I have already done a post on my own blog about the royal wedding on Friday. It was a great event on a number of levels. It demonstrated that when it comes to pageantry, we are among the best, both in terms of logistics and getting the level right (spectacular without being over the top). It was also a great human occasion, given that a million people were present to watch. In addition to being a special day for the couple, it was a boon for the monarchy, the country (feel-good factor, international coverage) and London. I also think it was good as a means of drawing people together in the context of the United Kingdom.
I was impressed by the couple’s natural interaction with the people lining the route. Smiling and waving animatedly throughout takes quite a bit of stamina. The ease with which they responded to the crowds was impressive. One can see the influence of his mother in Prince William, but the way the couple responded also brought to mind the late Queen Mother: the crowds loved her because she loved the crowds.
I know there may be criticisms as to the cost of such an event at a time of austerity, but conversely it is at times such as this that we benefit from such an occasion. It brought people together. Life would be so much duller if we had a presidency.
Smiling and waving animatedly throughout takes quite a bit of stamina
But the rewards are pretty good, wouldn’t the noble lord say?
brought to mind the late Queen Mother: the crowds loved her
The Court of St James. I often used to walk up St James St and along to her grocer’s with the Late QM. She was popular, and she did enjoy having 150 people carry her shopping bag for her!
I was known as “Oy!” for some time on account of shouting at her in such a way, on first sighting of the tiny Queen in blue.
RIP and Princess Margaret too.
“Oy!”
“Who’s that man?”
Gareth Howell: I have some friends like you.
Lord Norton: You are not unique in that.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
We may have a wedding for a future head of state once every few decades, but what we don’t have is a load of ex-heads of state hanging around. How much does multi-millionaire Tony Blair’s security cost the taxpayer each year?
On the point of the cost: can you imagine the public reaction if told William and Kate were getting married in a parish church in Anglesey by the local vicar the congregation was going to consist of their families only, and a local dressmaker was going to make the dress?
To a certain extent, the only thing they could have done to reduce the cost was not get married, surely?
A great day, made for a great weekend. People were actually complaining that they did not have street parties and perhaps this was because most started with the intention of avoiding the wedding but most ended up watching.
It was a fairytale wedding and everyone praised the couple highly. The pageantry was magnificent to watch and in HD unbelievable.
William is a lucky man and remembering his Mother I’m sure will take great care of Catherine who was stunningly beautiful.
The money? Well we apparently we have it to throw at referendums and AV if it comes about, not to mention all the costs of changing the NHS and other Government organisations. Besides it was worth it for the happiness value it bought this weekend.
Fair warmed the cockles of me eart guvner !
“Royal” ex-House of Saxe-Coburg “Wedding” ?
A super-waste of human-energies, timeframes, things, places and monies, and human-hearts;
an unsustainworthy and unbelievably snob-religious cum snob-politico cum snob-privilegocracy swank-show;
and a gaudy aggressive State occasion for multiple altered-states-of-consciousness, all of the ecolonomic bottom-line unproductive and heart-cheating variety.
Small wonder William looked uneasy and repeatedly ready to escape into chat with bystanding friends or public.
Earth’s Lifesupports are being extincted and probably the Human Race too, so this is no time for a main cause of all that destructivity, namely the super-rich-and-powerful, to be splashing about such a wastefullly spurious and unsustainworthy caricature not only of human love and necessity but of God’s Will – this latter I believe being for Humankind to survive thrivingly but not for Us to be so deliberately demeaning of and wasteful of
human-nature and of Earth’s finite Lifesupports.
I blame first and foremost the educators and managers of the Royal Household and Upper Classes;
but since any-one left-school and passing the age of 21 can claim no more second-chances nor plead ignorance of The Law as an excuse for breaking It, I apportion the second amount of blame to the Royals and other Super-Privileged Classes, both one by one and Collectively.
Long Live Covenants of Love:
they will be ever more resilient and eternal than any mere marriage contract.
=============
0859M02May2011.JSDM.
I switched the TV on at 8.00am and gawped for the duration…lovely lovely, couldn’t have enjoyed it more. The Theoretical Chemist went fishing and on return consented to look at the rerun highlights at which he said,” Oh I thought it was the curly red-haired one that was getting married” but did agree both the bride and top bridesmaid were worth watching for. I must confess to republican tendencies and this will set back the cause for a good long time, but never mind I’m in no hurry, and I’d probably vote for William anyway.
I would like to thank BBC6 Music on the day, which didn’t cover any of it … but did play married listeners’ wedding-day playlists – which was a nice tangential nod to the occasion, and probably as much as I can stomach.
It was simply excellent; royal theatre, pomp and pageantry at its very best.
The highlight for me was when James Middleton read the verses from Romans 12; flawless and deeply moving. The Bishop of London gave an excellent sermon and the trees that lined the cathedral added a natural majesty to proceedings. Betty looked less than happy during the ceremony. As the Duchess walked passed her I’m not sure whether she growled or gave an awkward smile. I simply hope to God that she never ever has to endure any sense of déjà vu. William has chosen a strong wife, intelligent and graceful, what more could any man ask for? The arrangement does so remind me of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco; given history it was entirely appropriate that the title of Princess was avoided.
