A Royal What?
Here's a topic that has precious little to do with the great issues that define our times, yet will dominate this week's news:
Friday's royal wedding in London.
I'm curious as to how many of you plan to watch the coverage. If you're a Left Coaster like me, do you plan to get up at o-dark-hundred to watch the festivities live, or is this DVR fodder?
Second question: do serious people actually care about the wedding, or does showing an interest in Will and Kate in some way suggest frivolity? Can one be both an Hoover Digest-ing intellectual and a People-consuming Windsorphile?
Final question: what does the wedding say about the state of the British "empire" in 2011?
One thing I've noticed: royal weddings are great p.r., and awful economics. London will enjoy a needed boost in tourism, but the nation takes a big hit in terms of productivity.
Bottom line: is the wedding a princely idea, or a royal pain-in-the-you-know-what?
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Jun '10
Re: A Royal What?
Given how crappy things have been in Britain of late, I think the positives from the wedding are probably better for the public psyche than the productivity hit.
Nothing against the Royals (they're one of the last good vestiges of a once great society), but I won't be watching.
I'll get my information filtered through the comments of the always-reliable members of the Ricochet posse.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 11:43amJun '10
Re: A Royal What?
I'll DVR the event. I got up for the wedding of Charles and Diana but the time difference is much harder 30 years later. I wouldn't, for any amount of money, go to London this week.
I am not that much a royal watcher but I find myself reading nearly every article on the coming nuptials.
I wish the couple many happy years together.
Mar '11
Re: A Royal What?
As a loyal British subject (until I became a US citizen), I am planning to watch. I should really take the day off, as it is a public holiday in the UK.
I'm planning to DVR it, but I'm not sure which channel to record from - any suggestions would be welcome. Most likely it will be either Fox News, PBS or BBC America.
As to what it means, it's a reminder of how great Great Britain is, still. Quite nostalgic for me, I guess, because it will also show how much has been lost.
It's probably why I am obsessed with the decline of the US - I have seen it all before in the UK.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 1:03pmApr '11
Re: A Royal What?
Does this remind any one else of English Bob in Unforgiven, extolling the virtues of the monarchy before getting beat down by Little Bill?
And I would really be interested to know how, in any possible way, this is "a reminder of how great Great Britain is, still".
Nov '10
Re: A Royal What?
I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in Bill and Kate, or in celebrity news in general. I can't fathom why anyone would get up in the middle of the night to watch the wedding of complete strangers. On the other hand, I'm sure some of the people who will be watching would find it odd that I check mlbtraderumors.com every day during the fall and winter (and also of course, July), or that I can explain the significance of BABIP (batting average on balls in play). So perhaps I shouldn't throw stones.
Most of us have some hobby or interest that other people might consider to be frivolous. As a general rule, I think this is a healthy thing, as long as it's not something that's harmful in itself, or that takes over your life to the point that it crowds out the important stuff.
So for those of you who plan to watch the wedding, enjoy yourselves. I'll have to pass because I need to be rested for Friday night. Carlos Zambrano is pitching.
May '10
Re: A Royal What?
By all accounts the Queen is a proper, dignified woman who loves her country and loved Sir Winston. The rest of the family...
Prince Philip: Prat
Prince Charles: Git
It's the inbreeding. Produces idiots.
Mar '11
Re: A Royal What?
Sam Dominguez: Does this remind any one else of English Bob in Unforgiven, extolling the virtues of the monarchy before getting beat down by Little Bill?
And I would really be interested to know how, in any possible way, this is "a reminder of how great Great Britain is, still". · Apr 25 at 1:10pm
Sorry, haven't watched Unforgiven.
The greatness of Great Britain has nothing much to do with the Royal Family - you have to have lived there to know what I'm talking about...
I mean the heavy spring showers that are forecast, the street parties that will take place, the pubs, the streets of London, Westmister Abbey, that kinda thing. Sure, it wont be like the Blitz, wartime spirit, Kings Speech type of thing; just a reminder of how things once were, like a faint echo..
