Queen Shelia embarrasses Houston again(My Title)

Houston Chronicle ^ | Oct. 15, 2002 | SHELY HODGE

[bradactor]

Rules of royal protocol bruised during queen's visit By SHELY HODGE Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

Thai hospitality and Texas grit suffered an uncomfortable collision Monday night when Queen Sirikit of Thailand, on her first visit to Houston, hosted a lavish black-tie dinner at the St. Regis Hotel.

The Thai side was flawless -- the beloved queen gracious, the five-course dinner executed meticulously, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn eloquent in his greetings.

On the heels of visits to New York and Washington, D.C., where the queen hosted equally grand evenings, the Thai entourage might have anticipated a sophisticated audience familiar with simple rules of protocol.

The 250 guests, including Jack Blanton and Ginger Renfroe, Lynn Wyatt, Katrin and Dr. Michael DeBakey, and Gail and Jenard Gross, gracefully filled their roles as adornments of power and influence. Thailand's honorary consul general, Charles Foster, and his wife, Lily, provided the Houston-Thailand liaison.

The crack in Houston's diplomatic veneer appeared with the arrival of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee -- 50 minutes after the appointed dinner hour wearing business attire rather than the "long evening dress" that was called for in the queen's invitation.

The wife of Thailand's lord chamberlain (the national treasurer) gave up her seat to make room for the late arrival. Never mind that this close friend of the Thai queen was already through her first course. Thai generosity of spirit prevailed even as the rules of protocol -- with two queens in the same ballroom -- were smashed like so many fragile tea cups.

After securing her seat, Lee made her way to the head table -- first to Mayor Lee Brown and then to the queen. It is a hard and fast rule: No one approaches a queen once she has been seated for dinner. Queen Sirikit, gracious to the core, rose from her seat, greeted the late-comer with aplomb and did not faint when one of Lee's aides strode up with flash camera in hand for a mid-dinner photo op

[bradactor]

This is a good reason as any to send Shelia Jackson Lee back to Queens New York where she belongs instead of continuously embarrassing Houston. Maybe Phillip Abbott who is running against here in the the elections will do that.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Real classy.

[goodnesswins]

I really, really want to say something about "her Lateness"......but, I'm refraining.....

[ladtx]

What a total embarrassment to our country. Her crassness never ceases to amaze me.

[johnb838]

We're just fortunate that the Thais are an incredibly gracious people.

[Mr. K]

I consistantly have one question when I see these representatives elected in primarily 'black' districts. How can the black districts possibly elect people so stupid and think you are moving forward in life?

I saw her on O'Reilly the other day- she is can barely form a grammatically correct sentence. (Neither can I, sometimes, but I am not an 'elected' official)

I feel like I should send a letter of apology (for myself as an American citizen) to the Thai govt...

[wild peach]

How humiliating! I am so glad my congressman is Ron Paul! Hopefully the Queen realizes we are not all barbarians.

[Texas Mom]

This woman never ceased to amaze me..

[Defend the Second]

The black community of Houston apparently cannot be embarassed. I guess that keeping the "everything is racism" fires stoked is all that is required to be returned to Congress from Jackson-Lee's district. Maybe we could invite her to join the next NASA mission to Mars, where Jackson-Lee could lead the search for the Apollo 11 landing site. This would, in my opinion, be a task well-suited to Jackson-Lee's mental skills.

[stndngathwrthistry]

Aw, protocol is just a tool of the white male patriarchy.

Politeness, too.

Likewise manners.

[USMMA_83]

Shelia Jackson Lee you complete ass! I bet she does not even know how to use silverwear at the dinner table. I bet she chews with her mouth open, and...awww damn it...I give up....

[NovemberCharlie]

That might be asking too much of Queen Shelia.

[altura]

What was that word she kept mis-using on O'Reilly. It was hilarious.

She apparently thought it sounded so toney, she kept repeating it.

[KellyAdmirer]

Lee made her way to the head table -- first to Mayor Lee Brown and then to the queen

All of her other crassness aside, any moron must know you first go to the hostess to thank her for the party, never mind if she is a queen or not. What an utter embarrassment. Kind of weird that the good Congresswoman would treat an Asian like that, what do her slavery-obsessed people have against Thais?

[Tacis]

I know the dems pick up cash from the Chinese and Indonesians, but I didn't know the Thais are also bribing democrats.

[Dog Gone]

Sheila has well-documented problems in keeping her staff, even though they're devoted to her causes. She demands to be treated like royalty and is an insufferable bitch. She is the Queen Bee and everyone else is just a drone, including foreign dignitaries.

[SkyPilot]

"Where is my #$%^&@! Seafood Special meal!"

[FryingPan101]

Oh man. You need to forwar or email this too Rush. Good find.

[Skywalk]

Whuh, CPT? lol

I can use it, I'm biracial ;)

And by the way, from my experience it's somewhat true. (but also true with Asians I've known)

[SkyPilot]

What was that word she kept mis-using on O'Reilly. It was hilarious.

I am not sure which word you are referring to, but I have heard her use the word "disrespect" in all sorts of strange ways:

"She was disrespected."

"They show disrespectedness to me!"

"I have no patience with disrespecting people!"

She may even be using proper grammar, but it sounds weird. I always though you used the word "disrespectful"