Respect shown in the Princess’ hands
Princess Anne’s hands said it all.
She knew exactly what she was doing when she cupped them together - left palm under with fingers point east and right palm over with fingers pointing north - to obo (Anglicized pronounced: orm-bore) each Fiji Sevens player after presenting them with their gold medal.
She also knew that the significance of her clapping would be lost on the world wide Olympic audience who watched the ceremony on television but not on the players and the every Fijian watching.
It was as good as a masonic hand shake. Only those in the know recognised it’s significance.
By that simple act Princess Anne reinforced the long standing bonds between the British Royal family and the peoples who offered the Crown their 300 and more islands in 1874.
Princess Anne didn’t need to rehearse it or be reminded of the protocol. She’d done it many times before both in Fiji and in Buckingham Palace where where this reporter witnessed it first hand.
I was with the Fiji Cricket team and each player went down on his knees when presented to the Queen and Princess Anne.
The act is called veidokai (pronounced vain-door-kai) and it’s exactly what the Fiji players did when they went down on their knews to be presented with their medals.
They didn’t get on their knees to make it easier for the Princess to put their medals around their necks. They were on their hands and knees out of tribute, as a principal administrative officer at the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture in Suva, Simione Sevudredre explains.
‘‘What the 7s players did is traditionally reserved for British Royalty stemming from notions of respect our chiefs rendered when they asked Fiji to be ceded to Great Britain. When that happened, the Crown became the paramount chief over Fiji.’’
Sevudrere says that despite the coups and Fiji opting to become a republic the respect for the members of the British Royal Household remain deeply entrenched.
And as Princess Anne demonstrated that respect is mutual, something that wasn’t lost on the Fijians.
And as for Fiji winning their first Olympic gold medal. One simple anecdote.
It took Ben Ryan and his team nine hours to travel from Nadi to the capital Suva when they won their first World Series, a journey that on a good day takes three hours, max.
Imagine how long it’s going to take with Olympic gold around their necks.
To keep up with all the coverage from the Rio Olympics go to stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics
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