophia, Constantine and Irene.
When the queen died, the royal “family” died as well. Charles has no interest in keeping up the appearance of “family”, within the Windsor clan or in the wider sense of cousins many times removed. The queen understood the importance of projecting the “family” image while Charles clearly does not.
This. Now that the Queen is gone the rest of the royals don’t want to fuck with them unless they absolutely HAVE to.
I’m sure the side chick queen cowmilla is frowned upon
The daughter of the pretender to the Italian throne or maybe it’s the French throne (his name is Charles and his wife’s name is Camilla, not kidding) tried to put a story out there recently that she and the Danish prince were an item. Just wondering if that family was there
Those Bourbon two Scillies or whatever? They’re close friends with Fred and Mary.
I doubt seriously he understands the concept of loyal and loving family personally.
Sounds like to me that maybe they were not given an invitation. Also I think this birthday celebration got more international press than the rugby matches combined that the lazies attended.
I think they were not invited. It wasn’t a state occasion so there was no need for formal representation. The dinner was much less formal than a state banquet with guests seated in small groups at circular tables. I can’t imagine Kate making appropriate dinner table conversation in that kind of setting.
Question…when the various European royals get together, what language do they speak to one another? That’s another thing that bugs me about WandK is their inability to speak/understand other languages, most of the European royals are multilingual, even Charles speaks French so way wasn’t William trained as well?
I guess it depends which royals are together – the Scandi royals most likely speak their own languages when they are together since Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are close enough for us to understand each other if we make an effort.
Queen Margrethe, CP Frederik and Prince Joachim are all fluent in French so I guess they’d speak French with the Belgian and Luxembourg Royals. Queen Maxima’s first language is Spanish so she can converse with the Spanish royals in that language. For the rest, I guess they speak English. I know that when the Dutch royals visited they spoke English because Danish and Dutch are small language groups.
Willem Alexander also speaks German, French and is okay in Spanish.
With the Belgians, he probably speaks Dutch.
Learning several foreign languages in mandatory in the Netherlands and he probably got heavier emphasis on them than the average Dutchie. He studied more Spanish after meeting Maxima.
Willem Alexander often doesn’t follow protocol by speaking in another language instead of his own at international events.
I read somewhere that W-A and Max’s daughters also studies Mandarin. Don’t if it is true.
The late Prince Consort Henrik of Denmark also spoke Mandarin and Vietnamese as well as Spanish and English. He learned Danish when he married Margrethe and his native language was French.
The Scandinavian royals usually speak “Scandinavian” or their own languages when they’re together as the languages are closely related. English is used as well, depending on the language skills of the others, for example Queen Silvia speaks French to the Luxembourg royals.
I mean I learned Spanish as a nobody just because I thought it was important to learn another language. I find it really appalling that learning at least one other language was never a priority for William.
A tour guide at the royal palace in Madrid told me once that they spoke English in the Spanish royal family, because Sofia was Greek and Juan Carlos obviously Spanish, so English was their common language, so Felipe grew up speaking English and Spanish. This was in 2003 though and he may have just been patronizing the American on the tour, lol.
You know, I can believe that. To this day Sofia’s Spanish is… interesting. Juan Carlos was only officially named successor of the fascist regime in 1969, and that was seven years after their marriage. She might not have wanted to bother until she was sure it was going to stick.
In Greece, everyone learns several languages or else they wouldn’t be able to travel – imagine if every time you crossed state lines you had to speak a different language. For me it was English, German and French. There’s a whole industry of foreign language tutors there.
Sophia, Constantine and Irene all spoke Greek, English and German. The younger generations speak even more languages.
W didn’t learn Welsh as PW!
Did he say British royals are not fussy????? Yeah, no one believes that😂
The last photo — was that from the Jordanian wedding? My mind is drawing a blank on that particular event, but I actually really like Kate’s dress there. One of those exceedingly rare instances where her frou-frou Belle Epoque fashion sensibilities actually pay off. The high neck, slightly puffed bell sleeves, and soutache details are pure Edwardian, but the fabric keeps it flowy and modern.
