Sarkozy refuses invite royals D Day 65th-Anniversary

[bigZ]

D-Day snub to Queen: Palace fury as Sarkozy refuses to invite royals to 65th Anniversary - and Brown won't act | Mail Online

I am no royalist but this wound me up. As the head of state of both Canada and Britain it shows a huge disrespect to over half the troops who participated in the D-Day landings.

[freebird]

Bloody disgraceful!

The official French press release "This is very much a Franco-American occasion."


"'Surrounded by French and American veterans, the presidents Obama and Sarkozy will pay homage to the thousands of Americans who lost their lives on the Normandy beaches in their fight for liberty."

And just WTF were the British & Canadians giving their lives for?

[bigZ]

I should have also mentioned the commonwealth forces involved.

[Catch22]

Well the French WERE victors in WWII.

They just needed us to win it for them. Save for the Free French.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I honestly can not believe how they can do this. It was Allied invasion and Britain and Canada made up a big part of it.

In my opinion if this is true, France is disgracing the honor of the other allied soldiers who died to liberate France. Very ungrateful! I think there has to be more to this. They had to have invited at least the British Prime Minister.

I have a feeling there is more to this and the Press is blowing it way out of proportion. If you read the article it says that the British are invited, and they get to decide who comes. The French govt. will not dictate who the British delegation is.

I don't know...

[pbfoot]

I honestly can not believe how they can do this. It was Allied invasion and Britain and Canada made up a big part of it.

In my opinion if this is true, France is disgracing the honor of the other allied soldiers who died to liberate France. Very ungrateful! I think there has to be more to this. They had to have invited at least the British Prime Minister.

I have a feeling there is more to this and the Press is blowing it way out of proportion. If you read the article it says that the British are invited, and they get to decide who comes. The French govt. will not dictate who the British delegation is.

I don't know...

Our PM is there thats good enough for me

[Arsenal VG-33]

A little rush to judgement by some it would seem?

From one of the NY Times articles:

When accounts of the dispute made the headlines of the British tabloids on Wednesday, the diplomatic gloves came off, at least somewhat. “Palace fury at D-Day snub to the Queen,” roared the Daily Mail, the first time in days that its front-page splash has been on something other than the furor over British parliamentarians’ expenses. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment beyond a terse, one sentence statement that “no invitation has been issued as yet to any member of the royal family.”

The tabloids quoted anonymous palace officials as saying it was the Brown government that dropped the ball, possibly because of reported strains between Mr. Brown and the queen. Among other issues, the queen is said to have cooled on Mr. Brown because of his habit of appearing late for their weekly audiences. The Daily Mail quoted one “senior palace official” as saying that the palace had made clear to the government that the queen would have liked to go to Normandy.


From what accounts I've read on other sites, most are pointing out the fact that the first mentioning of the "un-invite" was from a UK tabloid press. Not exactly a bastion of truth.

From AP:

"The dispute seems to have taken French officials somewhat by surprise. They insist the monarch was welcome at the ceremony and blamed the British government for mistakes in the handling of what they called a "Franco-American" ceremony.

"It is not up to France to determine the British representation," French government spokesman Luc Chatel said. "There will be other 6ths of June."

"The absence of a personal invitation is baffling to royal watchers, who say the Queen is known to enjoy a warm relationship with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the host of the event. "

Seems to me someone in PM Brown's cabinet f****d up and forgot to name a few people in the official invited list, so the tabloids go after France.

[evangilder]

Oy! What a mess.

[freebird]

I honestly can not believe how they can do this. It was Allied invasion and Britain and Canada made up a big part of it.

In my opinion if this is true, France is disgracing the honor of the other allied soldiers who died to liberate France. Very ungrateful! I think there has to be more to this. They had to have invited at least the British Prime Minister.

I have a feeling there is more to this and the Press is blowing it way out of proportion. If you read the article it says that the British are invited, and they get to decide who comes. The French govt. will not dictate who the British delegation is.

I don't know...

It does look like a deliberate snub though, if I am reading the calendar correctly, the British & Canadians also landed on June 6....

It would have been very simple to mention with a few words - "'Surrounded by French and American veterans, the presidents Obama and Sarkozy will pay homage to the thousands of Americans, British & Canadians who lost their lives on the Normandy beaches in their fight for liberty."

It doesn't seem as if the French are planning a similar ceremony at Gold, Sword or Juno.

Sarkozy hails U.S. help in beating Hitler... but there's no mention of Britain's sacrifice | Mail Online

Below is the headline from the Daily Mail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarkozy lavishes U.S. with praise in Victory Day speech, but makes no mention of British sacrifice in World War Two

By Peter Allen
Last updated at 8:47 AM on 09th May 2009

Comments (14)
Add to My Stories


French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the American contribution to victory over Germany in World War Two today – with no mention of the British whatsoever.

Instead he heaped compliments on his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama for agreeing to travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day next month.

British veterans reacted with anger to the snub, with former infantryman David Churchcroft, who stormed on to Gold Beach in northern Francein 1944, saying: 'Without us, the French would not have stood a chance of getting rid of the Germans.'

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Why would The French government do that? I know there's still some animosity between the two countries, but England and Canada were vital in Operation Overlord. Without them, I don't think the US would've been able to secure the beacheads.

[Arsenal VG-33]

It does look like a deliberate snub though, if I am reading the calendar correctly, the British & Canadians also landed on June 6....

It would have been very simple to mention with a few words - "'Surrounded by French and American veterans, the presidents Obama and Sarkozy will pay homage to the thousands of Americans, British & Canadians who lost their lives on the Normandy beaches in their fight for liberty."

