[Conservative til I die]

"Mrs Blair, a staunch Catholic, chose to exercise the "privilege du blanc", usually granted only to the wives of Catholic monarchs." _______________________________________ i guess it is the king, not the queen, who has to be Catholic.

I think you're missing the point. The way the dress etiquette works is that the privilige of wearing white is reserved for those women meeting both the following criteria: 1) Catholic 2) Queen.

Mrs. Blair only fits one of those criteria. As you might know, the office of Prime Minister is not a monarchical one.

I'm not sure what the big to-do is about this. It's not like they're being forced to wear yellow stars.

Once again, I believe if this was not the Pope or the Vatican, there wouldn't be an issue with most FReepers.

[drhogan]

"I'm not sure what the big to-do is about this. It's not like they're being forced to wear yellow stars.

Once again, I believe if this was not the Pope or the Vatican, there wouldn't be an issue with most FReepers."
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i think it is wrong for governments or heads of state to award "privileges" based on religion or race. i think the english laws are wrong for discriminating against non-anglicans (e.g., not allowing them, for example, to be prime minister). if the queen of england requires non-anglicans to wear different colors (than anglicans) in her presence, i think it's wrong.
in a purely religious context (e.g., during a mass or church service) i think it's up to the particular religion to write its own rules. however, this seems to be a state function rather than a religious function.
i agree that the color rules are a trivial issue, but that doesn't make them right.