Yes, Miranda. I had a similar thought. She looks pretty and appropriate; I don’t often see a glow about her and here she looks good. I thought maybe from the Jordanian wedding too? Was it the reception line dress when W got visibly impatient with her visiting in line a bit too long for his liking?
William’s impatience occurred during the reception line immediately after the wedding ceremony. The header photo is from the evening reception, where Peg is walking way ahead of his wife, wearing an evening suit. Buttons is wearing a shimmery gown with long sleeves, following ineptly behind. The other photos were taken earlier that day of Buttons in the pink dress with bell sleeves, and Peg wearing a blue suit with matching tie.
I agree. While I don’t care for the color, the dress overall is really lovely and it adds some much needed softness to her figure and goes well with her hairstyle. Her makeup looks really good, too, although I suppose photoshop is helping.
Same. I actually love both of her dresses from the wedding. And I was surprised she chose muted colors and didn’t try to overshadow the festivities.
IMO both those dresses were fussy and wrong for the event. All-over sequins for someone’s wedding reception? Just like when she used to wear see-through red lace at weddings. And nude/pale pink does nothing for Kate.
When a female guest wears red to a wedding, that means she has had sex with the groom!
She copied Queen Ranias dress she wore to her daughter, Princess Imans wedding. No originality even then….
I agree. Plus it adhered to the modesty standards for attire of the wedding.
Could it be that this was a joyous, glamorous event and the Windsors are middle age and above drab and would have taken the event down.
For decades, the only Windsors who have attended European royal events are Edward and Sophie. QEII and Philip were quite elderly at that point and Charles just never bothered. Will and Kate most likely have zero relationship with any of their peers (and they have been openly rude to them in the past, so I don’t think that they are missed).
They also don’t like being placed behind other royals since they are only recently in the number two position. That was obvious at the wedding in Jordan.
But really a large issue is that William and Kate can barely stand to be near each other. They only went to Jordan because there is a money exchange going on there and Carole and Pippa got a free trip there too.
Charles would selectively choose which events with the European Royals he would attend. For example, he attended Felipe’s wedding to Letizia and the event held when Willem-Alexander became King.
I doubt that any of the Windsors were invited. Chuck is much older than Frederick and Joachim, so they have never been close. Plus, Willy and wife are not in the age range of either Frederick or Joachim, who are slightly older. Also, Willy is way older than Frederick and Joachim’s kids. In turn, Willy’s kids are way younger than Frederick’s and Joachim’s offspring (aside perhaps from Joachim’s youngest children from his second marriage, who appear somewhat older than George, but a similar generation). The younger group of British royals after Elizabeth II onward, simply have never been very close to other European royals, regardless of being distant relatives.
According to reports, this 18th birthday party was billed as a family and friends celebration for Prince Christian. He is not close friends with any of the Windsors, is he? And as mentioned, why would he be, due to wide age gaps, lack of closeness, and non-existing shared interests? 🙄
I agree with Nic919. The Daily Mail published a photo of the Wales’s with a caption that claimed they were ‘leading the European royals’. In reality the King and Queen of the Netherlands were the leading European royal couple.
The seating plan was clear. There was a four row section for royals and heads of state. The front row included the Dutch King and Queen and the King of Belgium who attended with his daughter Crown Princess Elisabeth. (Elisabeth was seated separately on the back row however I think this might have been to accommodate the bride’s mother who was seated beside Queen Rania, apparently a last minute adjustment because her husband had a role ‘on stage’. ) The second row included the FLOTUS and her niece. The third row included the Crown Prince of Denmark and Crown Princess of Sweden along with their respective spouses. William and Kate were on the back row.
The section behind W&K was for personal friends, including Princess Beatrice and her husband on the front row.
There is clearly an agreement between the Palace and the tabloid press that they promote the idea of William as a leader. This claim is in the King’s Accession Speech. Charles refers to their role as ‘leading our national conversations’. It is a ridiculous and offensively patronising claim and it does them no favours.
Both Charles and William are actually the youngest of their contemporaries, hard to believe from the photos.
^^ Exactly. 💯 Just as I outlined in my previous post. Rota don’t have brains or good sense to figure anything out, nor to make an honest attempt at speaking the truth. They are too busy creating fictions, spinning lies, and ignoring the stark emptiness of the Windsor royals who remain on Salty Isle.
