The final countdown has begun. As I write this, the coverage of the wedding of the year will begin in about 36 hours. For those of you who have been on a lengthy retreat on a deserted island someplace, the wedding of Britain's Prince William to Kate is scheduled for late morning Friday in London. Thanks to the curvature of the earth and because they forgot the royal decree that would make the sun rise three hours early all around the globe, that means it will be about 5 a.m. here when the big event begins.
According to one estimate I heard, it is expected that up to 1 billion people will see the wedding on TV. It might be the most watched event since the last Super Bowl. At the risk of sounding like some sort of male chauvinist pig, I don't think the words "Super Bowl" and any "wedding" should even be in the same sentence.
The idea that something as routine as a wedding would draw as much interest as the game of the year is mind-boggling. In the first place, weddings happen every day. Many of them, including some royal weddings, end in the divorce court. Second, these two lovebirds have been living together for some time now, so a lot of the anticipation is out the window already. Besides, we're talking about England here. On any given day, how many of us even think of England anyway?
I realize that many women, and probably a few men who never threw a football, will tune in to see the wedding dress, what the bridesmaids are wearing, etc. There might be a few other guys who watch. Most of those are probably the ones who can't get back to sleep when their wives or girlfriends get out of bed in the middle of the night. Maybe a few others will watch for the same reason a lot of us watch NASCAR. We may not really care about watching cars circle a track 500 times. But we want to be there for the wrecks. It's the same with the wedding. We don't want to see anybody get hurt, but we might want to watch to see if something goes against the plan - a trip here or there by one of the wedding party, a wardrobe malfunction or maybe the bride backing out at the last minute.
It could be argued that with the other problems in the world, maybe we could all use a few hours of fantasy to make us forget all of our own troubles. But with all the proposed cuts to the British budget, is this the best way to spend a few million for a wedding, reception and all of the necessary accompanying security? If you are British, why not just pick up any of the numerous newspaper tabloids and read the half-truths published there. If you are in America, turn on Fox News for more fantasy.
Not being of British descent, I realize I may not fully understand why all of this attention is being paid to a wedding of two young people who wouldn't necessarily have to work another day in their lives. To William's credit, he is a military helicopter pilot who has been assigned to patrol off the coast of a picturesque island somewhere for the next two years. So he has some idea of how the common man must function. But it would seem that the whole need for royalty flew out the window at least a hundred years ago. I know if I was an unemployed and homeless Brit who had to walk past Buckingham Palace to get to the local soup kitchen, I would surely lose my appetite most days.
But I wish Kate and William the best. I hope they have a long and happy life together. Though I'm sure if I was Kate and I faced having the queen as a grandmother-in-law, it would definitely cause a few nightmares.
I have a couple of Facebook friends who are planning their own weddings for later this year. They will probably be watching Friday morning. My advice to them is to not even think about having mounted British soldier escorts or gold-plated carriages. I'm sure the thought has crossed their minds.
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