RIP King Constantine

[Zazoo]

I think there must be a line in the sand at some point because if it was a private I don’t care if William is not there. Maybe one of the children or him was sick or Cate had a bad day. Andrew there could be stomach better i guess. If it was public both William absence and Andrew presence is problematic. What I’m trying to said in the end is that we always criticised the Queen for being an ostrich but in reality Charles is the same hiding behind his sickness (which frankly I understand the difficulty of battling with cancer as I have a parent that is experiencing it). But if he can travel up a down to Sadigram to London he can tell his brother to stay home and his son to pull it together.

[VanillaMoomin]

I think there must be a line in the sand at some point because if it was a private I don’t care if William is not there. Maybe one of the children or him was sick or Cate had a bad day. Andrew there could be stomach better i guess. If it was public both William absence and Andrew presence is problematic. What I’m trying to said in the end is that we always criticised the Queen for being an ostrich but in reality Charles is the same hiding behind his sickness (which frankly I understand the difficulty of battling with cancer as I have a parent that is experiencing it). But if he can travel up a down to Sadigram to London he can tell his brother to stay home and his son to pull it together.

I think they were trying a classic fudge* with the public/private thing. It being in the CC makes it an official event, but they didn’t list Andrew by name in the CC. I think that shows they know that strictly speaking Andrew should not have been there, much less led the family walk to the chapel. But I don’t think the BRF understands why people are disgusted with Andrew, and keep hoping it will all blow over. They are very much on his side, but trying not to anger the public (nonces are public enemy #1 in Britain and the public are very angry).

 As far as Charles taking William to task, as soon as William became Prince of Wales Charles lost all his leverage. The system is set up so that the king can’t make his heir do whatever he wants, the heir has his own money, properties and position. So Charles can remonstrate with him but he has nothing to hold over William.

*this kind of fudge is very common in England it’s how we ended up with a state church that is both (anglo) catholic and protestant, for example.

[Eliza B]

Andrew is not in the CC given his demotion. Same with any event or celebration, he may attend only in a private manner.

Will he be banned from all funerals of family from now on to avoid being seen? No, probably not. Should he use the backdoor entrances? Maybe. I think this is QEIIs mentality - it'll just go away if you wait long enough and don't discuss it.

I get it looks bad because Andrew is well Andrew and very problematic. But unless they're going to ship him off, he's going to keep popping up here and there.

[periwinkle]

Charles is going through something very real and clearly needed to not be in a crowd. William we can only assume is also quite ill albeit in a more temporary sense. Adults can't make other adults do things when anyone is sick because that would be sick (in the head). Andrew is family whether we or they like it or not. He wasn't sick so he could go. The others couldn't for whatever reasons we have to trust are good. I don't like it either personally that William wasn't there but it is clear he was supposed to go so that's a good sign.

I think Charles and the BRF are hyper sensitive to public opinion or at least they have people who are because that is why Andrew is no longer a working royal even though he wants to be and is still relatively young for retirement. He seems to have accepted his fate in that regard but I wouldn't be surprised if attendance at family events and Sarah's presence now that the parents are gone are part of the deal.

[VanillaMoomin]

Andrew is not in the CC given his demotion. Same with any event or celebration, he may attend only in a private manner.

Will he be banned from all funerals of family from now on to avoid being seen? No, probably not. Should he use the backdoor entrances? Maybe. I think this is QEIIs mentality - it'll just go away if you wait long enough and don't discuss it.

I get it looks bad because Andrew is well Andrew and very problematic. But unless they're going to ship him off, he's going to keep popping up here and there.

I think a back door entrance, and a seat in the back, would have been the right solution for yesterday. The images of him leading the family walk and sitting in the front row are really unsupportable. But him being present in a more subdued way would be ok, since it is a family event. But for a family that officially represent the nation, so it is an official event as well. But the BRF don’t want to discipline him in this way,  Charles has been reported to be very worried about the toll all this disapproval is taking on Andrew’s mental health. But Charles has terrible judgement about people and is closely linked to several proven nonces (including Peter Ball and Jimmy Saville) as well as various men who have been accused of pedophilia. I just don’t think he’s going to be the one to discipline Andrew over this.

[cottesmore girl]

I feel that the reason that myself, and others, are finding this whole situation so problematic is that we are viewing the occasion as a 'Royal' event because it was held at St Georges.

