God Save The Queen From This Nonsense

Queen Elizabeth II drove military trucks for the United Kingdom during World War II. She is the only living monarch who served her country during that war.

But, reports The New York Times, she has not been invited to join commemorations of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, because of "a thicket of diplomatic missteps, or misunderstandings, depending on whether the account is given in London or Paris."

Reading on, it appears more like cultural snobbery:

The French have said officially that they regard the commemorations in the American sector of the landings as “primarily a Franco-American ceremony,” and that it was up to the British to decide who should represent Britain — in other words, that [Prime Minister Gordon] Brown was at fault for not seeking an invitation for the queen.

In Britain, commentators have suggested that [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy did not want to share the telegenic moment when he hosts [President] Obama. This was all the more so, the British commentators have said, because the queen’s presence might risk turning the occasion into a celebration of the Anglo-American alliance, whose troops carried out the landings, losing about 37,000 men in the battle for Normandy.

What is that saying again -- that a camel is a horse designed by committee?

Memorials are no time to play diplomatic games, and in light of Her Majesty's service, it's absolutely shameful. If only Winston Churchill were still around.