Queen Elizabeth made the right choice refusing to go green for St. Patrick's Day


Judging by the 1,500 Facebook likes our story on the Queen refusing Buckingham Palace going green for St.Patrick’s Day got, it seems it has struck a chord.

For once I’ll side with Her Majesty and her court. I can only imagine the raised eyebrows around the Lord Chamberlain’s quarters when the request came in.

But I applaud Tourism Ireland for a wonderful public relations story that they likely knew would end in a refusal.

Seriously, if the palace were to go green would that mean a reciprocal arrangement that the Irish president’s residence would fly the colors of the Union Jack for a night too?

Also, would Orangemen insist that on July 12 the palace go all Orange in honor of their big holiday?
The mind boggles and no doubt the Queen and her courtiers were well aware of the mess they would step in if they allowed it.

Tourism Ireland is trying very hard to convince British tourists to come back to Ireland. Since the economic recession hit the British tourists have been missing.

Hence the focus on turning Buckingham Palace green and now the search for Kate Middleton’s Irish roots, all of which beats the drum for Ireland in Britain.

Anything to do with the royal family can have powerful impact.

Killarney’s original role as Ireland’s premier tourist town owes its existence to Queen Victoria vacationing there way back when.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to Ireland in 2014 will certainly offer the opportunity to give Ireland a higher profile, especially if they bring their new addition along.

So Ireland will be pitching hard for the British business but a green Buckingham Palace will not be part of it .

But the chutzpah involved probably made the British authorities green with envy at such a bold move.