108 thoughts on “Royals respond to Manchester attack”

1. I love the Queen dearly, but she could have changed and worn a more somber colour like black or brown or grey or dark Green or whatever… just everything EXCEPT the cherry bright bold yellow! There was enough time for a change of her outfits… sane for eugenie who wore blue to the garden party. If this had been Kate, there would be a huge outcry and lots of criticism (like she got when wearing pink to the 9/11 museum). A tragedy just happened in her own country, a horrible and devasting attack targeted at young girls!
   I readdy admire tge Queen and always think very highly of her, but still… I think we hold her to a different Standard than Kate (which in many cases makes sense bc one is over 90 and the monarch and the other is in her 30s and the wife of the heir of the heir, but here I think the same standard should apply)

   1. I agree that bright yellow was a poor choice for the day after a terror attack, just like I think bright pink was a poor choice for the 9/11 memorial. I was very shocked that QEII wore such a bright yellow when I saw the photos on Twitter.

   2. I agree, It was a horrific event and the Queen’s outfit should have reflected that. The people of Manchester and Liverpool have shown such bravery and solidarity in keeping the victims safe.

      1. Cancel. The. Show.

   3. +1

   4. I don’t get the bright yellow. Navy or a dark purple would have been suitable (purple being a mourning color), or even light gray-blue or something. You’d imagine HM would know what to wear as she is always classy and appropriate, and clearly would be upset by what happened in Manchester.

      Camilla wore a lovely gray-blue coat and dress that I thought was quite appropriate. Spring-time, yes, but still not bright and loud.

   5. I read that the Queen’s mother, Elizabeth the Queen Mother, used to wear relatively bright and certainly very attractive outfits on the walkabouts with the King, during WWII. There she was, floating like a flower amid all the rubble and destruction. Some people did not understand, and she was certainly criticized a bit. Her response, apparently, was two-fold. One was, that since people would normally try to dress up to meet her (if they could), then she should do the same. And second was that a bright beautiful outfit and sunny disposition were designed to cheer people up, to remind them of the beauty left in the world, which will come back after the war; to encourage them to keep living. Counter-intuitive, but admirable.

      Anyway, a bit of that could be going on with the outfits worn by the Queen yesterday, and by Kate in New York. The Queen was dressed for the Garden Party. People invited to it probably spent months preparing and choosing an outfit in which to meet the Queen, and likely would not have the finances to suddenly change the plans due to the attack, and switch over from a Spring dress into a more muted color. So most of them probably showed up looking cheery, if maybe not feeling quite that way. And so did she. She kept the outfit, out of solidarity with the invitees, and observed a moment of silence out of respect for the victims. All seems quite appropriate.

      1. Kate wearing that bright pink coat was made even worse by wearing all black to visit children. And pictures of her and William laughing at the memorial and in the museum just angered me. HM’ s behavior is quite solemn, so it lessens any sort of feeling I’d have towards a bright color, though I understand the concept as her mother did it. Kate did it at Ground Zero because she’s ignorant and doesn’t care; HM does it because she is echoing her mother, in using color to cheer people up and to dress up as everyone dresses up to see her.

         1. Wow Ellie, totally agree.

      2. That makes good sense.

      3. +1 Saved me a lot of typing!

      4. +1000

   6. At the very least, it would have been thoughtful to bring back the traditional sign of mourning, a black armband. The yellow? No.

      1. the black ribbon would work; great idea

         1. HM doesn’t wear black ribbons. Please don’t suggest that she doesn’t care just because she wears yellow, no one in the U.K. is going to bed tonight with anything other than a very heavy heart.

            1. +1

   7. Maybe a different outlook is necessary; or some kind of cultural relativism. Death isn’t always seen as the worst thing to happen to you, for a lot of people you are going to a better place. Yellow also symbolizes a lot of different things…

      Yellow, the color of sunshine, hope, and happiness, has conflicting associations. On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it represents cowardice and deceit.

