Historical irony amidst pomp and ceremony

Last night, a banquet was held at Stationers' Hall for Prince Napoleon where he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.  So whereas his ancestor lost the chance to award himself another -admittedly long - shot at being master (and therefore having the freedom) of London, His Imperial Highness manages to achieve it by winning the admiration of the social set.  To be given such an honour at an event remembering the lowest point of his distant predecessor (and thus the family in general) is more than a little odd though.  It's not quite on a par with the son of Napoleon III dying in the service of London in the British-Zulu wars for irony, but it's up there.  Quislings assisting the foreigner (or as they would prefer to be known 'the proposers of the Freedom') were the hosts Sir Gavyn Arthur and Sir Anthony Bailey.  Of those who also spoke were the good-looking Prince himself (a New York investment banker being his 'Clark Kent' occupation), Sir Rodney Williams, Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda, Sir Ben Kingsley and Bishop Angaelos (General Bishop of the United Kingdom for the Coptic [Egyptian] Orthodox Church).
Also in attendance was a gaggle of royalty from other defunct ruling houses Grand Duke George of Russia, Princess Elena of Romania (and Mr Alexander Nixon), Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, Princess Beatrice of Bourbon Two-Sicilies, Princess Annunziata of Bourbon Two Sicilies and Count Fredrik Creutz, Prince and Princess Constantin of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess Marie Therese von Hohenberg, Prince Joachim Murat, Princess Katharina von Hohenberg (and Don Carlos de Mendez Vigo) and Princess Cristina Tchkotoua. Prince and Princess Louis of Luxembourg were the only bona fide members of royalty, though were Prince Louis to ascend to the throne of his realm, he would become a Grand Duke.
Of lesser importance (Socially) there were Lady Williams, Lady Bailey, Mr Alexander Livingstone, The High Commissioner of Grenada, the Ambassadors of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Kosovo and Slovakia, The Chargé d’Affaires of The Netherlands, The Earl and Countess of Erroll, Admiral Lord West of Spithead and Lady West, Lord Watson of Richmond, Diana, Lady Farnham, the Hon. Lady de Zulueta, the Hon. Mrs Teresa Adderley, the Hon. Mrs Bernard Lever, Count and Countess Florian Hartig, Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, Countess Maximiliana von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, Baron Henry von Blumenthal, Baron and Baroness Vincenz Stimpfl-Abele, Sir Paul Jenkins, Sir Michael and Lady Craig-Cooper, Sir Tony Baldry, Sir Christopher and Lady Sweeting, Sir Kenneth Knight, Dame Judith Parker, Lady Davis, Sir Michael and Lady Griffiths, Sir Nadhmi and Lady Auchi, Professor Sir Mansell and Lady Aylward, Sir William Jeffcock, Lady Davies (Master, the Chartered Surveyors’ Company), Mr Ian Makowski (Master, the Tin Plate Workers’ Company) and Mr John Rowsell (Master, the Lightmongers’ Company).  It isn't exactly clear why the ambassador for Kosovo had good reason to attend, given that the others could fairly claim to be involved in some such way in the struggle against (or in Denmark's case nominal alliance with) Napoleon (Belgium and Slovakia belonging to Austria, Finland belonging to Sweden until 1809 and then part of Russia, Grenada part of the British Empire), but it was a jolly so why not.