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| Olympic opening: it's security, not diplomacy, on world leaders' coaches | Olympic opening: it's security, not diplomacy, on world leaders' coaches |
| (7 days later) | |
| Some of them have never known the indignity of queuing, let alone the long walk to the back of the bus, worrying about who to sit next to. | Some of them have never known the indignity of queuing, let alone the long walk to the back of the bus, worrying about who to sit next to. |
| But the 80 kings, queens, presidents and other world leaders going to the Olympic opening ceremony will late on Friday get a taste of a British-style school outing, complete with attendance monitors and lollipop ladies. | But the 80 kings, queens, presidents and other world leaders going to the Olympic opening ceremony will late on Friday get a taste of a British-style school outing, complete with attendance monitors and lollipop ladies. |
| In an unaccustomed encounter with mass transit, the assembled dignitaries will be asked to line up outside Buckingham Palace after the Queen's reception to board coaches to the Olympic stadium on the other side of London. | In an unaccustomed encounter with mass transit, the assembled dignitaries will be asked to line up outside Buckingham Palace after the Queen's reception to board coaches to the Olympic stadium on the other side of London. |
| There will be no bagsying seats; it will be first come, first served, and if you do not recognise – or are officially at war with – the country whose potentate you end up alongside, that will be too bad. | There will be no bagsying seats; it will be first come, first served, and if you do not recognise – or are officially at war with – the country whose potentate you end up alongside, that will be too bad. |
| Among those expected to board the Olympic buses are the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff; Michelle Obama; (probably) Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister; the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault; the North Korean sports minister, Pak Myong Chol; the Swedish royal family; the new Serbian president, Tomislav Nikolic; and the Kosovar prime minister, Hashim Thaci, with whom Nikolic says he will not shake hands. | Among those expected to board the Olympic buses are the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff; Michelle Obama; (probably) Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister; the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault; the North Korean sports minister, Pak Myong Chol; the Swedish royal family; the new Serbian president, Tomislav Nikolic; and the Kosovar prime minister, Hashim Thaci, with whom Nikolic says he will not shake hands. |
| The leaders will come in their own cars to the palace, but with a strict limit of two per party rather than the elaborate motorcades they are more used to. There will likewise be no exceptions on the coach trip to Stratford. | The leaders will come in their own cars to the palace, but with a strict limit of two per party rather than the elaborate motorcades they are more used to. There will likewise be no exceptions on the coach trip to Stratford. |
| "It's necessary because of the sheer numbers, and because this is Olympic tradition. It is standard IOC practice," a British official said. | "It's necessary because of the sheer numbers, and because this is Olympic tradition. It is standard IOC practice," a British official said. |
| As the dignitaries clamber on to the buses, a monitor on each one will take a tear-off strip from their identity tag intended to keep tabs on who is on board – "to make sure no one is left in the loo at Buckingham Palace", as one diplomatic source put it. The global rulers will be accompanied by their "plus-one" guest, either a spouse or minister, while bodyguards will follow in other coaches for one of the highest-ranking bus trips in history. | As the dignitaries clamber on to the buses, a monitor on each one will take a tear-off strip from their identity tag intended to keep tabs on who is on board – "to make sure no one is left in the loo at Buckingham Palace", as one diplomatic source put it. The global rulers will be accompanied by their "plus-one" guest, either a spouse or minister, while bodyguards will follow in other coaches for one of the highest-ranking bus trips in history. |
| At the stadium, the coaches will disgorge their distinguished cargo at the Olympic family lounge. There, any of the egalitarian spirit that may have accrued at the back of the bus will be momentarily suspended when some of the assembled leaders will be discreetly drawn aside for a brief encounter with David Cameron– known in the diplomatic trade as a "brush-by" – a sign of British favour, interest and concern, or a mix of all three. | At the stadium, the coaches will disgorge their distinguished cargo at the Olympic family lounge. There, any of the egalitarian spirit that may have accrued at the back of the bus will be momentarily suspended when some of the assembled leaders will be discreetly drawn aside for a brief encounter with David Cameron– known in the diplomatic trade as a "brush-by" – a sign of British favour, interest and concern, or a mix of all three. |
