Somewhere inside every little girl lives the same dream. It begins with a white fluffy dress, sparkly tiara, and a bouquet tied with ribbon. It usually ends with a princess-for-a-day marrying her prince-for-a-lifetime and riding away on a horse drawn carriage to her Happily Ever After. It’s magical and mystical; it’s the stuff of daydreams for a little girl and checkbook nightmares for her parents.
Today, we came as close as we’ll probably ever get to witnessing a real life fairy tale, the royal wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William. The bride, dressed in an elegant ivory and white gown with a two foot train and flowing veil, was simply beautiful. All smiles, she and her father arrived at Westminster Abbey in a Rolls Royce. Carrying a small bouquet of flowers, she gracefully took the three minute walk down a red carpeted aisle in front of a congregation of 1900 that included the Queen of England, the Sultan of Brunei, and Sir Elton John, not to mention a million people filling the streets of London, and countless onlookers watching around the world. The happy couple left the ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage and their first kiss, on the balcony of majestic Buckingham Palace, was followed by a fly-over of vintage planes from the Royal Air Force. If a wedding comes closer to achieving fairy tale status, please let me know how. No detail neglected and I’m sure no expense spared, this wedding was breath-taking, awe-inspiring, and simply amazing.
There were, however, some things I noticed about the wedding festivities that perplexed me a little.
1. William. It occurred to me this morning that while I don’t know his last name, I do now know that he has three middle names. William Arthur Phillip Louie Something. That’s a lot of names for one man, and that doesn’t even get into his title. Which brings me to…
2. The royal titles. William is a Prince and I see in the news that Kate is now Princess William of Wales BUT they’ll be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge instead. I don’t understand how those titles work. Which is better- a Princess or a Duchess? A Prince or a Duke? And, why hasn’t anyone just said that she’ll be Mrs. William Whoever? I mean, really, how many titles does one girl need? Did she get to pick or are they assigned? The only thing more abundant than the titles around here are my questions about the titles around here.
3. The hats. Were hats pre-requisites to admittance into the ceremony? I’ve been to Westminster Abbey and I know I didn’t wear a hat but I think I only saw one uncovered noggin in the whole congregation today. Some of them were cute but the vast majority of them were too wide, too tall, or too gaudy. It was like an episode of a bad TV show- Bonnets Gone Wild.
With the exception of the hats, the wedding was a flawless piece of romantic perfection, a storybook fairy tale for a girl who was forever transformed into a Princess. I wish the happy couple all the best and I hope their marriage is as awe-inspiring and magical as the wedding.
I hope your day held the hope of a Happily Ever After, that a wish came true or a dream was realized. I hope you had a little romance, a little magic, and a little… Something More.
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