Royal Wedding

I know, it's been 3 weeks since the royal wedding. It's not yesterday's news, it's last month's news. So this is late. (You get what you pay for.) But what kind of foreign correspondent would I be if I didn't offer you a blog about the wedding of the century?

Right after the engagement announcement, I asked the ladies at my yoga class if they were excited about the royal wedding. One replied that it didn't really impact her life at all, and another said, "It's just another day off, really." (The day was declared a bank holiday or national holiday here.) So, there weren't many royalists at yoga.

Of course, as the day approached, the media did its job building the frenzy, covering Miss Middleton's visit to check out Westminster Abbey as wedding venue and her lunch with future stepmother-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (Kate ate foie gras, and was criticized by animal protection people--welcome to life in the royal fishbowl). Republicans (not the GOP but those in favor of doing away with the monarchy) seized the opportunity to get some media attention and promoted their cause by selling mugs. Sort of an anti-commemorative.

Meanwhile, factories in China were busy turning out memorabilia. OK, not all the commemorative china was made in China. The official wedding china was made in Stoke-on-Trent, right here in England. Of course much of what was available was unofficial commemorative items...mugs, plates, ashtrays (yes, ashtrays) with portraits of the couple that looked like photos that were downloaded off the web and slapped on a tchotchke. Some of them bore an actual resemblance to Will and Kate, some didn't. I saw one mug available online that had photos of the bride and....whoops....not the groom, but his brother, Prince Harry. Here are some of the items available in a shop in Windsor to help you to remember that special day.

Just for reference...that blue glass item? About 2 feet tall. You know you want it. But I'll warn you, Prince William's image is sort of distorted and it doesn't really look like him. Or it looks like him if he were a chipmunk with tonight's dinner stuffed in his cheeks.

We spent the week of the royal wedding in Cornwall, the county in southwest England. We had made the plans in October, before the engagement and wedding date were announced. So we didn't sleep on the streets of London the night before the wedding and wave our Union Jacks along the wedding processional route. The day before the wedding I asked the ice cream scooper lady if she planned to watch. She said she'd rather make double-time working than watch it live. She thought she's have the opportunity to see it somewhere later. (BBC played the entire thing again in the evening, and even today, 3 weeks later, The British Monarchy shared a link on its facebook page to the official YouTube video, "The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey." Five minutes and five seconds of cheering, flag-waving crowds.)

Unlike those of you in the US who got up before the crack of dawn to watch, we turned the tv on at about 10 a.m. to see some of the guests arrive at Westminster Abbey. Emily and I had been down to the local deli for strawberries and Cornish clotted cream to have with our tea during the wedding. We checked out the schedule at some of the local shops.

Many of the shop windows had red, white and blue displays in their windows. One bar/restaurant had a sign out declaring, "Watch the royal wedding on our big screen!" The government encouraged the citizenry to celebrate with street parties, and asked local councils (governments) to waive permit fees for street parties. We didn't see any, but a few homes were decorated for a celebration.

According to published reports, these party planners either planned ahead or had sharp elbows to get their hands on that bunting.

So, we settled in with our tea and strawberries to watch the spectacle. And oh, what a delicious spectacle. The celebrities, the dresses, the hats. Oh, the hats. The procession--first cars on the way to the wedding, then coaches for the return to Buckingham Palace. (Unless you're unfortunate enough to be one of the lesser royals who went to and from the oh-so-historic Westminster Abbey in VW mini-busses.) The Archbishop of Canterbury with his out-of-control hair and eyebrows. It was all great. I love the idea of being able to say, "I want trees in Westminster Abbey for my wedding." And trees you will have, with people up lining up around the block the next day to see the Abbey decorated for the wedding.

After the procession back to the Palace, and the man-on-the-street interviews, and the two kisses on the balcony, we decided it was time to head out to explore the nearby ruins of Restormel Castle. On the way back, we happened on the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Best Man Prince Harry, available for a photo op with Emily.

Within a week, William was back at work as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot, and Kate was seen grocery shopping, actually pushing her own cart with 3 police bodyguards in attendance. It was confirmed today that they're now back from their 10-day honeymoon in the Seychelles.

We here at Driving on the Left Side of the Road wish William and Kate a long and happy life together.