Monday, July 23, 2012

Esmeralda's London

I wish there were more online television interviews with Princess Esmeralda, youngest daughter of Leopold III and Lilian Baels. The few clips I have been able to hunt down on Youtube or Belgian news sites have an unfortunate way of being removed or becoming inaccessible to viewers in certain countries.

However, we must take advantage of whatever we have. Here is a interview with Anne Quevrin of Sudpresse.be from the eve of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.  Esmeralda, who lives in London, talks about her children's reactions to the celebrations. We often think of girls as the ones to be fascinated by weddings, finery and splendor, but the princess says her young son was more enthusiastic about the big event, finding it all magical. Her adolescent daughter cared less about it. Esmeralda also discusses the media excitement, Kate's influence as a fashion icon and the differences in etiquette between the royal courts of Belgium and Britain. The British monarchy has much stricter protocol and each guest invited to the wedding apparently received a list of rules regarding what to do and not to do.

Esmeralda takes Anne Quevrin walking and driving through London, explaining that she enjoys the multiculturalism and multilingualism of the city. She says English food is not her favorite, but she likes the way it has increasingly absorbed elements of other cuisines.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Esmeralda personifies what being a true Princess is, unlike certain other "royals" in London.
I am another one who just couldn't get worked up about the marriage, either. I'm sorry, but I just don't think the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take duty and sacrifice for others seriously. There is more to being "royal" than wearing expensive clothes.

Also, it seems like European Royalty don't take things like "precedence" very seriously; they don't put themselves ahead of anyone, having a certain graciousness and ease of manner.

I wonder how the Windsors take to a member of the House of Wittelsbach so close by, even if she is a distant cousin to them?

May said...

I doubt they care much about the Bavarian claim to the throne, as there is no realistic chance the Wittelsbachs could replace them.

More awkward might be the memory of the British treatment of Esmeralda's father.