Waterloo, Waterloo

‘ONE of the delights of inviting French presidents over to Blighty has always been to see them disembark the Eurostar at Waterloo.

The Queen denied she had chosen the place mats especially

It is a reminder that, although they may be able to build and run a railway far better than we can, we’ll always give them a good whipping if it comes to a scrap.

However, all that’s about to change with the new high-speed link soon to make the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo redundant as the terminus is moved to St Pancras (or Agincourt, as it will soon be known).

Even the Queen, it seems, has gone soft with this morning’s Telegraph reporting that, when French president Jacques Chirac visits Windsor Castle on Thursday for a special performance of Les Miserables, he will be ushered into The Music Room, not the Waterloo Chamber as it is more commonly known.

The Telegraph says the room was chosen because it was the only one of sufficient size to accommodate the musical, based of course on a novel by Victor Hugo.

However, although the name of the room may have been changed to spare M Chirac embarrassment, the French leader will hardly be able to avoid references to Napoleon’s final defeat.

The walls are adorned with portraits of the various heads of state and military leaders who helped in that defeat.

Where better to celebrate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale?’

Posted: 16th, November 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink