I want to go places and have people do ostentatious shit for me.
I admit, I love flyovers.
A wonderful welcome from Italy. I used to enjoy some of the pomp and ceremony of state visits but I think it’s obvious how much more seriously the Government takes them these days – even the mere fact that King Charles tends to address the host country’s legislature/parliament with speeches of 20+ minutes, compared to how state visits under QEII used to run with usually just a short speech at the state banquet and only occasionally spoke to the legislature (I think she did address the US Congress, for instance).
In a time where our traditional alliances are in flux, any cooperation and closer political and/or military ties from these visits will be welcome, whereas in the old days I would say they tended to be more about promoting British culture and business. Of course, there’s still the element of experiencing the local culture, meeting the crowds, etc, but it is a lot more overtly ‘businesslike’ than it used to be.
And Charles is very well prepared – I’ve been pleasantly surprised how he’s been received on the recent visits to France and Germany and the buzz that he is able to generate, despite being possibly less ‘interesting’ than the late Queen.
3 comments
I want to go places and have people do ostentatious shit for me.
I admit, I love flyovers.
A wonderful welcome from Italy. I used to enjoy some of the pomp and ceremony of state visits but I think it’s obvious how much more seriously the Government takes them these days – even the mere fact that King Charles tends to address the host country’s legislature/parliament with speeches of 20+ minutes, compared to how state visits under QEII used to run with usually just a short speech at the state banquet and only occasionally spoke to the legislature (I think she did address the US Congress, for instance).
In a time where our traditional alliances are in flux, any cooperation and closer political and/or military ties from these visits will be welcome, whereas in the old days I would say they tended to be more about promoting British culture and business. Of course, there’s still the element of experiencing the local culture, meeting the crowds, etc, but it is a lot more overtly ‘businesslike’ than it used to be.
And Charles is very well prepared – I’ve been pleasantly surprised how he’s been received on the recent visits to France and Germany and the buzz that he is able to generate, despite being possibly less ‘interesting’ than the late Queen.
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