Showing posts with label queen elizabeth. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Trump: Trade and tea with queen in a Britain in 'turmoil'

July 12, 2018 07H:13 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, London

LONDON - U.S. President Donald Trump flies into Britain on Thursday for talks with the leader of the United States’ closest ally in Europe, and tea with Queen Elizabeth, set against a backdrop of protests and what he described as the country’s turmoil over Brexit.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump escorts British Prime Minister Theresa May down the White House colonnade after their meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

Fresh from a NATO summit where Trump chided Germany and other European nations for failing to contribute enough to defense spending, British Prime Minister Theresa May is hoping his trip will boost the close ties between their two nations and help forge a future free trade deal.

“There is no stronger alliance than that of our special relationship with the U.S. and there will be no alliance more important in the years ahead,” May said in a statement.

Trump’s trip coincides with a tumultuous week for May after two senior ministers resigned in protest at her plans for trade with the European Union after Britain leaves next March.

The president has already waded into the debate, saying Britain was “in somewhat turmoil” and that it was up to the people if she stayed in power.

He also said he might speak to Boris Johnson, who quit as foreign secretary over May’s plans for a business-friendly Brexit which was only agreed by her cabinet last Friday after two years of wrangling.

TRUMP BALLOON

However, despite the welcome from May, many Britons remain deeply opposed to Trump’s visit. A YouGov poll on Wednesday showed 77 percent of Britons had an unfavorable opinion of the president and just 50 percent thought his visit should go ahead.

“The president of the United States of America will regretfully have the red carpet rolled out for him by this Conservative government,” Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s leader in the Westminster parliament, told lawmakers on Wednesday.

“But from the public, the welcome will be far from warm,” he added saying there would be protests across the country against Trump’s “abysmal record on human rights, his repugnant attitude towards women and his disgusting treatment of minorities”.

A high metal fence has been erected around the U.S. ambassador’s central London residence where Trump will spend Thursday night and the embassy has sent out an alert warning Americans in London to keep a low profile in case protests turn violent.

More than 50,000 people have signed up to demonstrate in London on Friday when protesters intend to fly a large balloon over parliament portraying Trump as an orange, snarling baby.

On Thursday, Trump will travel to Blenheim Palace, the 18th-century mansion where Britain’s World War Two leader Winston Churchill was born and spent most of his childhood.

May will host a black-tie dinner for Trump at the stately home that will be attended by senior ministers and about 100 business leaders, including the likes of Blackstone group, Blackrock, Diageo, McLaren and Arup.

The two leaders will hold talks the following day at Chequers, the 16th-century manor house which is the prime minister’s official country residence which will focus on Russia, trade, Brexit and Middle East.

Later, Trump will go to Windsor Castle for tea with the 92-year-old queen. When he leaves Britain on Sunday, after a trip to Scotland where he owns two golf courses, he heads to Helsinki for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I have NATO, I have the UK, which is in somewhat turmoil, and I have Putin,” Trump said when he departed on Tuesday. “Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think?”

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Queen Nazi salute film: Palace 'disappointed' at use

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News, London

1 hour ago

Buckingham Palace has said it is disappointed that footage from 1933 showing the Queen performing a Nazi salute has been released.

The Sun has published the film which shows the Queen aged about seven, with her mother, sister and uncle.
The palace said it was "disappointing that film, shot eight decades ago... has been obtained and exploited".
The newspaper has refused to say how it got the footage but said it was an "important and interesting story".

'Misleading and dishonest'

The black and white footage, which lasts about 17 seconds, shows the Queen playing with a dog on the lawn in the gardens of Balmoral, the Sun says.
The Queen Mother then raises her arm in the style of a Nazi salute and, after glancing towards her mother, the Queen mimics the gesture. Prince Edward, the future Edward VIII, is also seen raising his arm.
The footage is thought to have been shot in 1933 or 1934, when Hitler was rising to prominence as Fuhrer in Germany but the circumstances in which it was shot are unclear.

The Queen recently made a state visit to Germany where she visited a former Nazi concentration camp

A Palace source said: "Most people will see these pictures in their proper context and time. This is a family playing and momentarily referencing a gesture many would have seen from contemporary news reels.
"No one at that time had any sense how it would evolve. To imply anything else is misleading and dishonest."

'Fascinating insight'

The source added: "The Queen and her family's service and dedication to the welfare of this nation during the war, and the 63 years the Queen has spent building relations between nations and peoples speaks for itself."
BBC Royal correspondent Sarah Campbell said Buckingham Palace was not denying the footage was authentic but that there were "questions over how this video has been released".