I guess that if the memorial had been held in one of the prominent Greek churches in London, we would be viewing it as very much a Greek 'Royal' family affair. As such, the BRF would be among many of the guests and, who attended, and where they sat, would be of lesser significance.

Because Charles was (allegedly) concerned about security and disruption in London, he suggested St Georges, and the focus changed.

Ultimately it was a Greek family occasion at which the BRF were guests.

[Hester]

Suddenly occured to me, isn't it strange no one from Denmark attended?  He was their uncle!  Everyone is twisting off about Wills not attending but it seems rather  odd no Daisy or Fred. Wonder what that is about.

Mary’s in charge. The woman who threw out her granny’s letters. She has no sentiment or emotion.

[ralf103]

100% agree cottesmore girl.

If this has been held somewhere else the furore around Andrew wouldn't have been as great as it would have been clear he was attending the event like any one else.

The problem IMO is as much as the RF and their press teams want to appear to have distanced themselves from Andrew it is all smoke and mirrors to some degree - they say that publicly but clearly in "private" it is not hence why Andrew saw no issue with leading the way. I'm surprised tbh that it wasn't Anne doing that as the most senior working royal there (Camilla arrived separately) but of course Andrew does outrank his older sister still. Maybe Charles should make it clear that precedence is no longer adhering to the old rules of male-preference primogeniture but, like the succession laws since 2011 is based on absolute primogeninture. This would actually make sense as Charlotte will always outrank Louis so why not accept that though the succession laws were not applied retrospectively, at least make precedence under the newer more equal laws.

What the Brits should have done is had Anne & Tim arrive with the Gloucesters after the rest of the BRF - including Andrew and Sarah. Then even if Andrew's pride and ego meant he had to lead the pack it would have only been all the "minor royals". I agree he shouldn't be barred from such events, it just needs more careful managing. If they won't directly manage him (which tbf is weak on BP / the RFs part) they could at least manage the others so they get a better final look to it all.

To me this is BP's biggest issue - everything Andrew related seems at times merely words to appease the public hence we hear sources saying Charles and William believe Andrew has no public role to play in the RF then we see William driving his to church at balmoral or Andrew leading the family to this memorial service. Of course he will still attend such events but somebody needs to give him a bit of a dressing down (like I imagine his father would have done) and put him in his place, reminding him of the need to keep a low profile.


Benedikte attended didn't see - I know she is a Wittgenstein-Berleburg but she is also Anne-Marie's sister and Princess of Denmark so I guess she could have been representing them all. That said two things surprise me - if Margrethe can't attend this event in the UK because she isn't up to it does that suggest she won't be fit enough to fly, for example, to her Chateau in France from now on? If so, no wonder she abdicated.
I am surprised Mary wouldn't wanted to have attended as it was with so many British Royals who she seems drawn to and she is now Queen meaning she would have had to be granted some level of seniority to relish in. (I don't think she'd have attended for any sentimental reasons at all)

[periwinkle]

According to Instagram the Greeks had another service today at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in London and the description specifically said that the GRF sponsored the service. That tells me that St. George's Anglican service was sponsored by the BRF or at least in some quasi-governmental/official role. Why else would a former prime minister and a high ranking American diplomat show up?

[VanillaMoomin]

According to Instagram the Greeks had another service today at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in London and the description specifically said that the GRF sponsored the service. That tells me that St. George's Anglican service was sponsored by the BRF or at least in some quasi-governmental/official role. Why else would a former prime minister and a high ranking American diplomat show up?

Yes, I read that the invitations were issued by King Charles which makes it very much a BRF affair.

[Lord G¡n]

Benedikte was sitting next to  Emeritus King JC.

[VanillaMoomin]

Here are some pictures from the Greek Orthodox memorial service the GRF held in London today

https://twitter.com/royal...;t=UVXLRuogKQH306xzW4mQ0Q

https://twitter.com/majes...;t=UVXLRuogKQH306xzW4mQ0Q

[VanillaMoomin]

This selection of front pages of UK tabloids show how the BRF’s memorial for Constantine is being viewed https://twitter.com/gerts...;t=UVXLRuogKQH306xzW4mQ0Q

(The Mirror is going with “Shamed Andrew leads the royals” while The Sun and the Daily Fail went with the mystery of William’s non appearance)

[Booklover]

I don't understand. The memorial service was held at St George's chapel, was there another one at the Greek cathedral?

[ralf103]

Yes. One at St George's then one at the Greek Cathedral in London the next day.