Dialogue: PM's behaviour shameful at state dinner for Queen

STEPHEN FRANKS* asks why the Prime Minister was under-dressed and graceless at the banquet for the Queen.

The women were glittering, the men bemedalled. But the women at my table, and others, were angrily focused on one woman who was dressed casually - the host, the Prime Minister.

Was this a gaucherie? Or is it right for New Zealand to show that formality doesn't matter? Are dress codes passe? What are the rules now? I know little of women's dress conventions but many present were embarrassed for New Zealand.

The invitation to the state dinner, from the Prime Minister and Dr Peter Davis, said long dress, black tie/decorations. The Queen looked striking in a long, white, formal dress, adorned with jewels and tiara.

Why then did the Prime Minister wear black trousers? And her husband a large red bow tie? Both suitable, perhaps, for an alumni dinner. Were they suitable for the hosts of a state dinner?

They made their guest of honour, the Queen, (and most of the other guests) look overdressed.

Add that to the dropping of the traditional grace before eating, despite the papal nuncio being at the top table. Answering criticism the next day, the Prime Minister said that New Zealand was a secular society and guests could say their own prayers if they wished.

I can't help comparing this with the huge effort now made by the state to accommodate Maori cultural wishes, and the long Maori blessings that begin many Government functions or meetings.

Considering how Maori spiritual traditions have been forced into many of our laws, I wonder whether this is not just hostility to traditional majority beliefs, rather than a real attempt to ensure that the state is secular and culturally neutral. Where is this Prime Minister coming from?

To many it looked like arrogance and discourtesy from the Prime Minister.

The guest, as well as being New Zealand's head of state, was a dignified, mature woman who values tradition. Surely any polite host would try to anticipate the Queen's preferences.

For example, as head of the Church of England she might be expected to prefer the saying of grace.

Perhaps the dress code is unimportant. Perhaps the grace is just an outdated and unwelcome intrusion of spirituality. But to treat any guest in this way seems boorish to me.

The Queen has unselfishly given most of her life to duty, to serving her people, including New Zealanders.

If the Prime Minister was using the state dinner just to make a political point of her republicanism, her behaviour was shameful.

The Queen did not ask to serve as our head of state. If we decide to change that, we will still owe her gratitude for service to date.

* Stephen Franks is an Act MP. The Prime Minister was invited to respond, but declined.