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 1:59pmMay '10
Re: A Royal What?
About as interested as I was in Chelsey Clinton's wedding, i.e., not at all.
Nov '10
Re: A Royal What?
I was 12 when Charles and Diana wed, and I did wake up at--what was it? 3 am?--some ungodly hour to watch the proceedings.
This time 'round I'll toodle on down to my neighbor's house after dropping the kids off at school: She's hosting a Royal Wedding Party, complete with tiaras and champagne.
Aging ain't *all* bad.
Mar '11
Re: A Royal What?
I'm Australian and I intend to avoid all risk of seeing even a few seconds of the wedding by leaving my TV off all day.
I used to be a lefty and now I'm conservative but I've been a republican all my life. It pained me to vote no when we had a referendum on a republic in 1999. I voted no because what we were asked to vote on was a proposed constitution having all of the disadvantages of both a monarchy and a republic but none of the advantages of either. Our cunning bastard of a Prime Minister, a monarchist, designed it to fail and the trick worked because all of the air went out of the republican movement.
I am hoping the wedding will remind my countrymen of the succession and thereby put some urgency back into republican sentiment. Betty Windsor's been around all our lives and she's not a bad old duck but really, her family is dreadful.
I will end with a short poem dating from about the time of the last royal wedding.
I think your beaut,
I thee salute,
Elizabeth the last.
Mar '11
Re: A Royal What?
I remembered the rest of the poem.
I am Australia's laurikeet,
I wrote this very fast,
I think you're beaut,
I thee salute,
Elizabeth the last.
Jan '11
Re: A Royal What?
For the past ten years, the press has recorded every publicly known detail of this couple's constant cycle of dating, shacking and breaking up that the spectacle of the wedding is anticlimactic.
Every time Prince William or Kate Middleton would hit a milestone (University graduation, 25th birthday, entrance into Sandhurst, Kate quitting her job with Jigsaw), whenever he would so much as lean in her direction, or whenever the papers wanted a boost in sales, they'd float a rumor that the two were getting married and businesses would plaster the couple's image on cheap t-shirts and tchotchkes.
Tabloid rags and even some of the legit media began to call her "Wait-y Katie," because it seemed she was putting her career plans for a children's fashion line on hold and champing at the bit for a marriage proposal that wasn't forthcoming. I wish them the best of success, but they are a bit overexposed to be exciting news any more.
By the way, it's a shame that Astaire's Royal Wedding (1951) is in such shoddy condition.
May '10
Re: A Royal What?
NPR reported that because of the two day Easter holiday and the two day Wedding holiday. Brits have figured out that they can score a 12-day vacation by taking only 3 days off work and have left the country for warmer climes in droves. Positive economic event for Spain I suppose.
Jul '10
Re: A Royal What?
Christopher Hitchens had a great take on the festivities - "Beware the In-laws"
http://www.slate.com/id/2291497/
Apr '11
Re: A Royal What?
I have to admit that I just don't get it. I didn't get Charles and Diane either. Mostly, I don't understand why Americans would care in the least. For the life of me, I don't understand why the British put up with the Royal family at all, but I'm not British. PS EJ inbreeding can also produce geniuses too.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 10:32pmSep '10
Re: A Royal What?
David Williamson
The greatness of Great Britain has nothing much to do with the Royal Family - you have to have lived there to know what I'm talking about...
I mean the heavy spring showers that are forecast, the street parties that will take place, the pubs, the streets of London, Westmister Abbey, that kinda thing. Sure, it wont be like the Blitz, wartime spirit, Kings Speech type of thing; just a reminder of how things once were, like a faint echo.. · Apr 25 at 1:45pm
Edited on Apr 25 at 01:59 pm
David: I never lived there but got a taste of this last fall at the Battle of Britain Air Show at Duxford. It was a reminder that not so long ago, England was a valiant defender of freedom.
You can probably tell from my picture (and username) that this is something I care about!