On the eve of the Royal wedding, the British establishment seems to have finally seen sense and renounced the Syrian ambassador’s invitation. The Foreign Office said his appearance would be ‘unacceptable’, and Buckingham Palace has followed by removing him from the guest list.
What’s perplexing is that this treatment hasn’t been handed out to anyone else, for make no mistake, this will be a wedding attended by torturers, murderers and despots with blood on their hands. According to St James’ Palace the reason for this is that it’s simply a case of ‘protocol’. However, in response to the lack of invitation to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown it said “This is a private wedding and not a state occasion…so there is no protocol reason to invite former prime ministers.”
This historic protocol then dictates then that while it’s unnecessary to extend invites to former democratically elected prime ministers, it is necessary to invite the Crown Prince of Bahrain. Indeed of all the horrific images to have come out of the Arab Spring, perhaps the worst comes from Bahrain; a video of a young man being carried into a hospital with no brain inside his head, surrounded by screaming onlookers. Most people would consider it ‘unacceptable’ to invite the people responsible for this and other actions. Not Buckingham Palace however, not Prince William, and not the Foreign Office either.
All were apparently happy for Prince Salman and his ambassador to enjoy the lavish Royal wedding celebrations, while in Bahrain masked forces shoot unarmed people, takeover hospitals, arrest bloggers and democracy activists, and torture people in prisons and police stations. Also invited is Prince Mohamed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, whose forces currently occupy Bahrain and suppress dissent there. The Prince is no doubt having a wonderful time enjoying the freedoms of the United Kingdom, while back home in Saudi protest is banned and the country is run with an iron fist.
Other royal representatives from the dictatorships of Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei and Abu Dhabi will also be present. While Africa’s last absolute monarch Mswati III of Swaziland is already spending huge sums of money in London in preparation for the event. He’ll reportedly be staying in five star luxury with an entourage of 50 people, while at home his people live in abject poverty with no political freedoms, in a country riddled with Aids.
Mswati III will be joined at the wedding by the ambassadors of Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and North Korea, which itself makes the Syrian situation even more perplexing. How exactly is this being judged? Perhaps by some sort of ‘body count’? Kill 400 people and that’s just not acceptable, kill 350 and you are welcome to attend. This isn’t just an affront to the people who’ve lost their lives in these countries; it’s an affront also to British people who futilely expect the country to stand up for human rights and democratic liberties.
I understand the need for Realpolitik, the need to deal with unsavoury characters, but is it necessary for a wedding that we’re repeatedly being told is a private occasion? If the risk of ‘snubbing’ people is seen as so great, then don’t invite any foreign dignitaries. It’s another sad day for British democracy when those who torture, murder and crush dissent are deemed as suitable guests. If anyone had any hope that Prince William would breathe new and credible life into our staid royal sideshow, then think again.
And if as we are being told this charade is all about protocol, then here’s a novel idea…change the bloody protocol. Or even better, get rid of this irrelevant royal family all together, because they do absolutely nothing to promote the human rights and liberty that the majority of the British people stand for.
I think that the antiquated paradigm of royalty may well be approaching it's end in our day and time when instantaneous communication and organization levels the ability to affect the minds held by a populace and it's government.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Syrian ambassador, at least they did something right. It's so hard to naively look past the corruption of nearly all political figures in any given country with the way information is dispersed today.
Great post. I think is probably unfair to say the royals do nothing for HR & democracy, but I think the point stands that endorsing these leaders shows what's really important to them and it's not HR & dem.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me angry is that they don't invite elected world leaders like obama, but instead fellow royals. That shows where their interests lie.
I clicked your link on the Bahrain ambassador and it's disgusting to be honest that he's there. Also Bahrain just sentenced four demonstrators to death in a sham court, but the crown prince is still a great friend of the royal family. crazy.
Royals stick together and do not criticize one another, for the most part. The Brits don't like to think of anything distasteful; it's easier to ignore it. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits don't like anything unpleasant; it's easier to ignore it. Royals stick together; you don't hear a lot of criticism of one by another. Ridiculous how the wedding invites are done.