      Traditionally, yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited for their men to come home from war. Today, yellow ribbons are still used to welcome homes loved ones.
      Calling someone “yellow” or “yellow-bellied” is the same as calling them a coward.
      The term “mellow yellow” stands for laid and relaxation.

      http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-yellow/

      Black and/or dark colors isn’t always necessary.

      1. 》Death isn’t always seen as the worst thing to happen to you, for a lot of people you are going to a better place. 《

         This really doesn’t apply here. Or do you think that there could have been many other things worse than death for the 8 yrs old girl who died at her idol’s concert? She was still a baby

         1. Cherrypicking is lazy and you know it. Death is death; whether it’s a young child at a concert or someone being hit by a bus or dying of cancer. Everyone mourns differently.

      2. No. Deaths are mourned; culturally and traditionally sombre and muted colours are worn. It is a mark of respect, like silence. I live near Manchester and know it well. This morning I couldn’t face wearing a bright colour to work. I wore navy and grey. The men wore black ties.

         1. Again, everyone mourns differently.

2. What I know is that the Queen and members of royal family just wear fúnebre colors when the oficial 3 days mourning are stabilished, which didn’t occurred yet. Until the list of all the fatal victims is released. Also they don’t have to wear dark colors when it’s not a Royal death. You can find all this informations on the Debretts handbook (the oldest royal etiquete and protocol expert) Also Kate doesn’t have to wear fúnebre atire for tragedies related to another countries, 9/11 didn’t happened in england and the official rules, established centuries ago, says that if it’s not from United Kingdom, she is free to wear another colors.
   There’s a lot of rules and protocols that she is actually following but people critized just because they don’t know about it.

   1. Oh, I did not know about this! Thank you!

   2. I don’t think people criticized Kate’s decision to wear bright pink at the 9/11 memorial out of confusion about British royal mourning practices. I think it was because, even though the attack was on American soil, it was a serious, well-known, life-changing, and devastating tragedy for the country she was visiting, and she seemed to show a lack of respect for it in her choice of apparel (especially when she clearly has plenty of alternative outfits). It’s like the people who go to Auschwitz or other concentration camps and pose for the kinds of pictures you’d expect on a happy beach vacation. Is it forbidden? No. Does it look like you aren’t showing due consideration for what happened there and what’s being memorialized? To very many people, yes.

      1. Recommend + +

      2. Exactly right ABKM. I knew about Debrett’s before this post, and I don’t care that it says Kate didn’t have to wear black. Pink was a poor choice just like yellow looks tone deaf on the Queen.

   3. There is no excuse for Kate wearing bright pink at a 9/11 memorial service. It’s like wearing pink to a funeral. She is just very stupid that way.

      The Queen is at a garden party and not a memorial service which is the main difference here.

      1. Yes, this has nothing to do with any sort of protocol. It just requires human feeling and consciousness.

         1. This. It is about being in the moment to demonstrate empathy, not just carrying on regardless. Everyone can ‘read’ the tone of a more sombre outfit, or at the very least, a black armband as you mention elsewhere.

            1. In Jewish tradition, when we marry, at the end of the service the groom breaks a glass. This is to remember the destruction of the Temple. It is also a reminder that life is bittersweet even in the moments of greatest joy.

               Soldiering on like the queen does simply ignores reality and provides a ridiculous fantasy of uplift that is not helpful.

            2. very true

      2. I think the ‘outrage’ over of her wearing pink is overplayed. Here is what pink symbolizes.

         The color pink is the color of universal love of oneself and of others. Pink represents friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace, and approach-ability.

         There’s nothing offensive about it; it’s just a color and the meaning of it is quite beautiful.

         1. Yeah, if you have no feeling and live in a vacuum.

         2. Do you, Jessica, honestly think that Kate knew what pink symbolizes? I’m sorry, but to me, a woman who doesn’t read her briefs or care to research the places she visits, would not have come to such a conclusion. If a staff member thought of it and she consented, then an explanation would have spared the Duchess a lot of negative comments.

