But not for our columnist Marc Beaugé. Queen Elizabeth II received Ethiopian Ambassador Fesseha Shawel Gebre and his wife for a private audience. The picture says more than a long speech.
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Protocol Mystery
A small gift ? Not really. As is the custom, the Ethiopian diplomat begins his private audience with the Queen by presenting him with his credentials, a formal letter authorizing him to speak on behalf of his country. A formality? Not that much. The atmosphere is tense since the queen refused, last May, to return the remains of Prince Alemayehou, who died in England in 1868. The operation of extraction of the remains, lost in the catacombs of Windsor, could have disturbed residents of the castle, she had argued at the time, in the manner of an Airbnb lessor concerned about his rating.
Royal bag
Even at home, the queen walks with her purse. In this case, it is signed London leather goods Launer, which manufactures all bags of the sovereign according to unchanging criteria. Smaller than the other models, without shoulder strap, zips or compartments, they also have a handle longer than the average, so that Elizabeth II does not find the hand stuck in his clothes when she salutes someone. In fact, it jumps here: the queen is not stuck at all.
Flower of England
Obviously, the queen is wearing a floral dress. This will only inspire us a modest reminder: long before the appearance of embroidery and floral prints, we were covered with real flowers (necklace of flowers, wreath of flowers, flower buttonhole …). What purpose ? Smell good. Nothing to add ? Nothing.
Dress code
Asegedech Amberber, wife of the Ethiopian ambassador, wears the traditional "habesha kemis", a white cotton gauze garment bordered with colored friezes, associated with a "netela", a shawl that she wears on her shoulders but of which she could have covered her head. Unlike her husband, forced to appear bareheaded in front of the queen. Since the Middle Ages, tradition has it that the knights take off their helm in front of their lord to invite them to slice their heads, if need be, as a sign of allegiance. When we tell you that the atmosphere is tense between England and Ethiopia …
Vintage Room
Marble columns, furniture upholstered in blue and gold silk, old paintings … It is still in the "Hall of 1844", one of the most important pieces of Buckingham Palace, that the queen receives her prestigious guests. But why 1844? That year, Tsar Nicholas Ist Visited the castle with great pomp and, for the occasion, we redécora specially this room … Super note on Airbnb, we told you.