ReplyDeleteI'm English, am I the only one with absolutetly no interest in the Royals (or celebrities)??, I totally agree with you, as human rights are for everyone regardless of nationality, race, religion, gender, age or any other discrimination, everyone is equal & everyone should be able to live in peace according to their own beliefs & respect those of others. Kalizamar
ReplyDeleteI liked the article a lot thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteWhat hypocrisy! Buckingham Palace's un-invites the Syrian ambassador, but chooses to invite the Crown bloody Prince of Bahrain and other dictators. The the Royal Family ought to reflect the will of its people and exercise a respect for human rights by not inviting anyone representing a government which kills its own people for voicing dissent!
ReplyDeleteStrange that the very people that paid for the royal wedding (tax payers) were not invited. Not even a piece of wedding cake!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled on this blog completely by accident - just cruising around before i go to bed. I'm just so tired of all this. I am British, 56 years ago I was born in the UK and 28 years ago I left for a new country. As a student of history - a fascination of mine - it was only when I left the UK that I realized how distorted the teaching of world history was to me during my school years and how pervasive the ignorance of historical fact seems to be by the British people.
ReplyDeleteI was never taught about the great civilizations of Central and South America, Africa, India, China, Cambodia to name but a few that spring to mind nor taught anything about the non-Christian religions of the world. It was only British Imperial and European History that was spoon-fed to us. It saddens me greatly. The British seem to be caught in a cultural "time warp" especially my generation - resting on the memories of the past. So many in the UK appear "stuck" in this mind frame - and that is what I find so sad.
The wedding was a visual spectacle and beautifully orchestrated - and we need to accept it for what it was, no less, no more (by the way I am not a Monarchist) and their guests were invited for reasons we will never really fathom or understand - but my guess is it was a result of or partly due to that"cultural stagnation".
However all is not lost - I was back in the UK a month ago - I was disappointed in my generation, but the generation that follows me is is "connected" at multiple levels and is far more aware of events outside of their small island and cultural horizons.
Anyway these are my thoughts - the thoughts of an aging hippy who still believes in peace and love.
Jennifer
Great post. Thank you for giving me more understanding and perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe Royal Family are basically ambassadors for British business. That includes sales of arms to undemocratic countries and on a different level as a means of attracting tourists to the UK. In a world where all that counts is the dollar/pound they are just another (bigger than average) cog in the machine.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite happy that Blair didn't get invited though, whatever the reason was :-)
I have to agree with most of what you have said. I am British and I am disgusted at those people being invited, however, and I could be wrong, many of the invites may have been partly due to foreign office advice
ReplyDeleteU still believe that the Royal Family do a great job for this country and many others, but in this instance they get it seriously wrong.
I am baffled as to why Blair and Brown were excluded, not that I would have invited them if I had the choice.
Another great post by the way, keep up the brilliant work.
Of all the king of Swazi is probably the worst. Read this "Avarice: The madness of King Mswati"
ReplyDeletehttp://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/20114257504480137.html
If he came with an entourage of 50 people like you say then the whole trip probably cost millions of dollars. That money is more state funds that won't be spent on those desperate people.
Those who invited him to the wedding are literally depriving his already poor 'subjects' of even more money.
Disgusting.
Chad
Ban T-Shirts, you pick up on a good point, they are called the firm and their business keeping up their exploitative dealings around the world and hiding behind protocal and pomp. I don't agree with the tourist thing, people go and look at Buck Palace and all the rest but its the buildings and the history they love, we don't need to maintain Dukes and Duchesess who do nothing for us on the terrible tourist attraction arguement.
ReplyDeleteThe "Royal Wedding" was only one part of the "bread and circuses" program of (all) governments.
ReplyDeleteThose people from this so called "noble" birth should be partially expropriated, their wealth was build on the lives of the slaves and peasants who were exploited by the ancestors of todays noblemen/noblewomen.