            I, too, was shocked to see HM in bright yellow. If her mother wore bright and nice clothing on her walk-abouts during WWII, saying people wanted to see her looking nice, HM could have looked very nice, too when making her recent statement perhaps, in a light grey, or blue/grey outfit. I don’t understand the mourning period thing, but am glad to see it explained here.

            As others have eloquently said, when Kate visited the Ground Zero Memorial in such a bright color, she was not respecting or understanding what 9/ll meant and means to Americans, or anyone whose loved one perished on that day. The U.S. was spared the horrors of the bombings Britain faced in WWII, but this to us, is our somber and devastating event. I didn’t expect Kate in black when she visited the Memorial, but in navy, in grey — something less flashy –well, that would have been a kind gesture to me. I think to others, too.

            I’m pleased that Royals have commented on this devastating incident in Manchester. When I think of how many children and adults were hurt–how many died, I am deeply saddened.

            The daily newspaper on Long Island does not have the tabloid factor that several NYC newspapers do, but the cover today, featured a beautiful photo of the darling 8 year-old who lost her life. Everyone at the store, who walked by the stack of papers, had such sadness on their faces when viewing her photo. It is just unthinkable to target innocent people anywhere, but kids at a concert? How evil.

            1. Of course I think she recognizes pink as a symbol of love, friendship, harmony, etc. That’s universal. Catherine is a art history major and colors is a big portion of that.

               I think the pearl-clutching is unnecessary on both incidents.

            2. You are giving Kate far more credit than she deserves.

            3. @Quinn

               People may not like Catherine but she’s still a St Andrews art history graduate, with honors. So yes I’m sure she understands color symbolism and the multiple meanings of different colors and what they represent culturally. I don’t expect her to be a complete dunce in that particular field. Clothing is art so I guess she was trying to convey a message by wearing that color.

            4. Ha when has Kate ever shown herself to be such a deep thinker? A college degree does not make equate intelligece! There have also been reports that she plagiarized part of her thesis. I also believe they passed William becuase it would look poorly on everyone involved if he didn’t graduate.
               Kate routinely wears bright colors when the rest of the ladies clearly got a memo to wear demure ones. She doesn’t wear gloves at white tie events.
               She also routinely fidgets with her hair and looks genuinely bored at memorials.
               A person who isn’t cognizant of her environs isn’t going to care about what color she’s wearing except how it looks on her.
               Her only interest in art history appears to be how everyone else is part of the scenery to her main position
               So no, I don’t think she or her team recognizes color symbolism. That would require work and if they can’t be bothered with the important things like weighting her hems, I don’t think the would be bothered with the smaller deets either.

            5. @Jessica, why yes, indeed, Kate *was* trying to send a message by wearing pink to the 9/11 memorial. It was “Look at me! Look at me!”. She doesn’t need her dubiously earned and currently unused art history degree for that. She just relies on her natural ability to use inappropriate situations as photo calls.

               If she actually did understand color symbolism, she would have worn the pink coat on the children’s visit the following day instead of the somber colored coat she wore.

            6. @Sarah

               Where are the links to evidence proving she plagiarized her thesis? I did a quick search and didn’t find anything. Also plagiarizing can mean multiple things like an error in how you referenced your material. It wouldn’t fully excuse it but context matters and a thorough investigation would need to be done to access if it was intentional or not.

               I really don’t even like to defend Catherine like this but sometimes people go overboard. Again color symbolism isn’t rocket science, so she may not be a deep thinker but I certainly think it’s within her skill level.

            7. It’s been stated in here several times. I’ve never looked into it more.
               You want to infer attributes neither she nor her stylist have ever shown, which is totally your right. The extent of their symbolism goes towards the obvious theme dressing and not the subtleties of color symbolism.

            8. If it’s so controversial, let me point out that I never heard of it and neither did many people I mentioned it to. In the US, pink is now the color that represents support for breast cancer patients and victims. In my life, I never heard the description of what pink means that you gave.

               And if Kate chose pink to wear to the Ground Zero Memorial, perhaps a softer tone — not such a hot pink – would have driven her knowledge of what colors mean across in a far better way.

