WASHINGTON – Marriages can signify a moment, a real chance for renewal. If ever there was that opportunity for the British monarchy, today was it.
How stunningly spectacular she looked, now her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, after the Queen bestowed titles on HRH the Duke of Cambridge, aka Prince William, and his duchess, today.
This is not the story of Diana. There’s no resemblance to it at all, thank the gods.
When Catherine Elizabeth Middleton marries William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor, a prince of the royal blood, in Westminster Abbey on April 29, she will be scoring a number of firsts. Kate will be the first royal bride to have a university education, the first to live with her husband before marriage, the first to have a mother who used to be a flight attendant. Most impressively of all, Catherine will one day be the first queen of the realm to have fallen over at a roller disco in a pair of yellow hot pants.
NEWSWEEK: Citizen Kate – Here comes the smart, sexy, grocery-buying, blessedly normal commoner who could save William—and the royal family.
Seasoned partners, Kate and William have the best chance possible at making it. For England, it is seen as important that they do. After divorce, after scandal, after tragedy, and embarrassment, the Royals need a win.
Few in America care or can relate to the pomp and expense of today, even if the Royals are actually paying for the wedding ceremony, something once unheard of, though the taxpayers will foot the bill for the security, the Middletons chipping in, too. But surely the celebrity is something Americans can relate to, after all, our own equivalent, The American Presidency, has become the same thing. All pomp and pageant and political pandering, little substance for the people in the end.
It’s a Disney fantasyland day for anyone who believes in love and relationships, in ceremony and celebrations.
As I always say, it’s not the wedding that’s hard it’s the days after. But at least this time Kate and Prince William already know what that’s about, because they have tried it out. Breaking with Royal tradition may actually save the monarchy, which still seems to be important for British identity, history and country.
Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.
Screen capture from Huffington Post.