but for the life of me I can't decide who should be America's king."
"Moi?"
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.''
Unlike the other royal families of the present and of history, the royal family of Spain have been paragons of virtue and would never stoop (ala Billy-Goat Clinton, et al) to snorting something up their noses.
I'd say the "prince's people" screwed up. And the screeners responded appropriately.
Royals are no better than anybody else. Despite what they've been told since birth.
Prairie
Now, now. No wishful thinking on FR!
Actually, no, I wouldn't. I don't share your disdain for people you call "low-level".
I flew from Charlotte, NC to Houston, TX where my bags were searched. I showed them my military ID card, and that didn't stop the search. If Americans don't trust military service members to fly on our civilian aircraft without being subject to random searches, then this arrogant future King of Spain can deal with it, too.
"Moi?"
Read the article..
The "royal couple" came in on a chartered flight..
That is NOT public transportation.. It is Private..
As for the rest of this flap, I have 2 words..
Diplomatic Immunity..
Okay. I'll bite. Who are you? Surprise me.
I believe that.
There are many Americans that I can't understand, and I'm not just speaking of the utterly ridiculous and contrived black ebonics. Of course this asinine rap and hip-hop garbage hasn't helped one bit.
Some Americans speak English so poorly that one knows it's proof that today's grammar school education is bent on a more sinister agenda.
And this guy has no right to claim that, "We are your ally." His common people voted the other way a few weeks ago. He needs to catch up on the local news when he gets home.
What exactly does the Crown Prince of Spain do, anyway? Why do they even have one?
Somtimes American Royalty gets rambunctious at airport screenings - Tom
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US Representative Patrick Kennedy is being sued by an airport security guard who claims that she was injured by Kennedy during a dispute at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2000.
You'll notice, of course, Frank, that this article was posted from the socialist Miami Herald.
These socialists papers (unfortunately about 88% of America's newspapers are controlled by these neo-commies)color the stories, and if you read the entire article you'll see that the Prince wasn't quoted at all because he didn't say anything about the incident.
Almost. It's an open secret the King has been a skirt chaser. When it's talked about, hushed tones are used. The rest of the family certainly is a paragon of virtue, to use you words.
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