Wednesday

27th Sep 2023

EU chiefs snubbed by UK royals

  • "The wedding is not a state occasion. It is a private wedding, with invitees mostly with some sort of connection to the couple," said a spokesperson (Photo: Jean Mottershead)

All three EU presidents and the bloc's foreign policy chief - one of the most senior UK dignitaries - have been snubbed by the British royal family.

While the great and the good from around the world have been invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday, not a single European Union representative has been sent a gold-embossed wedding request to attend the occasion.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso does not feel put out, according to his spokesman, Olivier Bailly: "He's not upset. It is for the British royal family to decide who they want to invite."

"There were several royal weddings in recent years in the European Union, most recently in Sweden and Denmark and he wasn't invited to those either."

But he went on to lament how the bloc is ignored by European nobility: "It seems that royal protocol today is not to invite the EU institution leaders."

A representative for Clarence House, the official residence of Prince William, explained to EUobserver why they had not been invited.

"The wedding is not a state occasion. It is a private wedding, with invitees mostly with some sort of connection to the couple."

Beyond friends and family, prime ministers and governors general of the Commonwealth have been invited, along with nobles from across Europe and around the world, including Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, King Michael of Romania, and Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain - whose subjects are currently attempting to overthrow him.

Attendance from British government officials, from Prime Minister David Cameron down the secretary of state for sport has also been requested, but one of the most senior UK dignitaries, high representative Baroness Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief and member of the UK Privy Council, was left off the guest list.

On Saturday, it emerged that Queen Elizabeth may believe the EU is too large.

Joan Smith, a broadcaster and ex-partner of Denis MacShane, the former Europe minister, told the Daily Telegraph that at a Christmas Party, the hereditary head of state had said: "The EU is getting awfully big with 28 countries." When told that the bloc only has 27 member states, but that Turkey may enter soon, she continued: "Oh, we don't want Turkey to come in for a long time."

If Great Britain's monarchy is wary of the Union, the Holy See is more than pleased to recognise the importance of European leaders, who are set to attend the beatification of the late pope, John Paul II, in the Vatican this coming weekend.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek are all heading to Rome to witness the final step before the Polish ex-pope is transmogrified into a saint.

Barroso's spokesman said that the triple-headed clutch of EU chiefs will also "pay tribute to the historic role the late pope played in the second half of the last century. "

"The purposes and perspectives of the two events are very different. It's just coincidence that they happened to fall on the same weekend."

EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making

Emily O'Reilly cited the post-pandemic recovery funds, the windfall taxes on energy companies, and the joint purchase of vaccines, as procedures which received limited scrutiny from the national parliaments — as a result of emergency decision-making powers that bypassed parliament.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  2. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  3. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  4. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  5. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  6. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  7. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?
  8. IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us