William and Kate had time to the Jordanian Royal Wedding so they can make room in their schedule for other events. I just don’t think they were invited, just like they weren’t invited to the Swedish King’s Golden Jubilee. As far as I’m aware, only the Scandinavian monarchies were invited to the Swedish event.
The Scandinavian royals are all closely related – and not just 4-5 generations back. The King of Sweden and the Queen of Denmark are first cousins. The Norwegian King’s mother was a Swedish princess.
And unlike many of their events which seem thrown together at the last minute (for WanK anyway, Charles has much more professional team barring the pen section), I’m pretty confident in my assumption that this would have been in the diary for a very long time.
Charles was not in the habit of going to other royal events except coronations. If he was still PoW, he would not have gone to this event.
Charles went to a couple of royal weddings, notably Haakon and Mette-Marit’s because he wanted to show his support. Mostly it was Edward and Sophie.
When the Windsors tried to send W&K to the Lux royal wedding? The Luxes publicly hit back and said they had invited Edward and Sophie. LOL. Didn’t want Kate doing her usual attention-seeking at their big event.
@AmyBee I agree, I think everything else aside – W&K didn’t attend this because they weren’t invited.
What William doesn’t seem to get is that to be a “global statesman”, he has to put in the time building relationships, and that requires going to events and making small talk etc. he literally just thinks showing up at “big” things and existing is enough.
Maybe if he’d had a better relationship with the Danish royal family, Frederick would have invited him on the UN Ambassadors Central Park run and he wouldn’t have had to tell everyone he went out because nobody saw him.
So making it sound like the BRF is so busy (what a lie) and the other RF’s have time for partying just comes across as arrogant. Funny how they stretch out any invitation to something that has nothing to do with H&M (like Obama’s BD party) into an insult that H&M are sulking over, but a non-invite to a royal shindig isn’t even suggested for the leftovers.
The Windsor’s seem to think they are more important than the other royal families so unless they are the guests of honour I can’t see any of the “senior” royals wanting to go. They tend to isolate themselves from other royals. I’m sure nobody missed them 🤣
I would love to learn why they have become so isolated from their European peers because that wasn’t always the case. Edward VII often spent his summers at the Danish court since his wife was Danish. Queen Margrethe’s maternal grandmother was the English princess Margaret and her mother Queen Ingrid maintained relationships with her English relatives. During WWII the Norwegian King Haakon and CP Olav lived in exile in London and King Haakon’s wife was the English princess Maude.
There were close personal relationships – but I think that last one was with QEII and they died with her.
Especially given some royal relationships survived the British monarchy’s turning their back on their relatives and failing to take in the Tsar’s family during the Bolshevik revolution.
It will be quite an achievement for Chuck to end rapprochement with fellow Royals just out of…what? Superiority? Laziness? Being tediously boring?
I know all the royal families have their share of drama and scandal but I like to think that the European royals have chats about upcoming events and get to the point of “you’re not going to invite THEM are you..?” when the Brits come up. They are extra messy and so self-absorbed and lacking a sense of humour why would you want them at your party? I get the impression the others look forward to the chance to put their fancy gear on and catch up with each other.
Charles’ people and the British FO were messy with the other royals for QEII’s funeral (and maybe also with the Coronation). They publicly disinvited CP Mary to QEII’s funeral because they had messed up with the invitation, not making it clear that it was only for QMII and CP Frederik. It was messy and embarrassing.
I mean, based on nothing at all but gossip magazines, social media and this site, if I’m a royal, and I have to choose between hanging out with the Swedish royals or the British royals, I”m going to choose the Swedish royals (or Danish, or Belgian, or Spanish etc) every time.
The british royals are just so convinced that they are superior to everyone else, including other royal houses – they just dont seem fun.
Willem-Alexander and Maxima strikes me as people who are very good company. They just strike me as people that are fun and entertaining. When they visited Denmark on a State Visit years ago (pre-COVID) it was very obvious that they, Fred and Mary had a blast.
