I kind of like the Royal Wedding- the pageantry of it all is kind of fun, and it all seems kind of harmless given that they have no real authority. It is certainly no worse than our unofficial American royalty of Paris Hilton and the various political dynasties that pop up from time to time. I’ll take a Kate Middleton and Prince William over the Bush clan any day of the week. Plus, I find Kate to be absolutely stunning- just poised and confident and looking like she is having a lot of fun. She needs to eat a sandwich though, now that the wedding is over.
My mother also got to see her favorite thing, too, which is everyone singing God Save the Queen while the Queen just stands there silent.
WM Rine
It helps that they’ve opened the family up to “commoners.” And ironic that this has led to the inclusion of Kate, who is beautiful and poised and a lot more naturally regal than even the Queen’s children.
Cat Lady
I married my daughter off two weeks ago – the groom mouthed the same thing to my daughter at the altar that William did to Kate – “you are SO beautiful”. It made me verklempt. It’s a much happier affair than the Diana/Charles forced march. A welcome sparkly diversion from the relentless fuckedupedness here.
Rey
Me too, John. The futrue Queen is beautiful, just kept thinking his Mum would have been so proud.
SST
This made me laugh:
“But the cumulative effect is icky. With the proliferation of A-list parties and the infusion of corporate and lobbyist cash, Washington journalists give Americans the impression we have shed our professional detachment and are aspiring to be like the celebrities and power players we cover.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-journalist-prom-got-out-of-control/2011/04/28/AFla9PCF_story.html
There’s sort of a mordant comedy in this, but it’s more just depressing than anything else.
Gremcat
Funny I was just remarking to my husband, who is a Brit, that I guess it would be a bit crass for the Queen to be seen singing to herself.
Freddie
I mean, I’m not usually one of those “think of what else this money could go to” types of people. There are a lot of legitimate human needs, after all. But for something like this? …think of what else that money could go to.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
unless the next line is, “she ain’t no human been”, count me out.
Superluminar
God Save the Queen
The Fascist Regime
R-Jud
@Cat Lady:
Definitely. I decided to give up ignoring the thing last night, and was looking at video of Di and Charles on the BBC archives (since I was only 18 months old in 1981)– flop sweat and dour faces everywhere. This was much nicer: it appears these two actually LIKE one another. I love me some choirs, and any excuse to start drinking at 11:00 is good, also, too.
Amanda in the South Bay
Hehe, I got my orchiectomy in about three hours, getting ready and trying not to puke from the anxiety.
suzanne
My husband and I were talking about the institution of the monarchy the other day, and I said the same thing—we have unofficial royalty, so why should the Brits be any different? And their royalty does charity work and serves in the military, while ours make sex tapes and go to rehab.
I like Kate’s dress. I concur with the “eat a sandwich” assessment.
suzanne
@Amanda in the South Bay: Hey—HUGS! Hang in there!
Uh… was that a poor choice of words?
bemused
15 minutes of this is about all I cared to see and some bits on previous royal family history held my interest but a solid week or more coverage of every boring detail is insane. The only thing worse was the Reagan funeral worship bullshit.
rikryah
I still think that’s hilarious. The sight of it is funny.
Ash Can
Everything is so pretty and fancy, lovely to look at, and exotic for us shot-and-a-beer Americans. And I really do get a bang out of the Queen — she’s, well, the Queen, but she’s also an amiable, nicely dressed elderly lady, like my mom and her friends. It’s cute.
gnomedad
I’d like to think this perspective would help ABL and others feel a bit better. Obama is still President and Trump is still a douchebag.
Litlebritdifrnt
I have to admit to shedding a few tears when the congregation and all of the crowds outside were singing “Jerusalem” I thought it was a really beautiful moment and made me very, very proud to be a Brit. As many people have said (I was following the US commentary out of curiosity) no country in the world can do things like this like the Brits can. We are the best in the world at it.
My mum called me this morning. She said she sat watching the wedding wearing her nightgown, a bathrobe and a white hat! I LOL’d.
jibeaux
Her dress was lovely, and she’s lovely. She looks seriously sharp too. I’m not sure what that is that makes people look intelligent, but she has it. I wish them all the best.
Cat Lady
@R-Jud:
My British sister in law keeps her British citizenship because of her pride in the royal pageantry. They do have a way with ceremonial pomp. And hats.
me
@Superluminar: Indeed
Superluminar
of course, because in a land where social mobility has become a sick joke, and the top 1% get to run everything, the symbolism of the Head of State being picked from just one family is pretty irrelevent, right?
But is it any better? I guess it’s easy to see it as charming and quaint and so forth if you don’t live in that place. It’s still fucking wrong.
