Would the UK have noticed otherwise?

The title the Queen held as Duc de Normandie now only applies to the Channel Islands. Normandy was incorporated into Republican France during the revolution of 1789-99. The title is the same whether the monarch is male or female.

I saw footage of the Royal families of the countries you mentioned arriving at the Abbey, although I confess I didn't watch the whole thing

Tbh I'm not particularly interested in other Monarchies. The funeral of our much loved Queen was about her and the British RF, just as when it's the funeral of one of their monarchs it will be about them and not us! I only spotted Prince and Princess Michael of Kent once, same with Princess Alexandra. The Duke of Gloucester was following the gun carriage on foot, both in Scotland and here. Full marks for him as he is 78! The Duke of Kent is too tottery to walk far so came in a car. Again, only a glimpse of him, Australia? Be careful what you wish for!

Oh, were they?

Someone messed up!

Apparently Callistemon there have been questions about the fact that Spain and the Netherlands were allowed to have more than two guests. So I think you’re right, this will lead to increased calls for republicanism in Australia!

Thank goodness it wasn’t like Harry’s wedding, complete with as many celebrities as you could possibly find. This was about Queen Elizabeth and her family, not about European royals, or politicians from anywhere (including Biden who was far, far too important to sit on the coaches laid on for other VIPs) or anyone else at all really. It was not an entertaining game of spot the celebrity. It was a funeral for a very old lady and her family first, and a state occasion for the UK second.

nightowl

I read that there was a mistake in the invitations, with Princess Mary of Denmark being invited and then uninvited to the funeral. The Danish Royal Household had initially issued a statement to say that Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary would all attend and then had to quickly amend it. Oops!

I thought that if you invited someone to your home by mistake it was good manners to let the invitation stand. I’m sure they could have added another chair on the end…
Maybe the buses were full though.

Thinking further about this nightowl, that is probably Australia heading for republicanism as soon as they can!

Actually, it was a faux pas but perhaps someone realised if they'd invited the Crown Princess then other European Royals might wonder why they couldn't come too.

Heads of State were allowed to bring one guest so Queen Margrethe brought the Crown Prince.

Like MOnica, I’m not an ardent royalist but I also know a fair bit about a few of the European royals. Not because I read a couple of papers each day but because I follow certain threads on Mumsnet.
Admittedly, said threads are mostly about clothes and “bling”, especially tiaras. Mumsnet favourites include Queen Letizia of Spain and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

Our local paper in Normandy had a beautiful front page of the Queen mourning her loss as 'Duc de Normandie.

The funeral wasn't about the foreign royals, prime ministers or even the Emperor of Japan. It was the funeral for a remarkable women who had been our Queen for 70 years.

Nothing about foreign Royals in British media.

How then do I know why King Juan Carlos of Spain had to abdicate and lives in exile in Dubai, or somewhere in the middle east. or indeed the other scandals surrounding the monarchy in that country. I know the names of all the Queen's of The Netherlands since the war (Wilhelmina, Juliana, Beatrice and now Wilhelm-Alexander). All three queens abdicated in old age to let their daughter/son take over. The Belgian monarchy has had its share of ups and downs, though all the details elude me. Likewise the Danes who have the last female monarch left in Europe.

I know all this, not because I am an ardent royalist, I am not, but I read a couple of papers each day. One of the joys of reading the paaper is that you end up seeing all kinds of seemingly irrelevant news items and reading them, in a way you just do not get the variety of you only consume news online.

Blossoming

Without wishing to be rude, I am aware that there are other monarchies but I’m just not that interested in them, sorry.

Same here.

So do I Maizie.

Without wishing to be rude, I am aware that there are other monarchies but I’m just not that interested in them, sorry.

Baggs

People will be catching covid forever. Isn't t time we got used to that fact in the same way that we've got used to the fact that people catch flu?

I don't think it's time at all that we 'get used to' the fact that we have a life threatening disease, which is still causing excess deaths, has over a million people suffering from Long Covid, which can be life altering for many, that is known to attack internal organs and has been implicated in the early and unexpected deaths of people of any age a few months after having contracted the illness (including possibly our late Queen), still at large in the population and a government pretending that it no longer exists or poses any threat and doing nothing to protect our young people from future harm for lack of simple mitigations.

I think we 're crackers.