               And, for such a deep thinker, why would she have chosen to wear a full skirt on a windy day to lay a wreath at a Military Memorial site in India? Could her intellect possibly have told her that her full skirt might possibly blow up quite indecently. Oh, but wait, maybe, the color conscious Duchess was wearing pink panties. In that case, I think everything was quite all right in that situation.

      3. You do know that in other cultures it’s perfectly acceptable to wear brighter colors because funerals are considered ‘Celebrations of Life’.

         1. Yes, but don’t most Brits wear black, or darker colors to funerals in the UK?
            Jessica, your commens on this particular color topic are really not winning many supporters here. At least, I don’t think so. And, I am referring to Kate’s hot pink coat at Ground Zero’s Memorial. That day is still a most traumatic memory for many people. I would have thought Kate could have worn grey, navy, or a very soft grey blue when she and William paid their visit.

         2. I mean to say if pink represents what you claim it does, Jessica, I have never heart of that. The rest of my comment stands.

            1. Well I guess, jenny, when one is able to transcend Western cultural tradition for a more esoteric, refined outlook one will be misunderstood. What does it matter if the little people don’t get it. Kate, with her superior knowledge of all aspects of colour was making a much more important and precise symbolic statement than that which mere mourning and its sombre expression in the West allows.

3. Can I just say that HM dressers don’t make mistakes like choosing the wrong colour. She will have chosen yellow for a very specific reason……be it to lift spirits, make sure everyone can see her. We are not in court mourning and HM never wears black unless the court is in official mourning. Not in anyway comparable to someone getting it wrong at 911 memorial in hot pink. I expect it was done deliberately to send out a subliminal message. A bit of trivia……Yellow is the colour of cowardice in U.K. And also the colour of mourning in some countries such as Spain. In Buddhism, Yellow is the colour of stability.

   1. I think the Queen was right to wear a bright colour as she usually does. For many people this will be a day to remember for the rest of their lives, and even if they don’t get to talk to a royal they want to be able to say they’ve seen HM. She was not at a memorial as Kate was at 9/11, she was entertaining in her back garden. We all feel very strongly in the UK (and I’m sure most other countries would agree) that we carry on as much as we can as normal and do not let terrorists frighten us into changing plans.
      And as for 9/11 not being British – unfortunately many Brits were killed, injured or simply affected by that terrible tragedy even if it didn’t happen on our soil. It is one of the things people remember – where they were when JFK was assassinated, when Diana died, when the towers were hit.

      1. I agree, and give the Queen a pass on the yellow. She is part of the almost vanished generation that carried on, and would be unlikely to change plans or clothes. With thousands of guests, if you were 6 people back in the crowd, the glimpse of a flash of that bright yellow would be enough to say you saw the queen. I thought Camilla looked lovely in that grayed blue, but from the back of the crowd she would have been hard to spot.

         I do not think Kate’s bright pink was appropriate in an entirely different circumstance, and I’m sure if the queen visited Manchester she would be suitably and somberly dressed.

   2. I doubt that most people would understand the symbolism, though. I tell you, I don’t think it’s timely to wear a bright colour right after the event. It’s not acknowledging the loss. Like I said above, a black armband would have been helpful or a mourning brooch. I think the queen just soldiers on in her own (blibered) way and it just shows how her ways have become irrelevant in contemporary times.

      1. I think that will change when PoW is King but we Brits rather expect HM to carry on, stoic and with a stiff upper lip. We want her to be solid and dependable but we also know she does feel tragedy she just doesn’t wear her heart on a public sleeve but I do believe at both Abervan & Dunblane her emotions did get the better of her. Xx

   3. I posted my comment prior to reading what you said, Mrs BBV. Yorr comment on HM in yellow, meant more to me than the one to which I replied. I guess we as people from different countries often see things differently. Your words were a bit more understandable to m in regard to the yellow ensemble the Queen wore.

