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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Snubbing the Queen

By: Editorial

Posted: 06/4/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

As a result of one of the oddest diplomatic imbroglios we have seen in recent years, Queen Elizabeth will not be attending this year's 65th anniversary of the allied D-Day landings in Normandy. The commemoration will be held on Saturday, June 6, to mark the day in 1944 when the allies -- chiefly the Canadians, the British and the Americans -- stormed the beaches, drove back the Germans and began in earnest the business of defeating Hitler's Nazi regime. But apparently the French didn't see fit to invite the Queen of Britain and Canada.

D-Day was one of the great moments of the 20th century -- one of the great moments of Western history -- but even back then it was a moment fraught with difficulty, because the allies could not always agree even among themselves. The Americans came in late and the British bore the brunt of the fighting until they arrived, something the Americans have never really acknowledged, the French resented everybody and the Canadians, if the raid on Dieppe was any indication, had not graduated in Britain's eyes much above the level of colonial cannon fodder.

Nothing much seems to have changed in the 64 years since the war was won. Neglecting to invite the Queen to attend the ceremonies seems not only disgraceful but ungrateful and has outraged many Britons, as it should anger Canadians. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be there, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown may or may not attend, but neither of them is a head of state like French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama

An insult? Definitely not, say the French. An invitation was issued to the British: Whom Westminster chooses to send to the ceremony is entirely up to them, sniffed a spokesman for the Elysee Palace.

Finally, it appears that Prince Charles will attend in his mother's place, but only, it seems, after Mr. Obama intervened with both the British and the French governments. Mr. Obama is fond of the Queen, as is Mr. Sarkozy.

About the only major players in the Second World War who haven't got involved in this fuss'n'fret are the Germans, although they are certainly watching with interest. This does not seem to be about the war at all, but rather about European politics in the very present tense. Mr. Sarkozy may like the Queen, but he does not much like the British government. Mr. Obama has his doubts about France and Britain when it comes to supporting U.S. foreign policy and would like to play the two off against each other. And Germany has doubts about all three. This is business as usual, but it is a pity that it couldn't be conducted without degrading one of the great moments of our history.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 4, 2009 A10

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