Royal Wedding

Can't let the day go by without saying how magnificent and moving the Royal wedding ceremony was to me. Reaffirmed my faith in several things, including weddings, gowns, traditions including the Monarchy and Welsh composers. Hope you folks from the UK are proud. Cheers.

Yes indeed Polly, we were glued to the T.V.set and the broadcast in High Definition was really vivid. It's so nice to view something that the Brits still do so well,despite the economic difficulties and the general doom and gloom!
It was a touch of genius to have beautiful green trees inside the abbey and all the lovely flowers. I have sung a lot of Parry in church choirs so that was special for me.We all wish the Newly Weds all the luck in the world.with gassho,Lesley

It was an occasion filled with sweetness. Young and committed love is hopeful and lifts up the world around us. Kate is a beautiful, elegant, and graceful woman, and a joy to behold. Her choice of gown was exquisite. The ceremony was filled with dignity and wondrous music. Thank you, Brits, for giving us this occasion to celebrate.

I have just come back from a lovely trip to the Lake District partly to avoid the silliness that surrounds the royal wedding. In the same spirit my friends in Newcastle had a republican street party to celebrate a more egalitarian view of the world. Britain is becoming a more unequal society with social mobility decreasing and many careers depending on being given an internship by a family friend. The royal wedding for me celebrated this inequality and distracted people from the Government's austerity programme.

Just wanted to add my support to Kropotkin's point of view. Whilst I bear no animosity to the royal couple and could admire the beauty of the occasion it still saddens me that there is so much inequality in British society.

In defense of the royal family, they are not to blame for income inequality in Britain. Corporate greed is a much more likely cause. In the U.S. we have no royalty and we have much greater inequality and a safety net, or lack of one, that is barbaric, where 45 thousand people a year die from lack of adequate health coverage and where one in four children are born into poverty, and women and children are found living on the streets. The price that Britain pays for having a family that is the designated head of state and provides a unifying force for much of the UK is a small one I would imagine. As long as they are there, as a member of a former colony that fares much less in humanitarian terms and in terms of social justice, I find great pleasure and fondness in the British royalty and the role they play in the British legacy to present and former citizens. I often wish we had a political system like the UK with strong parties with coherent platforms, where one votes for parties and a prime minister is selected from the majority party, and with a unifying hereditary head of state. Our political system has turned into a hateful, divisive, and corrupt enterprise. Compared to the U.S. the Brits look amazingly civilized, sensible, and humane to me.

cmpnwtr wrote:

Compared to the U.S. the Brits look amazingly civilized, sensible, and humane to me.

The grass is always greener? And it seems that your fellow countrymen couldn't wait to rid themselves of the British monarchy a couple of hundred years ago.

Hey Hisoka
Some of this conversation reminds me of areas around Vancouver where British expat accents and the reminiscing of the monarchy only becomes stronger over time. (I'm 50/50 English, Scottish)

I also shied away from any involvement with the royal wedding in the same way as I've responded to Expo or the Olympics here in my home town. The event is just fine but the hype surrounding it always gives me the willies.

Of course before any one thinks I'm making any political statements I did breakdown and catch the final royal carriage run to the palace on TV and just about fell in love on the spot.

Oh yeah, I'm that deep!

Thanks for waving the flag for Britian Bill hope you dont get fried in oil for it.
I must say seeing the wedding for what it was as it hit my perceptions over the tv, I did think it was a beautiful occasion, such colours, music, romance, enjoyment of the moment, every body playing their part like a finely sycronised watch, What a beautiful dance. And the lead players so humble, so human.Loved it.

@ John "What a beautiful dance. And the lead players so humble, so human.Loved
it."
***************

You describe my response beautifully. Others here are looking through a different lens undoubtedly.

Alas I think I am seeing it through a different lens. At my workplace, a charity that supports carers, two of my colleagues have just been made redundant because of the Government's cuts. One of them who is a lovely person has been going crazy over the wedding, organised a party at her house and doing some verbal jousting with me for not getting with the programme. I hope I'm not doing her a disservice but delusion is what I feel a lot of people have been experiencing. I'm glad Bill and John and Lesley experienced pleasure last week and I dont want to dismiss your feelings. It has however been a difficult time for a republican like myself who hoped public opinion was moving my direction only then to be foiled by the theatre of a very nice wedding.

@ Kropotkin " It has however been a difficult time for a republican like myself who
hoped public opinion was moving my direction only then to be foiled by
the theatre of a very nice wedding."
****************

Aren't those government cuts the result of your last election and not any affection that individuals may have for the royalty?

To kropotkin.

Enjoy what there is to enjoy- Be happy.

I know of no answer to your pain.

I didn't understand the Royal Wedding hype. A young couple are in love and getting married - I wish them well, but now can we get back to normality please. I avoided the whole thing. I was off narrowboating with a friend, down a deserted stretch of canal with no mobile signal, no TV reception, and no internet access. We had a peaceful few days, and when we came back normal life had almost been resumed.

I did hear that the Royal Wedding was getting far more hype/attention in the US than over here - seems like for once the papers were right. Ah well, of course they aren't responsible for the inequalities in British society but by golly they are good examples of it.

Yes, Bill corporate greed is indeed the most likely culprit for the income inequality there in Britain. Getting involved in the Cold War policies of the US which are now renamed The War on Terror probably doesn't help either.

Income inequality is surely getting worse here in the US too. We are witness to the demise of the middle class here. At least in Britain, they share such beauty, dignity, joy, and happiness with the world.

I too would prefer that our government was set up along the lines of Great Britain. The parlimentary system is better, in my opinion.

I think the Royal Wedding was splendid. I shall remember it always. It was absolutely beautiful and inspiring to me.

Machik

I was in Britain during the wedding. Although I made a point of studiously ignoring it (I timed a train ride to Edinburgh from London on the wedding day)I still must admit I enjoyed seeing the blow by blow replay on the TV that night.