      1. I’m only surmising Jenny but I do think HM and her dressers have 70+ years in getting this right so I don’t think it’s a mistake. But I do think times are a changing and probably what people expect HM to do on behalf of the nation might be more than she’s capable of giving emotionally. I guess what more people want these days is a national mother figure in times of crisis and tragedy and that is not how she sees her role. She sees herself as the rock, stability and continuity of the nation who leads by example. Protocol is not emotionally reactive and can be staid and immovable but I guess she feels she can never be that far wrong if she sticks to the rules of protocol. Of course we all know that there have been the odd occasion when protocol & HM has got it wrong but I don’t think wearing yellow at the garden party yesterday is one of those occasions. Keep Calm and Carry On and all that.

         1. I appreciate your comments very much, Mrs. BBV.

            When you said that HM sees herself as the rock, stability and continuity of the nation, I am in understanding.

            I was in my teens when 9/ll happened in the U.S., but I can remember how the media said Laura Bush was a stabilizing mother figure for her grieving and shocked fellow Americans. She only was FLOTUS for 8 years. The Queen has led for so much longer!

            My mother often talks of the stabilizing force Jackie Kennedy was throughout JFK’s wake and funeral. How Mrs. Kennedy seemed to bring many Americans up from the depths of shock and grief, even while experiencing her own extreme pain.

            I know that HM has been Queen for most of her life and she understands what the public needs from her. I am sure people in Britain have turned to her for support. It touches my heart that she will be there for them.
            Women play an amazing role in life, don’t we?

            What very sad times we are living through. Sad, but filled with the goodness and caring ways of so many, too.

   4. I have to agree. I don’t see the problem with yellow here. It’s not a memorial or doing an event to recognize what happened. There is a time and place for more somber colors but think this tea party wasn’t it.
      I think a little color was needed to lift the spirits and I think she looks lovely.
      I was moved by all the stories of people helping everyone out.

4. I like Charles’ note the best because it is full of heartfelt emotion.
   Very expressive.

   However, it would have been great if one of the royals went to Manchester to show support. Yeah, I know, I know, security and disruption issues. That’s a good excuse for doing nothing all the time. I guess no one thought of that when the King and Queen stayed behind in London during WWII and walked among the rubble and distress, standing, unafraid, in solidarity with the people. They could at least show up a bit later.

   So, I’m wondering what are the royals good for now?

   1. They tend not to go in the first few days as it hinders the actual operation but I would be very surprised it no one has been by the end of the weekend. You are right re. PoW letter, it really does convey shock and sympathy much better than HM and William but I always think he’s most in tune with his emotions and it shows.

      1. I do hope you’re right, Mrs BBV. It’s time someone started showing up considering the accumulating terror and tragedy. ITA about Charles.

         1. Well as a devotee of my RF if no one appears in Manchester by the end of the weekend even I shall be ringing / emailing BP to find out why not. Xx

            1. Well, I hope you’re right, for your sake. 🙂

            2. Personally, with there being so many children in hospital and affected, I would expect and hope that we see either Harry or PoW with Camilla visit. Last thing we need is word salad Kate and William trying to be funny.

            3. Yes, because this attack is beyond depraved. The targets were children. Time to bring in the empathetic big guns. Camilla would be great as well.

               Oh, I wish you hadn’t mentioned the gruesome twosome. Just the thought…. I hope they’re on a mini vacay with Pips after the debilitating stress of the wedding.

            4. Harry, Charles, Camilla visiting those children in hospitals and the parents of youngsters who died, would be a true help, I am sure.

               I am going to try to believe that if William and Catherine visited, too, it would be done with the most respect and care.

            5. I can’t see Harry going – according to the Court Circular he’s in Botswana. Sentebale stuff?

         2. Ultimately, it will be the Government & the security services that will decide when & if it is appropriate & safe for the royals to visit Manchester. As you’ve probably seen in the press, the Police & counter terrorisms officers are busy raiding address to find the bombers accomplices, they’re not going to have time to babysit the Monarch & her family.

            1. I totally agree Poppy. And when the time is right it will be the Queen our HOS who visits. I remember Diana wanted to visit Dunblane but HM went. She must be the first to visit now .

