Pomp, Circumstance and Crazy Hats

Luckily I chose to watch the Good Morning America coverage of the Royal Wedding with newswoman extraordinaire Barbara Walters as one of those broadcasting live from London. It was okay that I hadn’t read or watched much about the couple or their upcoming nuptials since they announced their engagement, because Barbara was a veritable fount of knowledge on the royal family, the wedding, and young Prince William and long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton.

You know, I was awfully smitten with Princess Diana. I watched it all when she married Prince Charles, 30 long years ago, just a few months after my own (first) wedding. That Royal Wedding was spectacular, but the marriage was sadly doomed from the start. So, I resolved to remain cavalier about William and Kate.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to watch every minute of the coverage of the actual Royal Wedding. Of course I was. I am an absolute sucker for a good (and even a bad) wedding, and Britain’s Royal Family certainly knows how to throw a wedding. Unlike thirty years ago, when I set my alarm to wake up at 5 a.m. and watched the entire five hours or so of coverage of Charles and Diana’s wedding live, I set my DVR to tape the wedding coverage, and figured I would watch it at my leisure.

However, on the morning of April 29th I just happened to wake up at 4:55 a.m., so there I was, watching the pre-coverage of the Royal Wedding, just as the guests were beginning to arrive, all dressed up, with the women in those crazy hats the Brits like so much. They were more objets d’art than just plain hats, and some of them (and I’m talking to you, Beatrix!) were just plain weird.

David and Victoria Beckham walked in, she looking as dour and unhappy as ever. Someone on the broadcast team wondered why they were invited. Barbara Walters explained that it wasn’t just because he was a big soccer player and a national treasure, but because William and he had worked on a project (which she explained in detail) together, and had formed a friendship and mutual respect. Thanks, Barbara!

Elton John was not only there but somehow he scored a front row seat. He was a close friend of Diana’s, so apparently her reign had some lasting effect on the monarchy after all. It also became apparent when Kate’s mother and brother arrived that the Middletons were going to bring some attractive genes to the royal gene pool, another tradition started by Diana.

The Queen arrived, dressed as the Sun, in a bright canary yellow dress and matching hat, with Prince Phillip at her side. A hale and hearty couple they are, at 85 and 90, respectively. I hate to say it, but they look more fit and healthier than Charles and Camilla.

Prince William and Prince Harry entered the Abbey, resplendent in their military uniforms. I couldn’t help but think of how very proud Diana would have been of her boys, whom she adored. They are both handsome and seemingly decent young men. That Harry, though - even if you didn’t know anything about him, you could tell by his swagger and the twinkle in his eye that he would be a hell of a good time at a party.

A bunch of older British types started to get out of cars. Diane Sawyer didn’t know who they were. “I’ll tell you who these people are,” Barbara said, riding to the rescue again. They are the minor royals, she explained, and then she named each and every one of them, including little factoids about their relationships to the Windsors. I’m telling you the woman is impressive.

Barbara and Diane talked about the fact the Princess-to-Be would “never be known as Kate again” – she would now be “Catherine.” At this point, I’m hesitant to doubt anything Barbara says, but it still seems hard to believe that no one, but NO ONE, will ever again call her Kate. And then she arrived.

Whatever you call her, she looked spectacular. The dress was, in a word, perfect. It was like Kate herself – beautiful but not over the top, pretty in a very natural sort of way. Barbara explained that the tiara she was wearing under her veil belongs to Queen Elizabeth.  It originally belonged to the Queen Mum who gave it to Elizabeth on 18th birthday. It was Kate’s “something borrowed.”

When she arrived at the altar after that four-minute walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey, William looked at her with clear love and adoration in his eyes. I didn’t need Barbara or the lip reader they hired to tell me that what he said to her was “You look beautiful.” An understatement.

And in this crazy world in which we live, it was one perfect celebration of love between one Prince and his lovely lady. I kept thinking how Diana would have loved to see this all unfold and how pleased she would be that we have every reason to believe that this young couple is headed for a long and happy union. My husband – who is my own Prince Charming- just wanted to know when they were going to pick them up in chairs and dance the hora. I assured him that would probably happen later at the untelevised party.