I think, for one thing, it is the huge age gaps that exist between Chuck and the younger Frederick & Joachim, plus Willy is about ten years younger than F&J too. Forget about Willy’s kids being close in age to any of Frederick’s kids or to Joachim’s older kids. Plus, there’s no similar interests.
And then, historically, the Windsors apparently became increasingly insular and off-putting after the 20th-century’s defining great wars. The British royals were apparently always stuffy, snobby, and stuck-up, as a result of British empire status making them accustomed to lording it over the rest of the European royals on a regular basis (aside from QE-II’s general friendliness with some royal cousins). This lording it over, was especially true in the heyday years, when Queen Vic’s fame and prestige had her marrying off her offspring into various royal houses across Europe. That’s how she became billed as “the grandmother of Europe.” But, as we have seen, relationships and familial royal connections do change, quite often drastically.
I remember seeing pictures of Charles & Diana (plus very young Will & Harry) with the Spanish royals – I think the Waleses were visiting in Mallorca because it was all “royal casual”. Even a younger Felipe was there. I wonder what happened with that relationship.
@aftershocks When you are 40, the 10 year gap to 50 is not that great, not like 20 to 30.
The Windsors have main character syndrome. They don’t see a reason to go to anyone else’s parties but want the other royals to come to theirs. This is another reason why Willy will never be the global statesman his PR want him to be. He doesn’t want to build relationships with people that would require him to care about things other than himself and he doesn’t want to do that.
“Royal diaries are generally completed a good six to seven months in advance“ well you’ve known about when this would be for 18 YEARS so ???
Tell us you weren’t invited without telling us you weren’t invited.
Yeah. The celebrations for the Heir turning 18 are a thing in the Scandinavian RFs. There’s a always a big to-do, has been for generations. It is not something the BRF would be surprised about. Most recently it was for Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway – and I don’t think the BRF attended that bash either.
The British Royals didn’t attend that event, although pretty much every other royal family did, including Luxembourg’s.
The dinner for Ingrid Alexandra was partially television – and it looked like they had fun. All of them even did a funny little dance at one point.
lol exactly. This just shows how lazy and incompetent the palace is that this somehow eluded their diaries, not to mention the arrogance that lets them send out these dismissive statements about being too busy to attend some lowly cousin’s 18th birthday. Even with something as inconsequential as this, they can’t help but show us who they really are.
Sure, the public wants to see the royals working, but I think they also want to see them being royal.
And like they wouldn’t count this as ‘work’ anyway??
Exactly, plus they would be able to wear some fancy clothes and have their pictures taken with other royals. The BM would eat that up and it would remind people that the BRF have connections outside of the UK.
The birthday was really an example of royals being royal. Dresses, jewels tiaras oh my! I’m anti-monarchy but even I know that this is the kind of thing that royal fans love. The rota and BM want to see the Windsors royaling. They spent all that money on the coronation but it lacked glamour.
It does make me laugh that Chuck’s idiotic no tiaras at my coronation has led to this delightful moment in time, when an 18 year old’s birthday party is more formal and glamorous than a coronation.
Kate could have slapped on a tiara with her Wiglet! God knows she’s gagging for tiara events.
The doors to the Tiara Vault seem to have been locked since Camilla became queen. First, Kate had to hot glue a tinsel tiara for the coronation – now, she’s wearing $30 Zara blazers. Oh, the humanity.
Her party pieces special will never get old. But that’s why OS royal events work FOR her because she can’t go without one. Like the Jordanian wedding.
The BRF are lame ducks.
^^ Exactly! 💯 The toxic Windsor family are too self-interested and non-genial. They are too boring, outdated, and mean-spirited to be invited to a laid-back, youth-oriented, fun-spirited Scandinavian-centric royal family celebration!
Sophie and Edward have been the usual, more palatable go-to Windsor couple to attend European royal functions. But, not even Sophie & Edward have any particularly close ties to the Scandinavian royals. And their kids (Louise & James) are not friendly with Christian either. Thus, there was no reason to invite any of the Windsors.
Actually, Edward is the godfather to one of Joachim’s sons. The Scandinavians’ relationship with the now Edinburghs does seem to have cooled somewhat. *Tin foil tiara back on*. I was wondering if the Edinburghs were some of the “friends” that Norway’s Martha Louise said were not receptive to her fiance because of his color. She seemed to be quite close with the Edinburghs previously and she and her husband lived in London for quite a long time. I was really surprised that the Edinburghs did not attend Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday gala – which occurred shortly after Martha Louise and her boyfriend became engaged.