            2. Diana also wanted to visit the parents in Warrington after the IRA bomb there but was stopped. So instead she phoned the families at their homes and Mr Parry who lost his son Tim said it was the only thing that made his wife smile in their darkest days……the Princess ringing them to try and help in any way she could. I believe she kept in touch with them for some time after too.

            3. That’s s so lovely of her to have done.

               I can’t see any other royals doing that except perhaps the PoW or Harry, but Harry’s out of the country right now.

   2. I think Charles does great in these situations. William should have had Harry release the statement for the three of them, it would have been much better. It’s just as bland as his condolence statements when he’s signed books. He comes off as an emotional robot

   3. Security reasons. We still do not know who all was amongst the dead. I would find it incredibly poor taste for one of them to show up, strain police services more than they already are, etc.

      I fully expect Charles to be there soon enough, he went as soon as he could to hospitals in Westminster after the Westminster attack. They all have to listen to their security people and the local police insofar as planning a visit, I can imagine they do not want to step in and cause more of a mess. (William will go much later as is his wont for positive PR.)

   4. So, I’m wondering what are the royals good for now?

      They are saying on the news here (NZ) that the Police think there is another bomb out there somewhere. So having a Royal visit at the moment would take Police resources away from looking for the bomb and other cell members? IMO, I am not going to be criticizing the Royal Family for not going to Manchester just yet.

5. Arguments can be made on both sides for the Queen’s attire. I just want to comment to say to any of our British friends reading, you are in my thoughts.

   1. TY……it really is the most horrible time. The fact that a Mancunian targeted children in his home city just defies belief.

      1. The whole thing is so heartbreaking, but this makes it all the worse.

   2. I know I speak for other Brits on here – thank you, it is lovely to have empathy and solidarity. x

6. Okay, this is totally frivolous, but what the heck with the York girls? I have thought Eugenie in particular was making great choices recently. I particularly liked her Chelsea Flower Show green with the little cardi, and her wedding outfit, albeit it needed a jacket in church. But this dress is awful, too tight and unflattering. It seems two steps forward and one back. I think Eugenie is the natural beauty among the Windsors, so I really want her to make the most of herself.

   Does anyone know about the unusual ring she always wears?

   1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4535080/Queen-Duke-host-Buckingham-Palace-garden-party.html

      Forgot the link.

7. Another note on clothing: both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary (Theresa May and Amber Rudd) wore black today and yesterday as they went about their duties. Black dresses/ trousers and jackets.

   1. I would have been appalled if they had worn anything else. Both have been on government business in and around Manchester.

   2. This is totally different to the issues with the Queen in yellow.

      1. Maybe it is, Birdy.. Lots of different views on here about it. I personally think HM was wrong to stick to yellow, but others disagree, I see that.

8. Look at this stunning crowd at the Manchester Vigil:

   https://twitter.com/bernadettekelly/status/867080253134471169/photo/1

   Without personal security or safety.

   1. Man U have won the footie! Mancunians love their footie so this is absolutely the best news for the city. A little bright spark amongst the horror.

   2. And entirely typical of this wonderful city and it’s people Maven. The only regret I have in moving to be with Mr BBV was leaving my beloved Manchester behind. The best thing I got was a lovely Mancunian accent that eradicated years of elocution lessons, much to my parents horror. To all you KMR’s who want to visit the UK I would encourage you all to come North. Manchester, Liverpool, the Lake District, Scotland, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, the North East Coast all need to be seen to realise how amazing this green and pleasant land really is. Xxx

      1. Next year we plan on visiting Manchester, as I’ve got some cousins who live nearby (the rest are up in Scotland!). I am really looking forward to it. xoxo I’ve been keeping Manchester and all of Britain in my prayers.

   3. CP Victoria & Dan went in person to lay flowers after an incident in Stockholm…why could the Lamebridges not do the same? There is a site where people have laid flowers and a hospital visit would have been nice. The BRF seem out of touch yet again.

      1. The BRF would be told not to show up as arrests are still being made, their presence would cause more headaches for local police, etc.

         They’ll visit when they are told it is proper to do so as not to put strain on local law enforcement and investigators.

