I had imagined that I would mainly be writing about what Orders all the attendees at the Thanksgiving Service to the life of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh were wearing as I expected at least some of the Royal gentlemen attending in uniform. However, it was announced that they would not wear uniform but plain clothes instead. After seeing that announcement it seemed that there would not be a lot of spledour to write about for the week in question. But I was wrong. A grand regal event did take place this week, though somewhat far from home. I have a feeling that most Europeans forget about the monarchies that exists to the East (I readily include myself in this group). It is a shame, especially for us that enjoy the occasional splendour and glitter, as the East Asian monarchies seem to continue many of the traditional glittering occasions which we unfortunately see less and less of here in Europe.
The Kingdom of Malaysia for instance is a federation of several States, nine of which have their own proper Royal Family. Each of these Royal Families maintain their special traditions and ceremonies. And to add to this the office of King of the whole of Malaysia is on a rota among the rulers of these nine States, each King sitting for only five years. The installation ceremonies are indeed very grand affairs and because of the very special arrangement there is one every five years! So it is not necessary to wait a lifetime in order to see a monarch installed.
One of these States is called Perak and is currently ruled by His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak. He is the 35th Sultan to rule the State. On March 28th he opened the first meeting of the fifth year of the 14th State Legislative Assembly. For the State Opening His Royal Highness was accompanied by his wife Her Royal Highness the Raja Permaisuri (“Queen Consort”) Tuanku Zara Salim. She was elegantly dressed in a pale yellow gown wearing a sparkling Diamond tiara which she wore for the first time during her wedding celebrations in 2007. Having been invested with the highest honour of the State, the Royal Family Order of Perak, in 2015 she wore its Collar and Breast Star. In addition she wore the yellow and white Sash and Breast Star of the Azlanii Royal Family Order. The Sultan himself looked equally splendidly wearing an outfit in the same shade of pale yellow as his wife. With this he wore the Royal headgear called “Ayam Patah Kepak” or a “Tengkolok” with a intricate jewel of blazing diamonds pinned to its front. His Royal Highness wore the same Orders as his wife as well as a ceremonial “kris” (a dagger) in his belt. A very Royal sight indeed.
So even though we did not get a grand tiara event for the Austrian State Visit last week we at least got a tiara event this week.
As for the oher exciting regal event of the week, the Thanksgiving Service for the life of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey, was somewhat of a disappointment. Not the service itself. That was very dignified and it was great to see Her Majesty being well enough to attend it. But much around the service looked a bit messy to an outsider like myself. Especially matters concerning the Royalty from abroad attending. And there were quite a few of them, to the point of having six Royal Head of States (HM the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II; HM the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf; HM the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander; HM the King of the Belgians, Philippe; HM the King of Spain, Felipe VI and HSH the Prince of Monaco, Albert II), one former Royal Head of State (HRH Princess Beatrix), the wife of a Royal Head of State (HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Maria-Teresa) and an exiled Queen Consort (HM The Queen of the Hellenes, Anne-Marie). Other Royal attendants included heirs and members of both reigning and exiled Royal Families.
Though it can be argued that this was a private event I found it very odd that so little attention was paid to protocol. Even when the event is deemed private but you have six Heads of State attending in addition to the very close family it is a great help for things to run smoothly that there is a set of guidelines; i.e. protocol.
For the arrival for instance I would have expected those with highest rank to enter the Abbey last. Or, at least, last second to the immediate family (that is; direct decendants) of the person they are giving thanks for. Meaning that cousins should arrive before Heads of State and the immediate family. So I was a little confused when the bus with all the Royal representatives from abroad arrived ahead of the extended family of the Queen. As the Royal representatives were all travelling in the same bus it was probably a bit difficult to organize them among themselves – though it looks like the King of Sweden is trying (or maybe he is just waiting for his elder sister joing him and his wife and letting others pass in front of them until she does so). Maybe that is why we saw the King and Queen of Spain walking behind the Crown Prince of Bahrain, the Prince and Princess Hassan of Jordan and Prince Philip of Greece while all the other Kings and Queens walked in front of them.
So it is safe to say that I did not find the arrival very organized when it came to the Royal representatives from abroad. Nor did I care for the seating offered them inside the Abbey. They were placed somewhere in the back rows and in alphabetical order. I know that the alphabetical order is something that is used quite often at the British Court when they have to deal with foreign Royalty. But I find it much more elegant and proper when they actually take the time and effort to sit them according to seniority (based on the years of their reigns). With the alphabetical order the King of Sweden would always end up last, no matter how many years he’s been on the throne.
If the arrival was chaotic the departure was even worse. I still have the image of the Queen of Denmark standing at the Abbey exit after having been stopped to let the extended family of the Queen of the United Kingdom out first on my mind. This is the elderly Queen who no longer has the feet of a twenty-year old and in her own Kingdom is always provided with a chair when greeting her guests to grand events at the Palace to avoid her standing for long. When finally being able to leave together with the other Royal representatives from abroad she is seen smiling, but I am sure she did not find being left hanging around at the exit very amusing really.
REGAL EVENTS 