Posted on 04/10/2004 4:39:59 AM PDT by JesseHousman
An international incident is touched off when Miami airport screeners insist on examining the luggage of the successor to the Spanish throne and his entourage.
Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and his fiancée pitched a royal fit at Miami International Airport Thursday night, when screeners insisted on searching the future king's luggage -- just as they would any Average Joe's.
Members of the prince's entourage called the required inspection of their private belongings an ''insult'' and ''humiliating'' -- sparking a diplomatic flap that has the United States and Spain on the brink of a protocol war.
Crowning it off, Iberia Airlines, the prince's carrier of choice, is suggesting it might pull out of the airport, according to two sources close to the international incident.
Now, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas has sent the Prince of Asturias, next in line for the throne, an apology, saying he's asked for an investigation into what went wrong.
Thursday's diplomatic dust-up occurred when the tall, blue-eyed, 36-year-old Prince Felipe de Borbón and his beautiful bride-to-be, Letizia Ortiz, 31, a well-known TV newscaster, flew into MIA to catch a connecting flight home.
The couple and four bodyguards landed at MIA around 5 p.m. on a private chartered jet from Nassau. They were booked on a 6 p.m. Iberia Airlines flight to Madrid.
Whether the prince gave U.S. diplomatic officials enough notice of his arrival is at the heart of the problem.
The U.S. State Department requires 72 hours notice to arrange for expedited security screening in a private area. The prince's people called with six hours notice.
When members of the royal party were told that they and their carry-ons would have to be searched -- just like the masses -- the royal flap erupted.
''We're your allies!'' one member of the royal delegation shouted in Spanish to inspectors at a particularly tense moment.
But according to Lauren Stover, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration in Miami, the screeners were only doing their jobs. The mandates of the Department of Homeland Security following Sept. 11 require that all commercial airline passengers be screened -- even the princely ones.
''The prince and his bodyguard felt they should not be subjected to the screening, but if they do not have an escort from the State Department or the Secret Service, it is required,'' Stover said. ``It's the law.''
To accommodate blue-blooded sensibilities, the TSA gave the group a choice of a quick public screening or a slower but private one away from commoners. The royal entourage chose a private screening and the group was taken to an American Airlines' lounge.
Stover said three ''top-notch screeners with VIP experience'' and two supervisors rushed to the lounge to conduct the search.
The need by the princess-to-be to go the powder room caused another flare-up. Ortiz was told her already-searched purse would be searched again on her return from the nonsecure area. She decided to hold it.
That sparked more angry words and exchanges, delaying the process and making the entire royal party late for the flight, which waited.
At one point, Milton Oribe, Iberia's station manager, said he would ignore the required screening, come what may, witnesses said.
Oribe also offered to vouch for the prince and his entourage, adding that he would see to it that the Spanish carrier withdrew from MIA, according to witnesses on the scene.
Mayor Penelas, calling the brouhaha a ''lamentable situation,'' immediately sent a letter of apology to the the royal family and pointed out those doing the screening were federal employees.
''The facts I have received thus far indicate an apparent disregard for protocol and disrespect of His Highness and his delegation. . . . I have called upon our County Manager to conduct a complete investigation into this matter,'' Penelas wrote in a letter dated Thursday.
An official of the Spanish Consulate in Miami said Friday that it will be up to Consul General Javier Vallaure to decide whether a complaint will be sent to the U.S. State Department.
''We don't consider this the proper way to treat our future king; it's a breach of protocol,'' said the consular official, who would not give his name.
Said Stover: ``Had anything happened on that flight to the prince or anyone on that aircraft because we decided to relax our screening processes, that would have been catastrophic and a complete failure on our part.''
This is the entire point. If terrorists had managed to smuggle something into the Prince's luggage, then what?
I am all for showing respect to the Prince because, despite the elections, the royal family has always been strong. The whole thing was poorly handled, but the procedures are correct. Giving proper notice would have stopped the whole problem. Dubya will give the Prince a call and they will all have a good laugh about it, and next time the Prince will have 72 hours notice as required by protocol.
You're still beating that dead horse dude.
Throwing a hissy fit and raising a ruckus would qualify in most instances as "breaching the peace".
You must be a bureaucrat; if you can't intimidate us with substance you dazzle us with blizzard of words? Isn't paste and cut wonderful?
The mandates of the Department of Homeland Security following Sept. 11 require that all commercial airline passengers be screened -- even the princely ones
Any other problems???
Uhh... John F'in Kerry? That's a different topic though ;0)
Wow.. Is that the excuse you used when you failed geography??
(whine) "but there's too many countries!..." (sniffle)
If the screeners can't cut the mustard, get out and find a job at McDonalds..
I am in an argumentative mood today, and expressing my disgust at the TSA in general, and air screeners in particular..
That such people should be in charge of air travel in, out and within America is an outrage..
I therefore volunteered to be "honorary whipping boy" for this post..
They're Comin' outta the woodwork!!!!
...sounds like somebody needs to pay more attention to what their Prime Minister is saying and less to their own overinflated sense of importance.
Assuming that this line is not apocryphal, would you have this quote in the original Spanish? It is definitely not easily translatable.
The left is directly to blame for 9/11 as well as countless acts of street crime in the US by making profiling illegal and unacceptable.
And you never answered the main question. Does Queen Elizabeth have diplomatic immuninty? And I do agree with you. She probably doesn't have a passport. But she definitely has diplomatic immunity. Of that I have no doubt whatsoever.
I did a little surfing, and as far as I can tell, here's the scoop..
Since his father is "head of state", i.e., King of Spain, as a "family member", he has Diplomatic status, and the same Diplomatic Immunity as his daddy...
Unless the U.S. State Department declares him "persona non grata"..
I doubt very much whether the US State Dept. is gonna do that..
The Crown Prince seems to have not only a very good reputation, but apparently is just as important in europe as Prince Charles of England..
I have no doubt he has diplomatic credentials of his own, completely independent of his father's..
He's got a sister (princess-type) that often lives in the U.S. as well.. good looking woman..
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