: Well, I suppose we can call this a story but : no scandal at all. The President said the : couple use to be invited (i.e. out of : courtesy - nothing in the protocol that : demands an invitation) for these events : (State Banquets in honour of foreign : Sovereigns) but something happened with the : invitations and they weren't invited that : time. They were indeed invited by the King : & Queen of Sweden for the Return : Banquet. : : In fact, the King & Queen of Norway also : paid a State Visit to Portugal after the : Swedish royal couple and I couldn't manage : to find any photos of the Duke & Duchess : at the State Banquet (also white tie, jewels : and decorations). The Norwegian royal couple : didn't host a full white-tie return banquet : but some sort of less formal dinner/concert : (can't remember well - the dress code was : short dress and business tie) and the Duke : & Duchess were also in attendance. : : When the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of : Cornwall paid an official visit to the : country, the Duke & Duchess were invited : for the dinner at Queluz Palace and I : believe they were also present for the State : Banquet in honour of the Grand Duke & : Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (they're cousins : so, it made perfect sense).
I understand your point of view Pedro but I keep thinking it was a small scandal. I’m going to try to explain myself quickly. We know that the invitations, for these kind of events, to the Royal Family are made only as courtesy as Portugal for now is a Republic, hence I also spoke in the tradition factor. But we also know that the Republic is not completely comfortable with the presence of the Royal Family. Apparently only the Dukes did not received the invitation, which sound strange. However the main question is: with the amount of money the Presidency receives from the taxpayers and with the (huge) number of employees it has, it was its obligation to be much more professional. They should have either admit that did not wanted the presence of the Royal family or assume that they were not professional enough. To say ‘We do not know what happened’ is not admissible. In order for the things to work in the country the Portuguese people must start be demanding, starting from the top. Sorry for this OT.