I was at the wedding
I was at the wedding. It’s only slowly beginning to sink in. I was at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the wedding a million people flocked to central London to see, and millions more across the globe tuned in to watch on television.
And I was there. In Westminster Abbey. As one of Kate’s family said to me as we queued for the loos in a big guestly jumble: “The word surreal doesn’t begin to describe it.”
Witness: Inside the abbey: garden party to hushed service
LONDON (Reuters) – It was almost like being at two weddings for guests at the marriage service of Britain’s Prince William and long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton.
When we entered Westminster Abbey — ushered in through cool, quiet cloisters that felt a million miles away from the noisy crowds we knew were gathered outside — those members of the press lucky enough to have an admission card met a surprising sight.
Inside the abbey: garden party to hushed service
LONDON (Reuters) – It was almost like being at two weddings for guests at the marriage service of Britain’s Prince William and long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton.
When we entered Westminster Abbey — ushered in through cool, quiet cloisters that felt a million miles away from the noisy crowds we knew were gathered outside — those members of the press lucky enough to have an admission card met a surprising sight.
Royalty rubs shoulders with celebrity at wedding
LONDON (Reuters) – Former England soccer captain David Beckham and singer Elton John mingled with monarchs and politicians as an eclectic cast attended Britain’s royal wedding Friday.
Beckham, his hair swept back and with a medal awarded by Queen Elizabeth on his lapel, chatted with British film director Guy Ritchie before the ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
A royally strange engagement
I spent Monday shopping for a hat. That might not seem so unusual to some people. After all, it was a public holiday, and plenty of people were indulging in a bit of retail therapy. Plus, it’s been unusually hot in Britain for the past few weeks: so a hat would not be such an odd thing to buy. Only this was not a sun hat. It was a hat for work.
And that is strange.
I am a journalist. These days, we are rarely required to wear hats. Helmets perhaps in war zones, but they are not really a requirement in central London. And gone are the days when journalists all sported trilbies with press cards tucked into the hat band. No, this was a proper hat with feathers and netting because – and I still find this pretty hard to believe – I am going to the Royal Wedding. Not as a guest, obviously (I don’t mingle in those kinds of circles), but as a reporter, one of a few who will get to experience the ceremony first-hand. And such is the nature of this grand occasion that even the reporters have to wear hats.
Economic optimism up but Lib Dem support falls – poll
LONDON (Reuters) – Economic optimism in Britain has risen to its highest level since last July following surprise falls in unemployment and inflation, a poll published on Wednesday showed.
Satisfaction with the government has also improved slightly, although overall support for the Liberal Democrats, the junior partners in the Conservative-led coalition government, has dropped to single figures.
New world, same format: Royal Wedding echoes 1947
LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) – A royal wedding for austere
times, horse-drawn carriages along the Mall, a service in
Westminster Abbey, and a “battery” of television cameras.
Travel back in time and you’ll discover that the pomp and
pageantry of British Prince William’s wedding played out in the
glare of the global media is a near perfect replica of his
grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s wedding day 64 years ago.
A dive into the Reuters archives from November 20, 1947,
when the then Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip
Mountbatten, offers a striking picture of how little the
formalities of royal occasions have changed in the intervening
period despite huge changes in society and leaps in technology.
A very modern fairytale – watched by billions and streamed live on the internet
In the fairy stories I read my two children, there are a lot of princesses and princes. There are princesses in towers, princesses forced to sleep on piles of mattresses with peas shoved underneath, princesses who sleep for a hundred years, and princesses forced to eat poison apples.
Handsome princes and wicked stepmothers feature largely. As do dragons, fairies and other mythical creatures. Obviously there’s an audience to the happy couple’s progress to the altar – mostly myself (less enthusiastic) and my daughters (extremely enthusiastic despite my best efforts), but it’s a fairly private affair. I’ve yet to read a fairy story that features a prince, princess and a two billion audience for their nuptials.
Economic optimism up but Lib Dem support falls – Reuters poll
LONDON (Reuters) – Economic optimism in Britain has risen to its highest level since last July following surprise falls in unemployment and inflation, a poll published on Wednesday showed.
Satisfaction with the government has also improved slightly, although overall support for the Liberal Democrats, the junior partners in the Conservative-led coalition government, has dropped to single figures.
Over half of Britons will watch royal wedding – poll
LONDON (Reuters) – More than half of all Britons will watch Prince William marry long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton on April 29th, a poll conducted for Reuters showed.
The royal wedding is expected to be one of the year’s most watched events globally, with some estimating viewership as high as two billion people.
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