9. I don’t have a problem with the queen wearing yellow. In fact, I was quite happy to see her outfit. It brought a smile to my face and a little cheer. I particularly like the blue flower in her hat.

   Part of a hostess’s job is to make her guests feel comfortable and welcome. If you look at the pictures from the garden party, the women are all dressed in bright spring dresses and hats. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and many spent a great deal of time planning their outfit and buying new clothes for the occasion. They had no way to know that a terror attack would happen beforehand. How awkward would it have been to be dressed in a pink dress and hat and meet the queen who was wearing mourning colors? It would make the guests feel inappropriately dressed.

   As others have said, there’s a time for remembrance and mourning, but it’s not at a garden party for deserving people who get this chance once in a lifetime. It’s not like it’s a bunch of friends getting together and having a party. It’s a long-scheduled event for people who have warranted an invitation through their deeds. They observed a moment of silence and after this short ray of sunshine at the party have to go back to the reality of the attack and its aftermath. I say let them have a moment.

10. I live in manchester. My niece was at the concert and narrowly avoided harm for which our family are deeply grateful. Another niece worked 30 hours nursing in a hospital and saw sights none of us should ever see. We are proud of her for going into work despite it not being her shift.
    I have never been prouder of my city. People have come together. Supported each other and refused to be divided by hate.
    Manchester has a long and proud history of welcoming immigrants and supporting diversity. That will not change.
    If you do get a chance to visit let me know I would be happy to show you round our beautiful cultural landmarks.
    I’m hoping Charles and Camilla make it up soon, I loved their note.
    Thanks to everyone for comments. Prayers and thoughts.

    1. I’m saying a prayer for both of your nieces!! There was a mass shooting at the spa I work at. Seeing or even being near an attack like that is so difficult to recover from!! Please let them know they are not alone and so many people are thinking and praying for them!

    2. Debra Greene, thank you for updating us KMR-ers here. I am proud of your family & happy that your niece escaped harm. Wishing you and your family strength and patience in the days ahead.

    3. I’m so glad your nieces are safe, and they are in my thoughts as you are as well.

       1. Both nieces understandably traumatised and will be for a long time. Thanks for your prayers and support. It has been incredibly humbling for our city to be a focus of so much love.
          I know the Queens visit was warmly received by both patients and staff.
          Our thoughts and prayers remain with the grieving families may God grant them grace and strength to get through this.

11. I’m a New Yorker, and Kate’s visit to NYC that holiday season was very insensitively done all the way around. It was completely inappropriate for her to wear a shocking pink coat to the 9/11 memorial. It is jarring to see people treat it as just one more tourist destination; as something to “see” or check off their list, as W and K did. It’s still hard for me to understand how the UK allows itself to have such a representative, and pays through the nose for her luxury lifestyle. She clearly did not think about where she was going–the meaning of the place. She did the same at the children’s center in Harlem, where she was hosted by our Mayor’s wife Charlene McCray and staff of the center who had to take time off from preparing to help children in need on the holidays to host her. The press noted her “eye roll” when the worker in charge of the gift wrapping Kate was supposedly participating in told her to pick up the pace. Kate had no sense of the appropriate, or that these people were very pressed to get everything ready for the children, and Kate was taking away resources and slowing them down. I cannot understand why this is tolerated by the British public. As for QE, she is still riding on her family’s brave comportment during WWII, but the people who actually remember that will soon be gone. Also, in the age of an international media, the Queen was seen round the world in her bright yellow outfit. It is jarring to a non-English person. Obviously, her first obligation is to comfort her own country people, but she is always a representative, a symbol. I can think of a number of colors in her massive wardrobe of coat dresses with matching hats that would have looked spring garden lovely while conveying a bit of sobriety. She has a whole staff that could have easily made a switch. But they don’t seem to think about these things—maybe it doesn’t matter what an American thinks, and we can’t possibly understand the English unconditional attachment to their royals.

    1. Interesting points, Vivian. I can see that many in NY thought Kate was inappropriate. I don’t think everyone in the UK has an unconditional attachment to the royals, perhaps it’s time for some of them to up their game?

