The night before

Everywhere seems poised for the event of the year and I have to confess to feeling a little excited but I suspect my son's enthusiasm is beginning to rub off a little. This goes against everything I stand for but it is becoming difficult to avoid. The TV is awash with preparations and interviews with spectators, some of which have made temporary roadside homes. The official guide to the wedding has been released and is available for download. I'm pleased to see that Parry's 'I Was Glad' and Walton's 'Crown Imperial' have been selected - these are two of my favourite pieces of royal music. My son knows that something special is happening tomorrow. He doesn't quite understand the significance and I wonder whether he'll remember anything of it in years to come. I know I can barely remember the wedding of 1981. I recall it was warm and sunny but I don't remember much of the wedding. I was young and there were more important things to think about such as whether I had enough long bits to finish my Leggo house.
I suspect there will be many men wishing they were waking up on Saturday with Kate and women wishing they were waking up Saturday morning a princess... The fact is that I doubt many people could cope with the life changing demands of joining the Royal Family. There would be too many sacrifices to make and duties to perform. But there's no harm in imagining.
It would be nice to think that everything will return to normal from Saturday. I hope very much that the new Royal Couple can be left alone, but I fear this will be the case. I'm not interested in what they are doing every minute of the day and I don't honestly think many people are. There certainly cannot be a repeat of the mistakes made with Diana. For one thing, I don't think William will allow it. If I were them, I'd simply insist on disappearing for a while and let world events dictate the rest. There's enough going on all over the world to fill the front pages. The next big story involving them should be the arrival of a son or daughter. Let's by all means celebrate their union but people are still killing each other all over the world and many in this country are struggling to make ends meet.
Hip Hip Hooray!