The U.K.’s New Opposition Leader Has Snubbed an Invitation to Kneel Before the Queen
The U.K.’s New Opposition Leader Has Snubbed an Invitation to Kneel Before the Queen
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Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to crowds gathered at the Manchester Cathedral in Manchester, Britain October 5, 2015.Suzanne Plunkett—Reuters
U.K. politician and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has declined an opportunity to be personally inducted into the British monarchy’s privy council by the Queen, according to reports, saying through his representatives that he would be unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday due to a scheduling conflict.
Corbyn’s office did not elaborate on the reason he turned down the invitation, the Guardian reported. However, the 66-year-old recently-elected leader of the opposition — a staunch republican — has previously said that he would have to consider his willingness to attend a ceremony that requires kneeling before an unelected head of state and kissing her hand.
Attending an induction meeting with the Queen is not mandatory for membership to the largely ceremonial advisory body, the Guardian reports, although it is not common for the senior politicians that comprise a major part of the council to forgo the event.
LIFE With Elizabeth II: Rare and Classic Photos of the Queen
Princess Margaret (left), the future Queen Elizabeth II (third from left) and the Queen Mother (third from right) with the Grenadier guards on the occasion of Princess Elizabeth's birthday, 1942.David E. Scherman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II ("a little fagged after four days of royal touring," as LIFE put it in its Dec. 7, 1953, issue) prepares to speak at University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1953.Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II watches a University of Maryland vs. University of North Carolina football game at Maryland's Byrd Stadium during her 1957 official visit to the United States.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth with Prince Charles and Elizabeth II at Princess Margaret's wedding, 1960.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II speaking at a State Dinner in Ghana, 1961.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II shakes hands with a well-wisher while standing next to the General and Governor of Bermuda, Sir Alexander Hood, 1961.Lisa Larsen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II upon her arrival in India in 1961, the first British monarch to visit since George V in 1911. Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II during a visit to Sudan, 1964.John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965.John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965.John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II in Ethiopia, 1965.John Loengard—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II (right) and Prince Philip on a tour of Trinidad and Tobago, 1966.Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II during her 1966 tour of the Caribbean.Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
