Shunning the Royal Wedding

Kate and William getting married is part of our culture and our Great British history, as was Charles and Diana’s wedding. It was written in the stars, right? It was only a matter of time before the future King of England would marry the stunning Kate Middleton.

But this does not mean we Londoners want to be bombarded with it. Don’t we have enough to think about with the Olympic Games? It’s bad enough that the press now can’t refer to her as anything but Catherine.

In November 2010, it was announced that the two would wed on 29 April 2011 in Westminster Abbey – today! With the government designating it as a bank holiday.

OK, I’ll admit that getting an extra bank holiday today is a massive bonus. And the timing of the wedding means there will be two four-day public holidays two weekends in a row – yay!

So far, UK councils have received around 4,000 applications to close roads for street parties on the day, which I find incredible.

I won’t be putting out the flags or cooking sausage rolls to take to a jovial street party, however. It would be closer to the truth to say that I’ll be selling mobile phones on that day for a bit of extra cash and getting to clock off slightly earlier than normal.

There’s always a bright side, eh?

What worries me is how overboard the Royal Wedding is getting, though. Not to mention the endless ‘limited edition’ merchandise, including the Great British Bear Prince William – which even has a replica engagement ring.

What happened to the days when a wedding was graceful and about the couple showing the world how much in love they are?

Maybe I sound like a killjoy, but this is one historical extravaganza that I have chosen to royally avoid!

Image by Lars Ploughmann courtesy of Flickr