Royals are probably the smallest human subset on the planet so, whether the Windsors were not invited or turned down the invitations to these shindigs, either reflects poorly on them.
Agreed.
Charles expected and had the other royals show up at his Con-a-Nation so he should had returned the favor and sent someone from House Windsor. 11 yr old Princess Estelle from Sweden attended Christian’s birthday party.
The fact that Princess Estelle attended is actually very unusual. Young royals rarely attend these events until they turn 18. That 11 year-old Estelle attended is probably because the CP Victoria’s family is very close to CP Frederik’s family. Fred and Vickan are second cousins and she has said in an interview that she sees Fred as a sort of surrogate brother.
There were several pre-teens there including Joachim’s daughter Athena who is 11 like Estelle. The Danish Princess Josephine is 12. I think one or two of the boys are pre-teens too.
Both Estelle and her brother attended princess Ingrid Alexandra’s birthday as well. IA’s brother was not invited to prince Christian’s birthday, so the danes seems to have invited the future queens and their parents regardless of age.
Little Charles of Luxembourg also attended Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday gala.
In the Denmark the rule is usually that young royals only attend events like this when they turn 18.
I guess they got the memo that Will is only interested in America.
So much going on in the world and his press is about how he wants to conquer America.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the BRF think they’re more important than the European royals. Also they probably should start spending more time with the European families. They’re all close knit and also way more popular. Pick up some tips.
There are “only” 11 BRF working royals? Oh please. That is more than most European Royal families, so what is Dickie on about?
If they were invited it was a bit rude not to send someone as they all made the time to shop up at Charles’ party.
Well, the Windsors are known for being incredibly rude. Elizabeth’s children (and probably some of her grand-children) are lack basic manners. They clearly have no home training.
Because Harry wasn’t going to be there. That all that matter to Will. To “win” America, copy his Harry’s every move and find a Meg look a like for his new queen.
I think Charles also just can’t really make Will do anything. Ever since Will got his POW he doesn’t need to beg Charles for money.
“King Charles’s court clearly believes that he alone is the most important monarch”, that’s exactly it. And you could even say that Charles himself believes himself to be the most important monarch.
I’m guessing with Andy out of the running and Eddie/Soph overworked (poor sausages) there isn’t a middle aged family member to spare for these frou frou events – lol
Could you imagine if they sent Andrew?
Then all the younger princesses would have stayed home…
@Blubber LMAO – I wonder if they offered up Andrew as a means of rehabilitation and the Scandi’s said no thanks – so Chuckie’s Angel’s blanked them all in anger.
Crazy how the BM and many of the British people don’t seem to understand that the “British Empire” is a thing of the past. The British monarch isn’t “the most important” and best monarch any longer. Charles would do well to internalize this fact. Britain’s glory days are over, done! It would be a better look to try to modernize, maybe not be as openly racist and stuck in the old royal rut.
My prediction is that the other European royal houses will last long after the House of Windsor has fallen. #AbolishTheMonarchy
I think this is it. With the Commonwealth and Chuck still being Head of State in a couple of those countries, they can still pretend they are more important than every other royal family.
And when the British monarchy falls (which all monarchies will at some point) it’d be good for them to have other royal families as friends who can put them up.
Something is going on between the Windsors and the Danish royals. First, Crown Princess Mary was *disinvited* from Charles’s coronation. All four Middletons were all included but the Danish royals having three people was somehow too much.
Then William’s blood related cousin, CP Frederik, didn’t invite William on his actual jog with a group of UN attendees.
Now none of the British royals (not even Eddie and Sophie!) attended the swanky soiree for Prince Christian’s birthday.
So yeah, there is some sort of drama going on. #TeamDanes
Also, I want to know the real reason CP Mary was disinvited from the coronation. It wasn’t an error or not enough seats. The BF deliberately tried to humiliate her on an international level. Obviously, it backfired and just made the BF look incompetent. But there’s more to that story.
