(May 27) -- France did not invite Queen Elizabeth II to attend June 6 ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings -- and Britain's press is in a snit.
'Nicolas Sarkozy in D-Day Snub to Queen,' says a headline in The Sun. 'Palace in Fury as Sarkozy Refuses to Invite Royals to 65 Anniversary,' proclaims another, in the Daily Mail.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host President Barack Obama at June 6 ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. But France hasn't invited Britain's Queen Elizabeth, much to the dismay of Buckingham Palace.
The D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, marked the start of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has invited U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to attend the anniversary ceremonies. It may be the last time that large numbers of World War II veterans travel to France to mark the event.
France sent an invitation to Britain's government after Britain requested one, but Paris said it would focus most of its attention on the Americans, London's Telegraph reported.
"The commemoration is first and foremost a Franco-American ceremony given the recent election of President (Barack) Obama," a spokesman for the French government said.
France said that the queen "is naturally welcome," but that it is not up to Paris to "designate British representation" at the event.
The Daily Mail reported that officials at Buckingham Palace were angry at both France for not extending an invitation to begin with and at Britain's government for not working with France to secure an invitation for the royals.
"The failure to invite the queen -- who is head of state of both Britain and Canada -- will be seen as an insult to the memory of the 17,556 British and 5,316 Canadian troops who died to free France and are buried there," the newspaper noted.
One senior palace official summed up the dismay this way: "'We have made it very clear from the start we were keen to support the Normandy veterans in any way we could. No one is keener to honor their sacrifice. ...We have gone through all the normal channels and had conversation after conversation, but received no feedback. It is very frustrating."
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Royals in the News
Britain Queen Elizabeth II recently got an apology from a group of prominent British economists, according a report Sunday by a newspaper in London. Why? The economists were sorry that they didn't see the country's economic crisis on the horizon. Flip through the gallery to see other news about the British royal family.
Sang Tan, AP
Sang Tan, AP
France's characterization of the commemoration as "first and foremost a Franco-American ceremony" also rankles the British.
In a column headlined 'Capitulation, Collaboration and the Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys,' the Daily Mail's Harry Phibbs wrote that France shouldn't minimize Britain's contribution to World War II.
"We can't forget that Britain saved France from Nazi tyranny in the Second World War. And that the task was not helped by the French people's widespread collaboration with the Nazi occupiers. Huge vats of British blood were spilled so that France could be free."
While it is right to honor the American role, Phibbs wrote that Sarkozy is using the anniversary to cozy up to Obama. "It is about photo opportunities for himself rather than gratitude to the veterans," he said.
Robert Hardman, another Daily Mail columnist, agreed. He said Sarkozy's main goal is "a one-on-one love-in with Barack Obama, the man of the moment."
"If the Queen or [Prince Charles] turned up, Mr. Sarkozy would have to divide his attentions between British commonwealth events and the commemorations in the American sector," Hardman wrote. "As things stand, he can enjoy a whole day of uninterrupted face time with Mr. Obama in front of the world's media."
