Everyone is talking about the Royal Wedding tomorrow, when a "commoner" will become royal, as Prince William of Wales marries his longtime girlfriend Catherine "Kate" Elizabeth Middleton.
For anyone who hasn't been reading the papers, Friday April 29th is a
bank holiday here in the UK in honor of the royal marriage. Which means: the second four-day weekend in two weeks. Woot! Woot! (Gotta love a country that gives you 11 days off for 3 days vacation leave.)
Cool Facts for us normal folk:
- Among the guests will be shopkeepers from Kate's home village of Bucklebury
- The happy couple will live in a remote farmhouse in Anglesey, North Wales for the first couple of years
What does it mean to be a commoner? Well, you and I know, don't we? But for formality here is the definition:
A commoner is someone who does not come from an aristocratic background; someone without a proper title.
When Kate marries William,
she will get a title. Which one? Who knows, since apparently it depends on whatever new title William gets when he marries. At the very least she will be "
Her Royal Highness, Princess William of Wales." If the queen decides, she could give Kate the title "Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine." However, Kate will probably become "Her Royal Highness, Duchess of [whatever new title William gets]."
None of that really matters, does it? In the long run, she will be
Queen Catherine.
If you want to watch the procession, the BBC will be covering all the details starting at 8 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you just want to watch the arrival of the royals – check in at 11 AM (GMT). Of course, there are supposed to be over 8,000 journalists there, so if you do not live in the UK, your local television station will probably be showing it, too. There will even be one lone reporter inside Westminster Abbey – his commentary will broadcast on BBC Radio.
Cheers!
x
Hiya Deb ! It's always amazing for a frenchman to see that in the oldest modern european democracy there is still a king (or a queen) and how these people (the royals) are still so important for the country... We chopped a few heads in 1789 just to let the aristrocracy know that the good times were over ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnyway a wedding is a nice time, let's enjoy it ! Missing "my" UK and the Brits -my sweet ennemies (*)- in sunny south-west of France. / Patrick F.
(*) "That sweet ennemy" brings both British wit (Robert Tombs is a British historian) and Gallic panache (Isabelle Tombs is a French historian) to bear on three centuries of the history of Britain and France.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1198734.That_Sweet_Enemy
@Patrick! How great to hear from you. Missed you at Mark's wedding.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the old "love/hate" relationship between England and France is so ingrained I doubt it will ever go away.
We've been watching David Starkey's Monarchy series. So much fighting, usurping and invasion in British and French history. With the occasional marriage of convenience between allies. Not that it ever really helped! LOL!
We hope to jog over to France sometime this Summer, and then again in the Fall. (We have family coming over from America who want to see Paris.) Maybe we could meet up. I'm sure they would love to meet a "real" Frenchman.
Let us know the next time you are in town.
HUGS!!
Deb