Friday 29 April 2011

The Royal Wedding

I struggled out of bed bleary eyed this morning at 5:30am, and joined the millions of people round the world sitting in front of TV sets to watch the Event of the Century (well, the century so far anyway!) . My personal invitation to the Royal Wedding must have got lost in the mail, so I made myself comfy on the couch with a hot coffee and a toasted buttered hot cross bun.

The bride was stunning in such a beautiful wedding dress, simple but oh so elegant. And the groom... so handsome in the dress uniform of the Irish Guards. They certainly are a good looking couple.

The best part of the wedding.... the moment when Will put the ring on her finger and it wouldn't go on smoothly. When my parents married back in 1941, my father had the same problem.... the ring wouldn't go on. The minister's whispered advice: "Spit on it! Spit on it!" Desperate times require desperate measures. Luckily, Will didn't have to resort to that.

Another great moment was of course the eagerly anticipated Royal Kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but what really brought a lump to my throat was the flypast of three WWII fighter planes from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Lancaster. It made me proud to be British!

I watched it all on CTV... but why oh why did they invite Tracy Ullman to be part of the commentary? She just didn't project the right spirit at all. Oh well, just my opinion, I'm sure lots of people liked her inane comments. I think she'd had too much bubbly.
(Royal Kiss Picture from CTV News)

13 comments:

  1. Lucky for me, Sham, I didn't have to get up early to spend 5+ hours watching everything Royal Wedding (we're one hour ahead of UK time). What a day! It was just glorious in every way, including the weather. You can be very proud of being British. I heard so many good things about what this marriage is injecting into British life. Yay.

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  2. I just couldn't drag myself out of bed for the 3AM wedding (our time).
    I know we will see it many times during the day.
    The handsome couple does the Monarchy proud.
    I love Kate's simplicity.

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  3. You were up then, too?! Nice. I was up, trying to figure out how to turn ON the TV. Being a nonwatcher except for state occasions, it took me a good 15 minutes to get it all sorted out. (There are three machines in this place, and they all work together, encouraged by the TWO remotes. Ha) The first station that appeared was NBC. I was afraid to try to switch around to find BBC, so I left it there. How do you spell banal? "N B C"
    Their commentary was painfully trivial. But oh, the young couple were beautiful! And everything went off without a hitch (save for the ring bit, but that was just cute). Even the Duke of Edinburgh looked a bit SMILEY--Will wonders never cease. I thought the two kisses were very sweet, but the whole point of going out on the balcony of Buckingham Palace has always been to show the newlyweds with the whole family to the people. It's NOT for the couple to kiss each other. Leave it to NBC to go on and on and on about it. It was a swell day, though. Sun was shining!! And all those black horses were magnificent. Nobody does pageantry like the Brits!!

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  4. Tracy Ullman? Why? Surely, they would have been better off digging up Oliver Cromwell!

    Glad you enjoyed it. My family were overjoyed that he wore his Irish Guards uniform - my uncle married in a similar uniform (albeit that it was a lessor rank).

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  5. Fran enjoyed the pomp and circumstance, alas my views parallel those of Dogbait.
    An election tip, go with the guy who had the massage back in 96. Surly he cant do worse than the other lot.

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  6. Yes, I was up then too.
    I thoroughly enjoyed it. She looked radiant, and that dress will stand the test of time.
    I watched it all on BBC Canada, as the American stations, for all their enthusiasm, don't seem to GET it!
    Harry looked like he had just fallen out of bed and put on his clothes, I thought, but he seems to have the personality to pull that off.

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  7. Hi,
    I am always so glad to hear from you!
    I didn't get up real early but I did catch a good part of it.
    Including the end of the ceremony, the ride to Buckingham Palace, and then of course the kiss (both of them). I remember Charles and Diana's wedding very clearly, and have looked forward to this one so much as well.
    Having British roots (parents) it is important to me ... and the royal family is a big part!
    Very best wishes,
    Barbara

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  8. I had decided not to watch .... but I finally did! The British really know how to organise this kind of event, and the Westminster Abbey, what a beauty!

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  9. I didn't care to watch, though I can understand the appeal to many.. particularly you Brits. :)

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  10. Kate's wedding gown was to die for and so was Pippa's dress. It was very Grace Kelly-esque!

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  11. I didn't wake up early, it was 2am here! But my faithful recorder did the trick and I watched it as soon as I woke up at a reasonable hour! They are a stunning couple and will do England proud! Kate...I mean Catherine now was so beautiful in that amazing dress.

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  12. Wasn't it awesome? I loved the flower girls - so sweet!

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  13. It WAS a wonderful ceremony, wasn't it?

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