@BlueNailsBetty that’s all the coronation was to be honest. The snubbing of none royal Dukes, aristocracy, the balcony idiocy, H&M and their kids. No one could wear jewelry or gowns. The whole thing was suppose to be about the might of Britain and it was turned into a self embiggen of two ghouls. Charles’ just is petty and yes something happened and it was on purpose but also he has incompetent staff too so its hard to know. The Snubbly was rushed also. The way he is forgetting how inherited wealth is suppose to work with how he treats Harry is what all the royal houses were seeing. It’s all just embarrassing.
So true. The Windsors are messy and embarrassing. I think the coronation and their lack of actually promoting royalty and not just elitism is rubbing the Danes the wrong way. The headlines are always so weird when the Windsors come to anything. They want to be front and center at EVERYTHING even when its about another monarch.
She was at the Coronation – but she was publicly disinvited from QEII’s funeral because apparently BP/the FO hadn’t been clear in the invitation that it was only for QMII and CP Frederik. It was messy and embarrassing.
She wore a deep purple ensemble at the Coronation that was so pretty. That’s why I remember. I really like her style and I’m a sucker for deep purple.
DOH! You are right, I got the events confused.
However, my point remains. They publicly disinvited her from a funeral (which seems even worse than the coronation).
When Kate went to Denmark she was also half an hour late to her lunch with Queen Margrethe and CP Mary, which is super rude!
Her being late was so rude. SO RUDE. If I’m 5 minutes late meeting friends I feel bad.
What…is all the lateness about, for Kate? Do you think she’s got some anxiety and is not being given many coping mechanisms for it? Or…her staff just isn’t handling her details in a competent way (as Meghan soon discovered)?
@acha its possible its anxiety, when I’m anxious about going somewhere I tend to panic a little bit and that’s when I end up being late (which makes me MORE anxious etc.) And its possible her staff is competent.
But honestly, i think the real reason is she just doesn’t care. being late is a power move on her part.
They only go to “royal” events or have “royals” visit who are likely to give/bring large sets of jewelry.
Ding ding ding! That’s why they prefere to cosy up to the middle eastern and north african royals. The other european royal houses doesn’t hand them shopping bags of money and send lawish jewlery as gifts. No need to keep up with them.
There is a gaggle of heirs in Europe all about the same age as Christian so they are all contemporaries. The other person in this age group is Princess Leonor of Spain. I imagine that she would have been invited, but had to decline because of her military training. I read that the focus was on “youth” so various teen leaders in Denmark were invited. The British heir is middle-aged. It looked like a very thoughtful celebration. In addition, the Scandinavian royal families are close socially and attend each other’s celebrations- it’s like a gathering of relatives and neighbours. I’ve always had the impression that the British royals consider themselves a cut above their counterparts on the continent. Wasn’t it someone in the British royal family who came up with the “bicycle monarchies” moniker for the remaining European houses? Or it could have been the RR. Who knows, but it’s an attitude that’s out there. With the Queen gone, there seems to be no personal connection between the Danish and British royal families.
The BM certainly love to sneer about European “bicycle monarchies” as a way to say that Britain is superior. It is more about a unacknowledged insecurity than anything else IMO.
I know that the young European royals have a chat group – and that at least the Norwegian, Belgian, Dutch and Danish young heirs are members. I would suspect that the Spanish heir is also member. They are all about the same age and they are going to end up in similar positions.
I love to hear this. The young royals networking and building lasting relationships will be a big plus when their time comes.
Networking yes, but I also think that there are aspects of their lives that only someone in the same position can really understand. So it is good that they have each other to lean on, give advice and perhaps just vent. Sure they come from extreme privilege but it can’t be easy to know that they don’t have the freedom that their friends have. And the increased press attention that comes with their position can’t be easy either. When it comes to tabloids here the royals are fair game when they turn 18.
Bold of Dick to assume the BRF were even invited.
They’re the awkward family members that never come to family reunions because they don’t make an effort to stay connected and don’t care. I see this in my own family. You always have those one or two awkward individuals that never show up to events. Or from the get go when they joined the family they never made an effort to try to integrate themselves. That’s who the Windsors are in this scenario and it doesn’t make them look good. I also believe had Kate and William gone, no one would have talked to them. They aren’t close to any of these royals, I don’t believe Harry or William grew up hanging out with the Scandinavian royals.