I have heard on the vine that the Russian Federation might reinstate a symbolic monarchy. The new Tsar would have to be a warrior with a reckless sense of courage and the Tsarina; well she would have to be stuff of fairy tales. The scouts are out; will an Apache come through with the goods?
Well, I am split right down the middle.
First, I thought the Queen, above all others looked fantastic in Primrose. Immaculate, truly well groomed, looking twenty years her junior. And, of course, her always naughty but still good looking husband, watching out for her every need. Now that to me was a Royal show by Royal blood.
I also am one of the ‘many’ who really like Charles and the love of his life, Camilla. She is a thoroughly loyal egg. And that is very hard to find in those circles these days. No wonder he didn’t want to let her go. Sensible man. He too looked dressed for a wedding, as did Camilla.
The rest was a farce and the cost down to the over pressed tax payer. Imagine, a woman from a newly, very wealthy, family, marrying a multi millionaire and the tax payer gets stuck with the bill. How much of a rhino’s skin do you need for that? Especially as their pay increase has been an incredible windfall this year, all kept as quiet as is at all possible of course.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_the_British_Royal_Family
But that’s not all of it. It goes deeper.
http://www.centreforcitizenship.org/monarchy/mon5.html
Yet, with all those readies, the Princes uniforms looked as if they were made for other men. Baggy, unkempt and ill fitting. And cute is fading fast. William is almost entirely bald and Harry looked as red as a beetroot.
The Bride had on too much make up, with the eyes so caked in khol she looked like Diana on the interview she gave telling the world that Charles was a stinker. Regardless, I am sure that’s the look she goes for, especially in Williams eye range. Well, it would be wouldn’t it? To me, she and the sister both had the same steely stare as Wallis Simpson when she married Edward VIII. And how old are these two women? The weight loss didn’t help. Anorexia ages.
Next, the buses coming down the Mall. Can you imagine sleeping out in the cold to see the lesser Royals ride along the red road in those ugly tankers? What a devastating eyeful that was. And if we are to believe what we are told, the world was watching in their billions. UGH!
But, what shone out like a meteor crashing though the atmosphere was, he didn’t make the sacred vow to worship her with his body or endow her with all his worldly goods. He was only willing to share. And she didn’t love him enough to swear to obey. Any women who is not willing to offer the love of her life that one small concession on his wedding day, cannot be in it for anything other than the beer.
Wanna bet, when she finds it too intrusive, because it’s twenty four/seven with no escape, and that isn’t what I signed up for, there will be hysterics in paradise. And if my antenna serves me right, it begun by the next morning and the lack of announcement regarding the honeymoon.
‘They want too much these people. I only want to be HRH when I’m in the mood and prepared for it. Otherwise, I don’t do Princess.’
“Well, I am split right down the middle.”
That’s made things tricky; we don’t know which half is saying what and whether they are in agreement. I’m in exactly the same boat but in my case both halves are in agreement. Perhaps Lady Murphy could help you out? She would love to sort me out!
Lord Norton
POSTED ON 01/05/2011 AT 04:25 PM |PERMALINK |
Gareth Howell: I have some friends like you
The most amusing clip was the Duke of Edinburgh complaining about the wobbliness of the rather small carriage they had to put up with and the condition of the springs!
As an 89 year old he did rather well to get in to it at all, it wobbled so much and they took the camera away before the Q embarked on it!
I would say to Lord Norton that I can not disagree more about the value of such pageantry worldwide. It is such shows of decadence that bring England in to disrepute
(without so much as effecting the reputation of London for a single moment)
Facile in the extreme to suggest changing the name of England to London (in view of its constantly burgeoning status as a worldwide mega-metropolis), and forgetting entirely about such trivial details as the wedding of one William……Windsor.. to Catherine Middleton, as something that was only happening in England.
What with close relatives of CM and ZP’s future husband being fish and chip shop owners, the banquet, and even the ceremony, could easily be less lavish, and much more enjoyable for it.
I might even watch it myself, which unlike the noble Baroness Murphy, I vehemently deny doing.
A large number of people would disagree with you about the pageantry, along with the millions, possibly billions who watched it.
As for the cost, look at the overall picture. You’d have had a lot of complaints had they decided to get married in a quiet church with only family around. A million people turned up to watch, over twenty million on TV. I wonder how many tourists made the trip and have been spending their money in the UK having made a longer holiday of it. The cost per head entertained for the day is probably quite low compared to some events.
I’m not sure having a president would be cheaper either, given the inevitable hangers-on the office would attract, plus the cost of security for all the past holders of the office. They’d want to have proper ceremonies and parades as well, and it wouldn’t attract the tourists nearly so well as all our old traditional events. Plus we’d have even more elections to deal with and pay for.
Perhaps we should go the European route. Have them remain royal, but, ordinary folk. No civil list, no pageants, just nice middle class people of royal blood.
Of course, that would mean really being of royal blood, akin to The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. The breeding, then, would have to be scrutinized. Wouldn’t it? Couldn’t have non royals and pretenders making kudos by claiming the position and certainly not hurry come ups who marry in.