17 Days and Counting

If you don’t already know, I’m an anglophile (definition: a person who greatly admires or favors England and things English). So the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton is a big to-do.

Now I know a lot of people don’t really give a hoot about this wedding and that’s okay. Since we have nothing like a royal family in the United States and never had or will (even with the Kennedys during the Camelot era) I think a lot of people don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Lots of people will be attending/watching and lot of money is being spent. And, to be honest, if I thought my tax dollars were being used to pay for this event I might not be so keen on it. But they aren’t so I’m going to hop on the bang wagon and enjoy it.

What it comes down to is its just plain fun. There is glitz and glamour and pomp and pageantry that just doesn’t exist in the United States (and probably never will – even with our sick fascination with celebrities).

What I think people forget is that members of a royal family (regardless from what country) are human beings who have been born into families that have extreme duties to their country. Our normal and their normal are not the same. Yes, they have more privileges than us but they also have bad hair days, trouble sleeping and heartburn. They get colds and sunburns and toothaches. Their parents can divorce (the British royal family has its share of those) or die young. And even though they get special treatment in a lot of ways, they are also scrutinized for things that you and I could get away with. Their every movement is watched and documented.

And members of the British royal family have to get parliament approval for who they want to marry. How would you like it if the government were to tell you who was or wasn’t appropriate enough to marry? After World War II, the late Princess Margaret (the Queen’s younger sister and second in line to the throne at the time) fell in love with a divorced older man named Peter Townsend. The government felt he wasn’t suitable for the Queen’s sister and the Church of England refused to approve the marriage. Under pressure Margaret gave up Townsend and married someone else, whom she divorced 18 years later. It’s been 25 years since England has had a big wedding (last one was the 1986 wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson).

And just because it’s a royal wedding doesn’t mean it will go off smoothly. When Lady Diana got out of the carriage at her wedding in 1981 her dress was extremely wrinkled (something any bride would probably be horrified by) and she mixed up her soon to be husband’s name when she said her vows (some people look back and think that was a sign but I think it was just the nerves of a young woman, I mean it would be hard for anyone to remember Charles Philips Arthur George in front of millions of people).

So when Friday, April 29 rolls around I’ll get out of bed at 3 a.m. (wedding starts at 11 a.m. London time), turn on my television and watch. I’ve even taken that day off work (can’t image going to work after this wedding-a-thon). And, of course, the royal wedding has a web site. Take a look and enjoy…

http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/