Madam, – It’s a trifle disappointing to read on your Letters page (April 14th) that the National Graves Association vehemently opposes the upcoming visit by “British Queen Elizabeth Windsor”, and is using the 1900 visit of “Queen Victoria Battenberg” to bolster its case. This may be a case of continuing to have your cake whilst eating it. But seriously, isn’t it time for the National Graves Association to inter the bitter rhetoric of bygone days and bury their differences with our closest neighbour? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Nigel Smith (April 15th) asks that he not be expected to “bow and curtsey” to Queen Elizabeth when she visits this country. I will not be turning out to greet the queen. Not from any deep-seated resentment, but simply out of lack of interest. However, I can offer Mr Smith the reassurance that etiquette dictates that he will only be expected to curtsey if he is a British subject. Furthermore, even if he is a British subject, the absence of a curtsey is not considered offensive to the royal family.
Hoping this clarifies matters. – Yours, etc,