Wedding afterglow

I notice people are beginning to reminisce about the wedding and the TV is desparately trying not to let go completely, some channels still re-running the highlights. There is much speculation as to where the Royal Couple have disappeared to. Frankly, I don't really care. Chances are, they are just down the road from here at Sandringham and if I made enough noise, they'd probably hear me. Hopefully they are getting some peace and quiet away from the relentless glare of the media. There is though a warmish glow lingering from Friday. It prompts the odd ridiculous conversation about the wedding and how beautiful the bride looked - as if they'd have had her looking a mess. 'I hope she doesn't turn out like Diana' and 'he's more sensible than his father' are amongst some of the phrases I've heard so far. Many seem to agree that Anne could have found something a little less 80's and that Beatrice's hat was simply silly. The gossip in various hairdressers and co-op stores up and down the land will persist for weeks and possibly months to come.

I'm amazed at the weather today, it's really quite good. A little windy maybe but bright, clear and sunny. We did a little shopping earlier in Wisbech and I played 'spot the English person', a regular source of amusement for it is common knowledge that mass imigration has now made English people of British origin a minority group in many parts of the UK. I'm just stating a fast and nothing more. I actually find it amusing.
I picked up a cheap digital TV box in Asda - my parents had requested a cheap one for their kitchen TV. I thought £19 was quite reasonable so bought that and had it installed and working in no time. In August we begin to lose our trusty analogie signal here as everything is converted to the DVB standard. I'll probably mark the event with a special entry nearer the time but I'll always have happy memories of trying to position the antenna for optimum picture and thinking I'd got it just right only to find that just one of the four channels was watchable... Oh what fun. It's hard to imagine that my son will only know digital though I expect FM and Medium Wave will be with us for a few years yet. We'll see...

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!

Apparently I'm a Refusenik...

My loathing of everything to do with the forthcoming royal wedding now has a label - 'refusenik'. An odd title, but one it seems applies to more than just me - according to the BBC News website. I'm actually quite pleased, though 'refusenik' doesn't exactly roll off the tongue - I'd have plumped for something a little different. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm anti-royal - no, I like tradition. What I do object to though is the way in which every Tom, Dick and Harry have jumped on the proverbial band-wagon. References to it are popping up everywhere and I was even asked yesterday if I was going to have a street party. I could imagine nothing worse. It's not as if anyone in our street talk to each other let alone celebrate someone else's wedding. My God, I could think of nothing more unappealing. All those false smiles and small talk... Agggghhhhrrrr! Will I be watching it on TV? Oh I expect so, secretly wishing for something to go wrong or for someone important to trip up or faint. I sound awful I know, but really - isn't it just an excuse to do something a bit different? A few hours out of our humdrum lives to imagine we were somewhere else or tagged with the label 'royal'? What I also find sickening is how every TV personality is suddenly thrust into the role of royal commentator. As if we can't see that the dress is white or who the queen and the prime minister are. If they are going to televise it, at least do it without comment. That would be much better.
What is clear is that as we draw nearer to the event, there are fewer and fewer places to hide for a 'resfusenik'... I suspect I'll just end up suffering it. Humbug!