| Strategic players, such as Medvedev, Rousseff and Erdogan, have their meetings one-to-one in Downing Street, as will presidents Vladimir Putin and François Hollande when they arrive for sporting events later in the Games. Leaders from smaller European states, such as Croatia and Austria, will have to make do with "brush-bys", and the same goes for Algeria and Lebanon, singled out as a sign of British interest in the Arab spring and concern about the spreading violence in Syria. | Strategic players, such as Medvedev, Rousseff and Erdogan, have their meetings one-to-one in Downing Street, as will presidents Vladimir Putin and François Hollande when they arrive for sporting events later in the Games. Leaders from smaller European states, such as Croatia and Austria, will have to make do with "brush-bys", and the same goes for Algeria and Lebanon, singled out as a sign of British interest in the Arab spring and concern about the spreading violence in Syria. |
| After a short interlude for top-level networking, ladies (and some gentlemen) will appear in the lounge holding aloft lollipops bearing the names of groups of countries with the idea that the designated leaders follow the lollipops (the Foreign Office is still musing on how this should be translated) into the stadium. The idea is to avoid an unseemly rush for seats with presidents clambering over queens and crown princes. | After a short interlude for top-level networking, ladies (and some gentlemen) will appear in the lounge holding aloft lollipops bearing the names of groups of countries with the idea that the designated leaders follow the lollipops (the Foreign Office is still musing on how this should be translated) into the stadium. The idea is to avoid an unseemly rush for seats with presidents clambering over queens and crown princes. |
| When it is all over, around midnight, it is back on the bus for the return trip to central London, to an undisclosed location close to the palace, when official limousines will be waiting to take the doubtless exhausted VVIPs to their hotels. Again the tag-and-monitor system will be used to track who is on which coach so the limos can be lined up ready to go in the right order, to minimise waiting times in case Olympic bonhomie is wearing thin by the early hours of the morning. | When it is all over, around midnight, it is back on the bus for the return trip to central London, to an undisclosed location close to the palace, when official limousines will be waiting to take the doubtless exhausted VVIPs to their hotels. Again the tag-and-monitor system will be used to track who is on which coach so the limos can be lined up ready to go in the right order, to minimise waiting times in case Olympic bonhomie is wearing thin by the early hours of the morning. |
| Extraordinarily, with 24 hours to go, there were still countries who had yet to confirm who will be representing them at the festivities. Moscow said it would only declare late Thursday if Medvedev would be there, and by Thursday evening, Beijing had not said who would be attending the opening ceremony or the designated UK-China day with Cameron at the global investment summit at Lancaster House. | Extraordinarily, with 24 hours to go, there were still countries who had yet to confirm who will be representing them at the festivities. Moscow said it would only declare late Thursday if Medvedev would be there, and by Thursday evening, Beijing had not said who would be attending the opening ceremony or the designated UK-China day with Cameron at the global investment summit at Lancaster House. |
| About 20 leaders arrived in Britain two or more days before the opening ceremony, another 40 were due to fly in Thursday and 20 will fly in on Friday. More than half have heeded Foreign Office advice and come on scheduled flights. Those on private jets have had to drive in from Luton, Gatwick, Stanstead and Farnborough. | About 20 leaders arrived in Britain two or more days before the opening ceremony, another 40 were due to fly in Thursday and 20 will fly in on Friday. More than half have heeded Foreign Office advice and come on scheduled flights. Those on private jets have had to drive in from Luton, Gatwick, Stanstead and Farnborough. |
| In addition to the 80 leaders who had confirmed attendance by Thursday, at least another 20, including Putin and Hollande, will come for the Games themselves. | In addition to the 80 leaders who had confirmed attendance by Thursday, at least another 20, including Putin and Hollande, will come for the Games themselves. |
| That is below the 120 target figure that the Foreign Office was basing its calculations on, but that had some margin for error built into it, and the actual attendance is more or less in line with Beijing four years ago. | That is below the 120 target figure that the Foreign Office was basing its calculations on, but that had some margin for error built into it, and the actual attendance is more or less in line with Beijing four years ago. |
| The ultimate aim is for this great flood of outsize personalities and egos to travel to Stratford and back with the very minimum of friction, as few faux pas as can be managed, and absolutely no fist fights. To that end, four years of preparations and full weight of British diplomacy will be put to the test. | The ultimate aim is for this great flood of outsize personalities and egos to travel to Stratford and back with the very minimum of friction, as few faux pas as can be managed, and absolutely no fist fights. To that end, four years of preparations and full weight of British diplomacy will be put to the test. |
| "It helps that we have diplomats with experience of being abroad and handling this kind of high-level visit," a UK official said. "They know what it's like." | "It helps that we have diplomats with experience of being abroad and handling this kind of high-level visit," a UK official said. "They know what it's like." |
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