Right Royal Carry-on
- November 17th, 2010
- Posted by EUEditor
The engagement of Ms Kate Middleton and England’s Prince William (announced 16.11.10) offers the chance of a high-grade media spectacle in 2011.
Not since the Swinging Sixties – the 1660s – have British Royalty taken in a spouse for an heir to the throne from outside the aristocracy.
The admission of Kate Middleton may not herald the advent of a “bicycle monarchy†on the European plan, but there are portents of at least mild behaviour – less on the lines of Charles II, “Merrie Monarch†of the 1660s, more like the intended grandmother-by-marriage, the dutiful and gracious Queen Elizabeth II.
Kate Middleton, 28, middle class, has kept out of strife – no public drug-taking, no unsuitable flings, no loud talk – during an eight year courtship with her young man; so not one to let it go to her head.
Prince Charles, father of the groom, won a badge for best comment of the day: “They’ve been practising for a long timeâ€.
Prince William, second in line to be King, as he says himself, goes off to work; he’s an air force pilot.
Yet, even in the bicycle-pushing upper echelons of Northern Europe, a Royal wedding will generate serious glitz.
Consider the arrival scenes for two of the former “commoner†brides: the controversial Argentinian Maxima Zorreguieta, of the Netherlands in 2002, or “our Maryâ€, the Tasmanian Mary Donaldson who married the Crown Prince of Denmark in 2004.
The bride this time will be re-cast as Princess Catherine; and whereas the television ratings for the 1981 wedding of Diana and Charles were estimated at somewhat over 800-million viewers, that figure stands to be satellited, cabled and You-Tubed to fringe status in the media-mad world of today, when we come to the nuptials.
A pool interview given by the couple on Tuesday focused on the strictly personal: the wedding would be in the Springtime or the Summer; the engagement ring belonged to Diana, mother of William; Kate loves the Prince for his sense of humour; he had to concentrate on “motivating himself†to attend to the “romantic side of thingsâ€, his proposal; no time as yet for talk about such things as republics, sovereignty in Europe, or even visits together to the other end of the Earth.
Pictures
Kate Middleton and Prince William’s announcement; Charles II, Merrie Monarch; Princess Maxima, wife of the Prince of Orange; Princess Mary wife of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark; Diana and the engagement ring.