Tag: Royal Wedding

The death of HM Queen Elizabeth II as seen from the Czech Republic

With the new King on Sunday 22nd March 2010. Photo ‘stolen’ from the Daily Telegraph

As I have mentioned previously, HM Queen Elizabeth II had reigned, until her death on Thursday 8th September 2022, for twenty days longer than I have been alive. She came to the throne on 6th February 1952 following the death of her father King George VI, and I was born on 26th February 1952. Along with over 90% of the current British population, the late Queen is the only head of state that I have ever known.

Therefore, the current wall to wall coverage by the British media and the outpouring of public grief and appreciation of her reign in the UK, is perfectly understandable. But as I have remarked previously at the time of both the wedding of William and Katherine, and at the more recent wedding of Harry and Meghan, the fascination with the British Royal Family here in the Czech Republic is massive, as is the media coverage.

Last Thursday, the Queen’s death was officially announced at 18.30 in the UK, which is 19.30 here in the Czech Republic, just as the main news bulletin on TV Nova was beginning. Normally, the news bulletin lasts for forty minutes followed by ten minutes of sports news and a weather forecast. That night, the bulletin ran for a full hour with the only subject being the life and death of Queen Elizabeth II. Coverage of sport and the weather was completely dropped.

The extensive level of coverage has continued every day since last Thursday. On Sunday evening, the first twenty minutes of the news bulletin was given over to the events happening in Scotland that day. The first fifteen minutes of last night’s bulletin was all about the day’s events in the UK. I suspect TV programmes will be completely rescheduled or cancelled next Monday, in order to cover every possible aspect of the funeral.

On social media, I have previously questioned why there is so much interest in the British Royal Family here in the Czech Republic. After all, we are not even fellow members of of the EU following the stupidity of Brexit. Would Czech people really prefer having an hereditary head of state, even a British royal?

Whilst not wanting to be flippant in what is otherwise meant to be a serious post, I did enjoy a couple of the responses I got when I posed this question, I think at the time of the Harry and Meghan wedding. One, from a Czech friend, was that, ‘Anything would be better than Zeman!’, (the current President), a sentiment with which I would agree. The other, which came from an Austrian-American friend, was that, ‘There are a few Hapsburgs around who would be happy to take on the role’.

It will be interesting to see whether this same level of interest and fascination will continue now that Charles has come to the throne. I shall be watching and listening in the coming months. But what has already happened is that his name has suddenly changed. The Czech media has always insisted on calling the late Queen, Alžbeta II, the Czech form of Elizabeth. But her children were always referred to as Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. But now Charles has become King, suddenly he is Karel III 😉

I intend to write another post regarding the late Queen being, ‘an agent for peace and reconciliation’, as my Diocesan Bishop has put it. But in the meantime, it has been fun telling Czech friends that, not only have I met the new King, I’ve also had to preach with Charles and Camilla in the congregation. Photographic evidence at the beginning of this post.

Celebrating the Royal Wedding in the Czech Republic

Being interviewed on Czech TV ©

Being interviewed on Czech TV © - with my correct title on the screen in Czech

One of the things I have begun to learn as part of being the Anglican Chaplain in Prague is to expect the unexpected. So when on the afternoon of the Wednesday of Holy Week, whilst walking along Jugoslávských partyzánu, my mobile phone rang with a call from a number unknown to me, I answered it with my friendly “Ricky Yates speaking”, unsure what the response would be.

“This is Czech TV”, said a female voice in English. “We would like you to take part in our special programme next Friday covering the Royal Wedding”. Therefore, following an email exchange with Veronika Linková of channel ct24, yesterday morning at 08.30, a taxi arrived outside the Chaplaincy flat, to whisk me away to the studios of Czech TV in the southern suburbs of Prague.

Upon arrival, it was first into the ‘make-up room’ to make sure my face looked its best under the glare of the lights. Then it was downstairs to the lounge where I was able to avail myself of several glasses of water to lubricate an increasingly dry throat. Here I met Martin who was to translate for me. I was also able to see and hear the live broadcast coming from the neighbouring studio.

Next it was the technician who ‘wired me for sound’ with a clip on microphone on my lapel and the battery pack clipped to my back trouser pocket. I was also fitted with an ear piece through which I would hear what I was being asked in Czech, translated into English. Then finally came the call to go into the studio to be interviewed live on Czech TV.

The balustrade overlooking the British Embassy garden suitably decorated for the Royal Wedding © Ricky Yates

I had been told in advance that I would be asked about the Anglican Church and the Marriage Service but I had no forewarning as to what the exact questions would be. Some were what I expected such as the relationship between the Royal Family and the Church of England and what impact I thought the televised wedding would have on people’s attitude to the Church.

As the Roman Catholic Church is the majority Church in the Czech Republic, I was also expecting a question regarding differences between an Anglican and a Roman Catholic ceremony. But what I wasn’t expecting was the surprise expressed by one of the two joint presenters Hana Scharffová, that a wedding should take place on a Friday because she claimed, that would never be allowed in the Roman Catholic Church as Fridays are meant to be days of abstinence.

The tower of the British Embassy with the Union Flag flying © Ricky Yates

The question I certainly wasn’t expecting came from the other joint presenter Tomáš Šponar. He asked me about the level of support for the Royal Family within the Anglican Church in view of the outburst by Bishop Pete Broadbent on Facebook at the time of the announcement of the Royal engagement in November 2010. This was one piece of news that I didn’t realise had trickled down to the studios of Czech TV!

Unfortunately during the first part of my interview, the English translation into my ear piece was intermittent due to a loose connection somewhere. Fortunately, a combination of my limited understanding of Czech and both presenters occasionally re-phrasing their questions in English, allowed me to answer reasonably successfully. During a brief break, the technician who had wired me up, came back into the studio and sorted out the problem.

My questioning over, courtesy of Czech TV, I travelled back once more by taxi, but only as far as Mala Strana. There I was meeting up with Sybille as we had previously accepted an invitation to an event to celebrate the Royal Wedding that was not being televised! We were formally invited by the British Ambassador and her husband, to a Champagne Lunch at the British Embassy and more informally invited by ‘Sian and Richard’, to watch the Royal Wedding on TV beforehand. As we do not have a television ourselves, we were very pleased to have opportunity of watching it at the embassy.

The Embassy was suitably decorated to mark this special occasion as can be seen in the two accompanying photographs. As a memento of the day’s events, each guest was presented with a beautifully decorated gingerbread heart which can be seen below, laid out on a table, along with the visitors’ book.

Decorated gingerbread hearts to celebrate the Royal Wedding © Ricky Yates