At the London Olympics, there was an event where William, Kate and Harry basically ignored CP Victoria and her husband. So no, they don’t have a relationship.
Like, I’ve said before the Windsors are incredibly rude people. Thankfully, Harry learned to be better but he looks to be the only one.
@arthistorian, it was Princes Daniel and Carl Philip of Sweden at the Olympics held in London. The then Cambridge’s totally blanked them twice. The first time the two princes walked in front of the area where Kate and William were sitting and stopped in front of them to say hello and the Cambridge just totally ignored them with really pissy looks on their faces. Kate and William did not recognize them and thought they were plebes trying to say hello. There are also photos of them ignoring the two princes outside. Those two just can’t be trusted to play nice with others.
There are also other instances when the British Royals have dissed the other Royals. One that reportedly pissed off the Belgians was that they did not send anyone to Queen Fabiola’s funeral.
OK you know what, i think we are going to take the BRF courtiers out of power and put proper CEOs in charge. How about Bob Iger? If he can sell 20 dollar boxes of popcorn to overstressed parents, he can sell the BRF
I also recall when William and Kate were rude to Letizia and Felipe who outrank them in terms or royals. There are many instances.
I’m sorry Queen Elizabeth was a similar generation to the Scandinavian Monarchs?!? The King of Sweden is 4 years older than Charles. The King of Norway, who is the most closely related to Charles, is currently the oldest European Monarch and he is only a decade older than Charles.
QEII was about 15 years older than the Danish and Norwegian monarchs who are in their 80s now. The Swedish king is a bit younger.
*snort* So attending a rugby match was more important (‘work’) than attending a birthday party (‘play’). Sure Jan.
William and Kate should have ate since they are succession peers of the prince’s parents. And the excuse that they’re too busy because diaries are planned 7 months in advance is stupid, his 18th birthday has been “on the calendar” for…18 years.
I honestly think that they weren’t invited. It was more a family event and the royal guests were people that the Danish royals are close with. If anyone from the BRF was invited I think it would be Edward and Sophie since they actually have at least a superficial relationship with them because Ed and Sophie have attended many of these royal events before.
they werent invited i was told, only the young royals were and baldy and sourpuss are deeply resented because of his deplorable behaviour not only to his brother but also his wife; hazzah being a big favourite because he and his wife are pleasant people (to all accounts here in the hague were very much in their favour as they were genuinely interested and warm and even deigned to pay their own bills sic!)
also baldy showing up in jordan and creating some sort of stink, not sure if he invited himself or making a stink that he was not seated in the front rows but in the back rows unlike the dutch royals but lets say he earned himself some more black marks is what i heard, his reputation is in tatters in royal circles
I remember william making the “hurry it up” gesture to kate at that wedding, not thinking that maybe every other woman there would think, “ah, what an a**hole”
@acha, Kate also did something rather disturbing to the bride at that wedding. After the wedding, when Kate and William rushed up to be among the first to congratulate the couple, while Kate was speaking with the bride, the latter touched Kate’s arm and Kate shook it off and twisted her arm around and pulled it away so the bride couldn’t touch her arm. The bride realized what Kate was doing and pulled her arm back but that had to have been very disconcerting for the bride. Kate did not want to be touched by her. This of course did not make the news but a slow motion video of the interaction was all over Twitter after the marriage. It is things like that which will alienate the Waleses from other royal family members.
I would almost make a bet that Prince and his bride had a conversation about them afterwards. Also, right before William did the “wrap it up gesture” when he was talking forever to the bride his hand motions were so big that he had his hand flapping literally to the side and almost behind the bride. Her eyes got big and then she looked to where his hand was thinking there must have been something there but nope. Just Baldy being a weirdo. Directly after that, kate shook her arm off from the bride as you described. And then… william interrupts and is rude making the “wrap it up gesture”. Neither one of these fools are diplomats of any kind.
