I will openly admit that I have gone a bit mad with Royal Wedding fever. Yes, it is true...even serious students fall into this black hole of daily People.com "Royals" section readings... There is however, only so much time a young soon-to-be graduate can spend thinking about the impending doom which is graduation until he or she runs to the nearest computer to check out the "Royal" Facebook page (yes, I have liked it).
Thus, on a Friday night after some tea at Tryst and before a movie in Bethesda, another Anglophile and I went to Barnes and Noble to burn some time before becoming deeply engrossed in a "Jane Eyre" cinematic masterpiece. My anglo-loving friend and I studied abroad in London last year so anytime we come together it is a quiet sob-fest about missing tea and crumpets and Mary Poppins-accents. Thus, it was necessary that we buy our hot chocolates and then proceed to leaf through (study with great intent and purpose) the approximately 12 magazines dedicated to everything Will and Kate. At the end of our intense review session of the royal family an older gentleman probably reading some Keats or Ikenberry stopped us and asked us what exactly were we so excited about for the wedding. I tried to think of something pertinent other than--"so we can expertly judge her wedding dress and tiara selection, sir," so I came up with "I mean the whole family is just fascinating!" then quickly looked at my friend to say, we should probably leave before we find out this man will be conducting interviews at jobs we would like...
After our movie and popcorn extravaganza, I came home and thought about this man's question some more... Specifically, I thought about the PD ramifications of the wedding. Yes, I really did. I am that much of a royal wedding-PD nerd. The royal wedding is expected to bring in over 2 billion viewers for--a wedding? No, it is more than a pretty young couple and a very large cathedral. In fact, the royal wedding is fantastic advocacy and cultural diplomacy (thank you, Nick Cull) for the UK. The UK has recently been in the news for its high unemployment, student protests and well, everything Will and Kate. The wedding of the future King of England is not important historically, as he will someday be a ruling monarch, but it also brings in a generation of new audiences (do not tell me you have not heard you parents talk about Charles and Di's wedding and those huge, puffy sleeves of her's) to see British history in the making. Furthermore, tourism has already massively increased in London; I can only imagine the effects of a fairytale on the city.
A friend of mine recently pointed out, 8% of the British people are on the dole and now they will be paying more taxes for the royal wedding--how is this fair? Indeed, unemployment is high and the British people will pay money toward public services used on the wedding day. However, the British monarchy is something inherently special and important to the British people. I believe that come the big day, the Brits will be lining the streets (and the pubs) to glimpse a happy occasion in their country. Who knows, perhaps a young person in a country across the world watching the wedding will be so enamored with the event and the UK, that he or she will forever support the UK state--if the fairytale of Will and Kate can happen, why not that one?
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