His bride to be:
Beautiful couple indeed.
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.''
Hell yes!
If it's required for the rest of us it is required for these people too, THE ESCORTS FROM THE STATE DEPT. AND THE SECRET SERVICE, TOO, dammit!
His bride to be:
Beautiful couple indeed.
If a future king is going to take public transportation...he should know the rules. It's his mistake if he (or his "people") do not alert authorities and make alternative arrangements.
When I was in the Navy, I worked with a "Texican". We had a port call in Spain. When he spoke to some local ladies; they busted out laughing.
He was quite embarrassed, he said the women said his "Spanish" was "savage" and they referred to him as an "Indian".
The airline:
TSA Screeners:
The bureacracy finally does what it's supposed to do, and it gets grief from a pandering pol.
My initial reaction is a longing for a judge to declare, "baliff, kick these two nuts in the butt".
As for protocol, Spain can kiss it. As for their airline, nobody needs it.
As for profiling, I'd love to see tons more of it, but to grill suspicious Arab men, not to spare royalty. Sparing people is not why I'd profile, catching people is.
The Spaniards are as snobbish as the Limeys when it comes to "their" language and race.
1. Language. The majority of the world does not speak Spanish as if they suffer from a speech impediment (that ridiculous theta sound).
2. Race. Spaniards who pride themselves as pure blood Europeans look down their noses at anyone with mixed ancestry from Latin America. Somehow the Moors' conquest of Spain seems to be forgotten...even by those curly-haired Spaniards.
I've traveled Spain fairly extensively and came away with one impression ... the Spaniards are the least linguistic in terms of other languages in all of Europe. Perhaps because they're on a peninsula, and somewhat isolated, not sure, but most Europeans in other countries are multi-lingual.
South Beach, where everything is hot, hot, hot:
Spain, like the UK, has a constitutional monarchy.
Monarchies are toppled by socialists (another term for communists) and royal families are butchered by them.
I have changed my political affiliation to Monarchist, but for the life of me I can't decide who should be America's king.
And indeed they will. Unfortunately for America the wrong ones will stay home and many of the millions of illegals that are esconsed in our nation will stay hidden.
That was an interesting question you posed NHD. You'd would be more than a little surprised if you knew who I am.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.