Joseanne

You would think France wouldnt be at all interested in our Royal family Dickens, but I've heard more talk about them in the last few months I was over there than in any time over the past 20 years! There was a sense of a build up to the Queen's death, especially after Prince Philip died, and the French press was certainly gearing itself up for it.

France television broadcasted all the funeral on at least two of the major channels starting from I think from 7am till 8pm. It showed the same as the BBC all the time but at certain times did split screens showing the crowds and interviews.

www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20220919151507/world-leaders-european-royals-the-queen-funeral/

Joseanne

You would think France wouldnt be at all interested in our Royal family Dickens, but I've heard more talk about them in the last few months I was over there than in any time over the past 20 years! There was a sense of a build up to the Queen's death, especially after Prince Philip died, and the French press was certainly gearing itself up for it.

I have a relative living in France - she's saying similar to you!

I believe there's quite a lot of interest in various European countries - not of course reported in the MSM. The Eifel Tower was blacked out in a gesture of respect for Elizabeth, the Brandenburg Gate was lit up with the Union flag in her honour, and Von der Leyen gave an emotional speech after the death was announced, in which she called the late Queen "a legend".

Not front-page news in the British press though.

nightowl

I read that there was a mistake in the invitations, with Princess Mary of Denmark being invited and then uninvited to the funeral. The Danish Royal Household had initially issued a statement to say that Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary would all attend and then had to quickly amend it. Oops!

I thought that if you invited someone to your home by mistake it was good manners to let the invitation stand. I’m sure they could have added another chair on the end…
Maybe the buses were full though.

I wonder why?

The Australian glossy magazines would have been full of photos of Princess Mary!

The building was full of people, each of them important to their own countries and their families and friends, but they would all be aware that on that day the spotlight was not on them.

Exactly right, Elegran
It was not a Who's Who of an enjoyable get-together with press snapping away, it was the solemn funeral of our Head of State who also happened to be related to some of the European royals. They may have been very upset at the loss of their cousin but it was not about them on this occasion.

I did notice the Middletons in one shot, unobtrusively making their way in with everyone else.

Yes, didn't Trump make some stupid comment too that if he were president, they wouldn’t have sat him back there?

I saw some comments on Twtr re Biden and Mrs being seated 14 rows back. People were shocked that the leader of the free world blah blah blah...

BUT the Queen was not head of state of the US, nor is the US a Commonwealth country. Of course countries holding those characteristics got seating preference.

You would think France wouldnt be at all interested in our Royal family Dickens, but I've heard more talk about them in the last few months I was over there than in any time over the past 20 years! There was a sense of a build up to the Queen's death, especially after Prince Philip died, and the French press was certainly gearing itself up for it.

People will be catching covid forever. Isn't t time we got used to that fact in the same way that we've got used to the fact that people catch flu?

We watched the funeral on BBC and the commentary was minimal. It wasn’t a spot-the-celeb occasion. I think other channels may have had more chat on them. I did notice some European RF’s, though, and Queen Margarethe was mentioned.

I saw two photos of her the following day. She’s now the longest-reigning monarch in Europe and set aside her own golden jubilee celebrations in order to mourn her cousin, the queen.

silverlining48

I think that in Europe most people are much more aware than we are of the different royal families including ours.
There have always been lots of articles and photos in their press and our friends knew about our royal divorces and other such scandals and gossip, a long time before it was officially announced to us here.
For some reason little is reported here about European royals. Or if it is I havnt seen it.

I think that in Europe most people are much more aware than we are of the different royal families including ours.

Yep! My ex Norwegian work colleagues know as much, and sometimes more, about our RF and their history, than some in the UK!

The young all speak English, some visit the UK on as many occasions as they can afford (when they're not holidaying in the sun), and they (my ex-colleagues) all rated our television drama output and children's TV programmes. My closest friend / ex-colleague reads English literature - in English.

It's a tradition in Norway during Easter to read crime novels or watch crime drama on TV. The favourite choice among my friends is re-runs of "Midsommer Murder". They watch with tongue in cheek, but they love it! Agatha Christie is a close contender.

Although they will jokingly refer to Britain as "that little island off the coast of Norway" they are all anglophiles!

I read that there was a mistake in the invitations, with Princess Mary of Denmark being invited and then uninvited to the funeral. The Danish Royal Household had initially issued a statement to say that Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary would all attend and then had to quickly amend it. Oops!

I thought that if you invited someone to your home by mistake it was good manners to let the invitation stand. I’m sure they could have added another chair on the end…
Maybe the buses were full though.