We always were wondering why we never see any official and happy family photos of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds and their new-born son Wilfried. Was he really baptized in Perugia on a semi-secret trip over the weekend of September 11 and was a guest in the Castello of Russian Oligarchs Lebedov, owner of historic Evening Standard?
Italian media reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had arrived on a private plane in Perugia, but that was shortly denied afterwards. Instead we learned that all of a sudden little Wilfried was baptized Catholic in a very private ceremony in Westminster. Suddenly, even the President of Perugia Airport does not recall having seen Boris Johnson any longer but thinks it was more likely former UK PM Tony Blair.
Thanks to The Daily Mirror we learned Carrie Symonds is holidaying on the world’s most glamorous lake, that being Lake COMO (CNN) and sightseeing with son Wilfried in a sling since the beginning of this week.
But Carrie Symonds seems to have chosen the wrong time to holiday as Glitzy Lake Como is not half as glamourous as we know it, and a cold front bringing lots of rain has taken over, messing up all shopping and sightseeing plans. With weather clearing up from Saturday onwards, all eyes are going toward the 5-star Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como where Carrie Symonds is residing with 2 friends and little Wilfried, Downing Street N°10’s youngest government member.
But it is not only the weather that has turned on Carrie Symonds – it is a statement from Boris Johnson that has infuriated the Italians.
To say that the British do not respect the rules because they are free, and then compare them to Italians, means one thing only: Italians respect the rules because they are less free. The statement (of Boris Johnson) is so grotesque that it does not even become offensive. But why not?
Before, in Britain, Italians were accused of being undisciplined and unreliable; now they are reliable and disciplined? The Brits say, tell us what we need to do, apart from shaking your head in disbelief (about Italy’s low numbers of COVID-19 compared to the UK), writes the Corriere della Sera today.
The President of the Republic usually stays calm with such comments, but this time he made himself heard. Sergio Mattarella recalled that Italians know how to be serious and it does NOT need the coronavirus to figure it out. Anyone who works with an Italian company, a professional, a researcher, an artist, or an Italian restaurateur knows it. Furthermore, any foreigner who arrives in Italy and has to deal with a craftsman is astounded. S/he understands that Italians can think with their hands and love a job done well. If you think that’s the case all over the world, you’re wrong.
The United Kingdom has already missed the opportunity to imitate Italy, the first country outside Asia to be affected by coronavirus. The UK had given 2 to 3 weeks to friends and allies with nothing to do – all despite the fear of Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself being hit by COVID-19 and rushed to the hospital, said Sergio Mattarella. And it was one of the doctors at St. Thomas Hospital in London who rescued Boris Johnson who just so happens to be Italian – Luigi Camporota of Catanzaro.
Luckily, Carrie Symonds and little Wilfried do not have to quarantine on their return to Britain because Italy is safe.
While Britain is seeing spikes of COVID-19 with numbers rising to 6,604, Italy is reporting 1,900 cases today.
This copyright material, including photos © Elisabeth Lang (unless otherwise notated), may not be used without written permission from the author and from eTN. Main photo © Marc Giddings – MailOnline.
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