Its been another one of those days. It started with a farewell to Gracie which for those left behind was sad but was for her, fine. After all she is where shes supposed to be. Got to the office afterwards and was faced with a desperate housewife who needed advice, four funerals for next week all of which made me want to cry especially the one where a mother lost her only child in motor vehicle accident when the person who hit him left the scene, phone calls from people who name dropped, questioned and made demands when they should know better plus numerous other things which rattled my chains although I smiled my way through it all. The icing on the cake came this evening when I made a comment on a friends page as to why the First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago is entitled to be called Her Excellency I explained the protocol. A sarcastic response came accusing me of being rude and sarky!! Rude and sarky is not my style. Is this response rude and sarky? Barbara Lake: The lady is the wife of the President and therefore her title is Her Excellency whether you like it or not. She is not Royal and even if she were, the term Excellency would rarely be used. It is used in certain European countries where the grandchildren of the Monarch are known as Excellency because they do not possess a royal title. e.g, Spain. Children of Middle East Emirates heir apparents are known as Excellencies. The term is used to address Ambassadors, High Commissioners and in some countries, Presidents wives. In the UN, Excellency is used as a generic form of address for all heads of state and heads of government. So in answer to Sheila and Alicia, the Presidents wife, although not royalty, is Her Excellency. I want to know how this title was never questioned when Their Excellencies Robinson, Hassanali and Richards were First Ladies??? But because of earlier comments, I have digressed! I picked up the grammatical error on first reading. Response: Dear Barbara, if you are privy to some information we do not have, then I am sure that everyone here is happy for you to share it. There is no need to be snarky or rude. If the wife of the President of our country wants to be called Her Excellency, then I dare say that she has an obligation to act the part. Have a good day. Boom!
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 02:53:30 +0000