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Media caption The Palace says the footage has been "exploited"

Dickie Arbiter, a former Buckingham Palace press secretary, said the Palace would be investigating.
"They'll be wondering whether it was in fact something that was held in the Royal Archives at Windsor, or whether it was being held by the Duke of Windsor's estate," he said.
"And if it was the Duke of Windsor's estate, then somebody has clearly taken it from the estate and here it is, 82 years later.
"But a lot of questions have got to be asked and a lot of questions got to be answered."

Edward and his wife Wallis Simpson met Adolf Hitler two years before World War Two broke out

Sun managing editor Stig Abell said he did not accept Buckingham Palace's accusation that the footage has been "exploited".
He said the newspaper had decided to publish the story because it was of great public importance and the involvement of Prince Edward gave it "historical significance".
The then Prince of Wales faced numerous accusations of being a Nazi sympathiser and was photographed meeting Hitler in Munich in October 1937.

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Media caption Royal Correspondent Peter Hunt: "Palace focusing on breach of privacy"

Analysis

BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt
It's an arresting, once private image on the front of a national newspaper.
Its publication has prompted Palace officials to talk about a breach of privacy and the Sun to argue it's acting in the national interest.
Apart from the obvious anger on one side, it's striking how both sides have talked of the need to put the home movie in its "proper context".
From the Palace perspective this is a six-year-old princess who didn't attach any meaning to the gesture. Such an explanation doesn't, of course, explain the thinking of her mother.
Those around the royals are also keen to focus on the war record of the then King, Queen and their two daughters.
What they're less keen to focus on - and what the Queen would like not to be reminded of - is the behaviour of her uncle.
A man, who was briefly King, and whose fascination with Nazi Germany is well documented.

'Social history'

Mr Abell said: "We are not using it to suggest any impropriety on behalf of them. But it is an important and interesting issue, the extent to which the British aristocracy - notably Edward VIII, in this case - in the 1930s, were sympathetic towards fascism.

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Media caption Sun managing editor Stig Abell: Video 'should be shown'

"That must be a matter of national and public interest to discuss. And I think this video and this footage animates that very clearly."
Mr Abell told the BBC the video was a piece of "social history" and said the paper had set out the context of the time and explained that the Queen and Queen Mother went on to become "heroes" of World War Two.
He denied the video had intruded into the royal family's privacy.
"I think this is a piece of social history. One of the most significant events in our country's history, the Second World War, the rise of Nazism, one of the most pernicious movements in human history, and I think one is entitled to have a look at some of the background to it."
He added: "We're very clear. We're of course not suggesting anything improper on behalf of the Queen or the Queen Mum."
The Queen was 13 when World War Two broke out and she later served in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service.
In June she made a state visit to Germany where she visited the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and met some of the survivors and liberators.

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Friday, September 19, 2014

Scottish referendum: Queen urges referendum 'respect'

19 September 2014 Last updated at 13:36 ET

by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, BBC News

The Queen talked of an "enduring love of Scotland"

Scotland Decides

The Queen has said she believes Scotland will unite in a "spirit of mutual respect and support" following the independence referendum.

She said she understood there would be "strong feelings and contrasting emotions".
But she had "no doubt" this would be tempered by "an understanding of the feelings of others".
Voters in Scotland rejected independence by 2,001,926 votes to 1,617,989 in Thursday's referendum.
The Queen's statement came after Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond announced he would be stepping down after his pro-independence campaign suffered defeat in the referendum.
The Monarch is currently staying at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire.
'Contrasting emotions' She said: "After many months of discussion, debate, and careful thought, we now know the outcome of the referendum, and it is a result that all of us throughout the United Kingdom will respect.
"For many in Scotland and elsewhere today, there will be strong feelings and contrasting emotions - among family, friends and neighbours.
"That, of course, is the nature of the robust democratic tradition we enjoy in this country. But I have no doubt that these emotions will be tempered by an understanding of the feelings of others."
She added: "Now, as we move forward, we should remember that despite the range of views that have been expressed, we have in common an enduring love of Scotland, which is one of the things that helps to unite us all.
"Knowing the people of Scotland as I do, I have no doubt that Scots, like others throughout the United Kingdom, are able to express strongly-held opinions before coming together again in a spirit of mutual respect and support, to work constructively for the future of Scotland and indeed all parts of this country.
"My family and I will do all we can to help and support you in this important task."

Biodun.BBC

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Wednesday, July 11, 2018