It seems nobody brought this point, Chuck and William wont attend these events because they will seat you according to years you had the title. For example king Charles didn’t attend some Greek funeral because one royal commentator said they seating arrangement for funeral is based on how long you sit on the throne. Chuck being new king he will sit behind most of these royals. Also this event should be attended by prince George like Estelle, the birthday boy is heir to heir similar to prince George. The same rule apply to William that he just got the title heir to the throne before that chuck had it, so he will come behind Fred and most royals. Also Windsor looks down on these royals because all these royals house fell under Nazi rule and Windsor is the only house fought and win against ww2.
Usually, young royals only attends these event when they turn 18. Princess Estelle’s attendance is actually unusual but she’s most likely included because the CP Frederik is very close with CP Victoria. So the children know each other.
Except little Charles of Luxembourg also attended Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday gala. No young heirs from Liechtenstein, Monaco or Spain showed yet the photo of the young princess and princesses from the gala was touted as comprising the young heirs of Europe. I think this pissed off Monaco because very soon after the birthday gala Princes Albert and Jacques did a small event in Norway. I’m thinking this was done to placate Albert!
That was in Norway, in Denmark the rule is usually they have to be 18 to attend. I guess I should have specified that the different countries RFs may have different rules. I just assumed that people understood that I was referring to the usual protocol in the DRF since the party in question was in Denmark.
All the royals see the Monegasques as not really one of them.
Diplomacy died with the Queen. When you have a self-absorbed nob like Charles and his mistress consort as King and Queen I imagine they’re not on the top 10 list of invitees to these sorts of events. Then you have an arrogant, bumbling oaf and a stuck-up mumbling mannequin for P&P of Wales, who between them hardly know 6 words in a different language, well not exactly life of the party people.
Ah yes…SOOOOO busy with those sporting events to watch. I mean engagements.
They don’t understand that sending Harry everywhere helped Harry to develop the relationships a real statesman needs. Lazy Will hurt himself and now it is too late due to his ego, lack of charm and self awareness.
Maybe Ws mindset at the moment is how he can get to the US asap. If he can be Hs neighbor he prob would. LolZ..
Why invite two boring middle aged people as egotistical as W and K to a celebration for young people. No reason for them to be there. K seems to have no European Royals as friends, I wonder why.
Not about this event in particular, because it seems to have been a “family event”, but the situation is indicative of the BRF’s attitude in general. All royals are practicing “soft diplomacy”; their main job in the modern world is to be the “face” of their countries – Felipe’s job description in Wikipedia is “to be the supreme image of Spain in international relations.” This means, going to events with other royals, building those relationships and having someone you can go to if problems arise. The late queen was good at this: she hosted royals, she maintained relationships with them. Neither Chuck nor Wills seem adept at it (Kate & Camilla are hopeless at it). Wills is not going to be a “statesman” by going to NYC for no good reason, he needs to build his base with those who can at least theoretically understand his position.
It sounds as though Edward and Sophie might have attended the party had Edward’s health been better. I wonder if he has long COVID? I suspect QE2 died of COVID complications. QE2’s mother lived to over 100 and was not as careful about her health. QE2 ate a simple diet, exercised well into her 90s, etc. What do the CBers think? Were QE2 and the Queen Mother smokers? I know they were drinkers, but not the extent.
Covid was definitely a factor in the Queen’s demise, though the official cause is probably cancer.
“minor gaps”, LOL 😂
I don’t think they were invited, not a snub, just not the event for the BRF to attend. The guest list looked like family (uncles, great aunts and their families which picks up the Greek family) godparents and their families (Norway and Sweden royals). Maybe the Duchess of Brabant and Princess of Orange attended because they’re friendly(?) with Christian and this is a low pressure formal event for them to attend solo. A lot of the guests were from youth organizations in Denmark and Greenland.
My reaction to the whole event was I hope Christian had a less formal party before or after this one. I know its a big milestone hence the white tie dinner and getting all those fancy orders, but as an 18 year old I would’ve been itching to change into some parry clothes and cut loose with my friends.
He did have a less formal party. Apparently Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary arranged with all his friends for a surprise party at their home so when they all came back from the gala Christian had a surprise party waiting for him. Also some of the guests from the gala came too. So he got to let loose with all his friends and family afterwards!