President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrived a little bit late for the Westminster Abbey funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Which was rude — let’s be honest. And so the Bidens had to wait to be seated — understandably.
I realize that over 500 foreign heads of state, monarchs and dignitaries attended the event, and that a certain seating protocol is enforced when it comes to major funerals of this sort. But it still seems a bit odd that the President of the United States would be seated in the 14th row. A slight diminishment or vague insult of some kind. No?
I hate posting about this because Orange Plague made a thing out of it, but let’s imagine a similar fictitious British scenario. It’s June 1962, let’s suppose, and President Kennedy is attending a Westminster Abbey funeral for, let’s say, the recently departed Prime Minister Harold MacMillan (who actually passed in 1986). I somehow can’t accept that JFK would have been seated in the 14th row.
Biden works out and takes care of himself, I realize, but if I were he I would make a greater effort to walk like I’m in my mid ’50s or thereabouts. I would summon all my strength and make a greater effort not to sway ever so slightly and shuffle along like a geezer.