Good Morning.
I'm not too pleased with the Queen at the moment. I know the presidential visit was downgraded from an official state event to a spot of tea at Windsor Castle, but she shouldn't have let him anywhere near the place. Apart from the fact that he's insulted virtually all of the European leaders, including the British prime minister, the president is either totally oblivious to the matter of protocol or deliberately chooses to ignore it. Money clearly does not make a person gracious and respectful and
often does quite the opposite. That appears to be the case here.
There he was, greeting the Queen with his suit coat open rather than properly buttoned and his red tie flapping away in the breeze. Have you ever seen this guy with his coat buttoned? No, you have not. He didn't even button his suit coat for his inauguration, and the tie is always hanging two inches below his belt buckle. Perhaps he's conscious about lugging around a few Big Macs and thinks the open coat look makes him look a bit slimmer or maybe he's trying to identify with regular folks, but presidents just don't dress the way he does, not in official circumstances. When Kennedy took over from Eisenhower, they were in formal wear, and every other president in memory has worn a dark suit and a conservative tie. Not this one, not to take the oath of office and not to meet the Queen of England.
I shudder to picture the scene inside the castle. High Tea in the U.K. requires a certain dexterity to manage a delicate cup on a saucer as the accompaniments are passed by a quiet but perfectly trained servant. Then there are the confections - an array of cakes, tarts, and crustless tea sandwiches also passed on silver trays. Can you seriously imagine this guy with a petit four, dabbing at his mouth with a small embroidered napkin? Not that Nixon or Johnson would have pulled it off with the grace expected by the Brits, but at least they would have tried to represent the United States with dignity in the presence of the longest living monarch in the history of England. Ronald Reagan was apparently a royal favorite and he would have buttoned his coat.
And what did they discuss during their time together? The Queen is reportedly an excellent conversationalist and able to chat about benign subjects but there's only so much you can do here. His children are under investigations for all kinds of messiness and so is he, come to think of it. Perhaps she asked about his golf game. He was off to Scotland for a round or two at one of his clubs before going on to Helsinki to meet with Vlad the Intruder.
Someone needs to take this guy aside and teach him how to dress appropriately, not that it would do any good. In my dreams he would also have to write handwritten notes of apology to all the people who have been subjected to his epithets (the more formal term for name-calling) over the past two or three years, but I need to be realistic. The New York Times says there are 472 individuals and organizations on the list, including everyone who has ever been employed by The New York Times, and doing all that writing would cut into his TV time.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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