It doesn't seem as if the French are planning a similar ceremony at Gold, Sword or Juno.

Sarkozy hails U.S. help in beating Hitler... but there's no mention of Britain's sacrifice | Mail Online

Below is the headline from the Daily Mail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarkozy lavishes U.S. with praise in Victory Day speech, but makes no mention of British sacrifice in World War Two

By Peter Allen
Last updated at 8:47 AM on 09th May 2009

Comments (14)
Add to My Stories


French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the American contribution to victory over Germany in World War Two today – with no mention of the British whatsoever.

Instead he heaped compliments on his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama for agreeing to travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day next month.

British veterans reacted with anger to the snub, with former infantryman David Churchcroft, who stormed on to Gold Beach in northern Francein 1944, saying: 'Without us, the French would not have stood a chance of getting rid of the Germans.'

With all due respect freebird, the UK press - with a great deal of help from the tabloids is really making outrageous claims over a non-issue, here is why: To the best of my knowledge, Sarkozy is not required to send an invite to Buckingham. This would have been a nice thing to do, but frankly he probably sees the queen from the perspective of the post-war generation, unlike his predecessors Chirac and Mitterand. He followed the strict protocol of inviting the acting head of state, in this case PM Brown. It is my understanding that it is then Brown's reponsibility to follow-up that invite to others who wish/express desire to attend the said event, or whoever should be part of the official entourage. Brown should have been automatically included the queen first and foremost. This is what Blair, Majors, and Thatcher have done in the past, yet Brown somehow didn't come around to this for whatever reason, and now it is the French who are suddenly "ungrateful", "forgetfull", and blah blah blah. True, Sarkozy could have done the appreciative formality of sending a personal invite to the Queen, but because he didn't hardly qualifies this as a deliberate snub. The criticism is quite frankly unjust, unfair and malicious.

As an example, the last paragraph in this column from TIMES:

Queen Elizabeth Snubbed: Britain Declares War on France - Yahoo! News

"French people young and old still express enduring gratitude for the sacrifices of the Allied forces that drove the Germans out of France - an effort that cost the Allies some 37,000 lives in Normandy. That feeling prompted many in France to wince at the British tabloid accusations of wartime fecklessness and current ingratitude."


As for the link you provided, the ceremony which this article refers to is the "Anvil" landings in southern France, a mainly French-American endeavor. Besides, I'd like to know when the the last time the contributions of the Free French, Resistance, and helpers of the Escape Lines were given tribute in any ceremony in England in regards to WW 2? Could you find a recent one? They are all forgotten! When GWB went to Normandy for the 60th anniversary, I don't recall him sayig anying either. Was that also a deliberate snub?

Place the blame where it belongs, on PM Brown. He is a complete klutz for having procrastinated on the invitations and allowing this issue become the diplomatic row it is. Sarko certainly may have made a gaffe by overlooking an important detail in making seperate invites as Chirac and Mitterand did, but Brown failed in his duty to the queen to include her as part of the British representation.

Freebird, I give much respect to your thoughts as we've had some very good and constructive debates on this forum, but I must say, that personally, I cringe when anything is referenced to the Daily Mail. IMO, the DM is as much an authority on France as Al-Jezeera is an authority on Israel.

[RabidAlien]

Regardless of what the tabloids may scream, there are still many who recognize the actions of ALL involved in liberating Europe, N. Africa, CBI and the Pacific. Of ALL nationalities. Y'all have my respect!

[fly boy]

this is sad really really sad

[BombTaxi]

The Mail and Express are just desperate for any news that can get them away from the MPs expenses scandal Of course, if that news gives them the chance to bash thier favourite 'enemy' over the water, so much the better. For a change, Sarko has done nothing wrong, and as Arsenal says, Brown is at fault for not doing his own end of the job properly. Mind you, with his MPs dropping like flies around him, and being forced into a humiliating U-turn over Gurkha settlement rights, one might understand that he has been a little distracted...

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

It does look like a deliberate snub though, if I am reading the calendar correctly, the British & Canadians also landed on June 6....

It would have been very simple to mention with a few words - "'Surrounded by French and American veterans, the presidents Obama and Sarkozy will pay homage to the thousands of Americans, British & Canadians who lost their lives on the Normandy beaches in their fight for liberty."

It doesn't seem as if the French are planning a similar ceremony at Gold, Sword or Juno.

Sarkozy hails U.S. help in beating Hitler... but there's no mention of Britain's sacrifice | Mail Online

Below is the headline from the Daily Mail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarkozy lavishes U.S. with praise in Victory Day speech, but makes no mention of British sacrifice in World War Two

By Peter Allen
Last updated at 8:47 AM on 09th May 2009

Comments (14)
Add to My Stories


French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the American contribution to victory over Germany in World War Two today – with no mention of the British whatsoever.

Instead he heaped compliments on his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama for agreeing to travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day next month.

British veterans reacted with anger to the snub, with former infantryman David Churchcroft, who stormed on to Gold Beach in northern Francein 1944, saying: 'Without us, the French would not have stood a chance of getting rid of the Germans.'

I agree that it still is a snub to British and Canadian vets, but I still think the Press is blowing this out of proportion. As pB just noted, the Canadian PM will be there. PM Brown from England will be there as well.

They are not snuffing out the allies in that sense.

Now I do agree with you that they need to give just as much praise and respect to the British and Canadian vets as they do the American Vets, D-Day was a joint operation. I however do not believe that the fact that Queen is not coming is a snuff. She even decided not to attend on several occasions on her own accord.

If there is a British and Canadian delegation (which there is, as both PM's will be there) then as a delegation that is good enough.