    2. I don’t forget how Kate rubbed her hand against her coat after shaking the Mayor’s wife’s hand. So insensitive and rude.

    3. I agree Vivian that the Queen should have worn a more subdued color in the Spring garden party. Maybe a violet or a pale blue or heck even cream- either of these colors would have looked spring-appropriate while conveying the sombre tone in the aftermath of this disgusting attack.

12. Who needs the assistants when the top lady herself the Queen visited staff & victims at the Children’s hospital today. Unlike Kate who wears somber colours when visiting children, her Majesty wore a lovely shade of blue with an orange hat.

    Btw Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited victims of the Brussels airport bombing shortly after the event.

    1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4541026/The-Queen-visits-Royal-Manchester-Children-s-Hospital.html

       1. Wonderful! I bet you’re well pleased, MrsBBV.

          Well this puts paid to all the palaver and excuses about security and oh, the royals can’t do this, shouldn’t do that, they will interfere…. The queen did it in a *timely* manner and that’s what matters; as you said, Mrs BVV, within the week,

          And it was the *queen*, no lowly indifferent wastrel, all decked out in charming colours. I am not only pleased for the victims but for all the personnel who deserve major kudos and recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty. Mancunians and other Brits should be justifiably proud. It’s a beacon for the rest of us. Just awesome.

          1. I knew it would the queen first. Now the others will go to various locations but it had to be her first. I’m glad she wore a bright happy colour and I’m sure everyone who met her was a little lifted by her visit. Our NHS are absolutely the best in the world, so proud of them , and our ambulance staff are amazing. Ambulances came from all over the place, then further afield ambulance centres sent ambulances to cover for the ‘day to day’ needs of the short staffed regions. All pre planned and well coordinated. At times like these HM’s experience really shows , unfortunately she has done similar visits far too often.

          2. Mavern, they were not excuses in anyway shape or form. They were facts. Can you imagine what could have happened if the Queen turned up in Manchester off her own back and another bomber got close to her? Can you also imagine the propaganda Isis could live off that they could get close enough to another countries hos and possibly even kill them??? And I’m also sure that if there had been a bomb at that incident in Hulme you wouldn’t have seen her either!, they’d have brought her back to Lodon till it was safe! Im quite happy for my Queen to reign for a long time yet to come – I don’t particularly want her putting in harms way just for the sake of turning up a couple of days early for a 30min visit, and I think you’ll find quite a lot of Britain will agree with that.

          3. I am pleased and I was really moved watching the joy on the faces of those that got to meet her. I know she’s not like Diana who would have sat down on beds, given hugs and drawn smiley faces on plastercasts but she was there representing all of us and in those few moments people smiled and basked warmly in her presence and that to me is part of what Royalty gives to it’s people. Thanks Maven ((Xx))

             1. Even having the Queen come have a chat with you must be so uplifting. She doesn’t need to get on the bed with you or whatever to make you feel important and special. I’m so glad she went today.

    2. Yes it was good for the Queen to do that and to do it soon after the attacks but also within a reasonable time, allowing security forces & emergency personnel to do their work in the immediate aftermath. I wonder if the Royals will involve themselves in fundraising or in donating to many of the families, who are going to need money to further their physical and emotional recovery from this attack & never mind paying for daily costs of living during the recovery period.

       1. I think that William’s message actually is very good but Prince Charles manages a bit more empathy. Harry should have released this message. Coming from William he sounds like a robotic parrot. Though William does admit that a sense of community is important. I agree. It is awful what has happened. Senseless and a loss of lives.

          Thank you to the Royal families from abroad. It means so much.

13. The letter from Charles was beautifully written and sounded most genuine. William’s letter sounded inadequate, even trite. I also dislike the way it started with ‘Like’ and mentioned himself immediately. Their staff seem so inexoeriemced that is what they prefer, evidently:

14. William is probably nervous using that language. I would have thought his marriage would have improved that. I am pleased that the Queen visited the injured in hospital. Long overdue in my opinion.

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