So much for a honeymoon period in office for French President Francois Hollande:
Francois Hollande was ridiculed today after allowing himself to look like a ‘dwarf’ alongside a British regiment which won battle honours at Waterloo and then occupied Paris.
During an official visit to London on Tuesday, the French President inspected a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the Foreign Office.
He then appeared in hugely embarrassing photographs alongside Major James Coleby, who looked around two feet taller than the Gallic head of state.
Comments alongside the image on a website of pictures taken by AFP, France’s national news agency, suggested Hollande had fallen into a ‘trap’ made to make him look ridiculous.
‘Poor France,’ wrote Jean-Marc Rameau, from Paris, while Dmitri Kovaley mocked Mr Hollande, who is 5ft 7ins, with the words ‘Dwarfs rule the world’.
H/T to Nicholas Packwood for the link.
Interesting – I wonder how many column inches would have been devoted to “French President’s team seeking approval for reviewing officer over concerns about height difference”.
Or would there have been this much fuss if, say, he was inspecting Ghurkas who may have been his height or smaller?
Sloooooooooooooooooooooow news day ….
Comment by milnewsca — July 11, 2012 @ 10:18
Given that one of the reasons for the Guards is to look as impressive and imposing as possible, it’s going to be difficult for even average-sized men to look anything other than dwarf-like in this situation.
I’m not normally given to sympathy to politicians, but Hollande is being ridiculed for something remarkably silly here. It’d be a far worse sin to refuse to inspect the honour guard, which would reflect far more badly on France. Oh, and the idea that Sarkozy’s trick would have helped Hollande here? Anything less than 2-foot-high stilts would still leave the Guardsmen towering over the president.
Comment by Nicholas — July 11, 2012 @ 10:26
I had always been under the impression that in French history, smaller is better. Some examples: Louis XIV, Napoleon I, Pepin the Short.
Comment by Danny Melvin — July 16, 2012 @ 10:38
“Smaller is better” might apply for the military side of things, but as far as domestic leadership is concerned, I don’t recall anyone characterizing Charles de Gaulle that way.
Comment by Nicholas — July 16, 2012 @ 10:46