Right Royal Mess

In the news is the revelation that the brother of French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal planted the bomb that blew up the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour in 1985, though it has long been known that Gerard Royal was a member of the French Secret Services involved. The revelation was made by another brother Antoine in an interview with Le Parisien this weekend, which comes amid a number of accusations from Royal's family that she has sullied the name of their late father by calling him authoritarian. Whether this news will sabotage Royal's presidential ambitions is doubtful - the majority of French people, of both left and right, could not give a monkey's about the Rainbow Warrior, and many of them might even view the bombing as a patriotic act - but this is big news, unsurprisingly, in New Zealand, where Greenpeace are calling for the extradition of Gerard Royal. Which might provide for a colourful affair should Ségo gain the Elysées Palace next year. Not that M. Royal is ever going to be sent packing to New Zealand by any French president, be it his sister, Nicolas Sarkozy or anyone else. This is the most arrogant and one of the most insular countries in Europe we are talking about after all.