“If there is the Duke of York, Kate and I will not come”: Prince William’s aut or to the Queen

The real star of the day should have been Camilla of Cornwall which today has been invested with the title of Royal Lady of the Order of the Garterbut it was the prince William and, consequently, his wife Kate Middleton. Not for something they did, but for something they did they threatened not to.

After the Prince Andrewjust healed from Covidhad been announced among the members of the royal family present at the procession to St George’s Hallwhere the annual ceremony is held in Windsor Castle, the Duke of Cambridge is said to have given aut aut to the grandmother Elizabeth II and the prince to his father Charles: “If he comes, I won’t come.”

TheEvening Standard defining the prince “adamantine»:« The Duke of Cambridge was adamant: if the Duke of York had insisted on attending the public ceremony, he and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge they wouldn’t show up “.

But what the British court does not need right now, fresh from the success of the long Jubilee weekendthey definitely are internal tensions shown to subjects and fed to the media. Thus, in a last minute decision, William’s request was granted and the Cambridge were photographed in Windsor Castle in their prime.

More Kate, in truth, smiling and radiant in the carriage and in the stands in her sky-blue dress, next to the countess Sophie of Wessex in pink Valentino, who not her husband William, appeared, in fact, rather frowning during the procession, which he followed next to his uncle Edward and to aunt la royal princess Anna.

In any case, there was no trace of Prince Andrew in public. He is said to have had lunch privately with her mother and then accompanied her to the chapel for the ceremony (not open to the public) at which the Queen, who for the well-known reasons of mobility has renounced to follow the procession, has confirmed her presence.

After all, in addition to that of Camilla, there was another important investiture: that of the former premier Tony Blairappointed last December Knight of the Order of the Garter among the protests by British citizens. Even today a large group of people in disagreement with Her Majesty’s decision they gathered in Windsor to contest the investiture, waving peace flags and accusing the former prime minister of being a “war criminal” to his own politics in Iraq in 2003, but forgetting its role in the peace treaties in Northern Ireland in the 90’s.

However, the group of dissidents did not create unrest and everything went as plannedbetween smiles and respected tradition. The only thing missed was the Queen’s greetingbut the heirs to the throne and their wives (now an inseparable quartet) have made their place very well.