I wasn’t surprised by the fact that the Spanish royals and British royals did not send anyone to Prince Christian’s big 18th birthday party/gala over the weekend in Denmark. The gala was well-attended by the Scandinavian royals, including high-ranking princes and princesses of Sweden, Norway, Belgium and The Netherlands. There were also “Greek royals” in attendance, because these people are all related by blood or marriage. The Spanish royals tend to avoid this kind of stuff, but I would assume that King Felipe and Queen Letizia were probably invited to the party. It’s not clear if the Danish royal family invited anyone from the Windsor clan though. Who would they invite? William and Kate? The Wessexes/Edinburghs? Sophie and Edward traditionally get this kind of assignment, so it’s curious to me that they didn’t attend. But the fusspots at the Mail think it should have been Will and Kate, except of course Will and Kate were “too busy” to attend.

It was one of the most glamorous events in this year’s social calendar, with royals from around Europe gathering in Copenhagen to celebrate Prince Christian’s 18th birthday. The glitzy gala at Christiansborg Castle was an opportunity for future Kings and Queens to mingle with one another – yet senior members of the British Royal Family were nowhere to be seen.

It’s not the first time that the likes of King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, The Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have been absent from a celebration held by a European royal household. In September, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf marked his golden jubilee with a lavish banquet at the Royal Palace, where guests included Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Norway’s Queen Sonja and Denmark’s Princess Mary – but senior British royals failed to make an appearance.

The late Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter told FEMAIL that it’s likely a busy schedule and the slimmed-down monarchy to blame for the lack of British royals at their European counterparts’ festivities.

Prince Christian is a four-times great grandson of Queen Victoria and a distant cousin to Prince William. His grandmother Queen Margrehte was the late Queen Elizabeth’s third cousin and the pair enjoyed a warm relationship. But rather than travel to Denmark for the lavish occasion, the Prince of Wales, 41, journeyed to France with his son Prince George, 10, to watch Wales take on Argentina in the quarter final of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.

It’s unclear if Kate and William – or any senior British royals – were invited to Prince Christian’s 18th birthday party. But Dickie has said it’s unlikely an invitation would’ve been accepted due to the British royals’ busy schedules.

He said: ‘Royal diaries are generally completed a good six to seven months in advance. There are minor gaps to allow for last minute engagements as we saw this weekend with The Prince of Wales at the Wales Rugby World Cup quarter final and The Princess at the England match. British royals are not fussy – busy, yes. There are only eleven working royals, all with particularly full diaries and even royals are allowed down time.’

‘Of King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Golden Jubilee – this was September when Prince William was preparing for Earthshot in New York, and The King, preparing for his State Visit to France. In the past, the late Queen who was of a similar generation to the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish monarchs, would more than likely have received an invitation and, while not attending herself, would have asked one of her family to represent her depending on the nature of the engagement.’

He added: ‘I believe the UK population at large would prefer to see the royals, whether in the UK or abroad, at work rather than attend birthday celebrations.’

[From The Daily Mail]

It looks like the friendships between the British monarchy and European monarchies died with Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, honestly. King Charles’s court clearly believes that he alone is the most important monarch and he’s not going to send his family members to be friendly with the other royal families. Once again, there’s a huge gap between what Charles did as Prince of Wales versus what William has been doing as PoW. While Charles probably wouldn’t have attended Christian’s birthday party as PoW, he absolutely would have attended Carl Gustaf’s Golden Jubilee and he would have attended King Constantine’s funeral in January. It’s so bonkers that William is telling everyone that he wants to be a global statesman whilst simultaneously refusing to show up to these big international events. King Constantine was William’s godfather! I still can’t get over that. Anyway, I really wonder if the Danes even invited anyone from the Windsor clan.

PS… I still believe Will & Kate are mad about the lack of special treatment they received at the Jordanian wedding several months ago as well. They were treated like every other royal and they weren’t even put close to the front row. Plus, Charles has good reason for not sending W&K abroad: they inevitably make asses out of themselves.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.