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
Ahh, brilliant. A not insignificant number of Senate Dems are vowing to stand with the GOP against raising the debt limit unless the mantra of “CUT! CUT! WE MUST CUT MOOOOOOOOOOOREEE!!’ is accepted and fully adhered to.
Beautiful……now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be tearing out my hair over here in the corner.
p.a.
since this is an open thread, and I can’t be bothered commenting on a furriner wedding (uh, oh damn!) allow me to comment on a pet peeve of mine- account numbers that are larger than the earth’s human population. Why??!! I just went online to access the website for my 25 year anniversary employee gift, and the login number (sent by snail mail) is 14 digits, no dashes, no spaces. My gas company account number is even longer, again no dashes or spaces, with a sequence of 4 or 5 zeros lumped together to make it virtually unreadable (good thing I don’t drink before/while doing my budget).
Again, a petty complaint, but just part of the little everyday irritants that can end up making a person ‘sour’ (h/t Wm. Faulkner).
Villago Delenda Est
@bemused:
AKA the Reagasm.
ellie
I agree, the bride is lovely. I hope they are happy.
Superluminar
We’re number fucking 1 at worshiping a talentless family! Woohoo! Our economy’s screwed, the public sector’s being decimated, only the very top people get a chance to run the country/major businesses but goddamnit we can wave our little Union Jacks harder then anyone else. Victory!
Comrade Javamanphil
NPR did a story on the wedding yesterday and the bumper music out of it was a jazzy piano piece. I knew I recognized it but it was pretty tuneless so tough to discern. Five minutes later I got it. Billy Idol’s White Wedding.
Poopyman
I walked into the room just as they walked out of the cathedral. Kate was spectacular, and William looked like he was going to hurl. It made me verklempft, ’cause that was just like our wedding.
Anyway, I watched the whole carriage ride and it looked like he made it all the way. Good luck to the kids. I know how it is just starting out together with nothing but each other.
rikryah
nobody does pageantry like the Brits.
nobody even comes close.
there were time, when the visuals – inside the church, along the route- looked like they were designed for a movie set.
Culture of Truth
I have nothing against the Royal wedding. It’s all in fun. No worse than the Thankgiving day parade.
Congrats, Baroness Carrickfergus!
Rosalita
Totally enjoyed the wedding. The dress was perfect and elegant as were her flowers. It is a nice diversion from all the fuckedupedness here. The RAF flyover while they were on the balcony gave me goosebumps. So sad Diana wasn’t here to see it.
Porsena
What was it Frank Drebin said?
“No matter how silly the idea of having a queen might be to us, as Americans, we must be gracious…”
Frango Regna.
rickstersherpa
I have often wonder the last ten years, especially whenever the Republicans were in power, if perhaps we did make a mistake back in 1776 and that this self-government Independence thing is really going to work out. Maybe King George III was right all along.
Given all the bad news that happen week, from the Tornadoes, Donald Trump, the massacre at Kabul Airport (a close friend was lucky she decided to stay back and finish up some reports or she could have been among the dead), and the debt ceiling follies of centrist Senate Democrats, I have not minded the diversion at all, God Bless them all.
Waratah
The weddings and coronations are are wonderful to watch.
Stood in the Australian sun, along with other school children to see the queen,who was princess at that time. I thought she was beautiful. She was wearing a lemon summer dress. This sunburned Aussie was amazed at her porcelain white complexion.
Crashman
I need a judgment from the peanut gallery. Posting sonogram photos to Facebook: way too much gross info, or no big deal? I think it’s awful, and that it must be stopped.
Culture of Truth
H-wood does fake pageantry pretty well.
And Pope JP II’s funeral was amazing.
BGK
My local NBC affiliate used one of its digital subchannels to show actual local news instead of Puttyhead and the Gameshow Hostess blathering about that wedding thing. For that the station manager deserves an indulgence.
As a first-generation child of Scots and Irish immigrants, my mother’s favorite thing would be to see the windsor family fed to a wood chipper.
BobS
When the camera panned over the huge crowd I couldn’t help but wonder how many were victims of their government’s austerity program who should have been storming the barricades instead. This wedding is a perfect example of why the poor stay downtrodden.
Steve
I was sorta watching it as I got ready for work. It was cool right up until the screen started displaying a “countdown to the kiss,” at which point I felt instantly emasculated. And there is nothing wrong with sonogram pictures on Facebook.
Cacti
Yes…
How nice that tax dollars can go to providing a posh wedding to an alpha couple in the lucky sperm club.
They’re so pretty. (puke)
R-Jud
@Crashman: I don’t like it. I e-mailed one to my mom, because she asked, but I wouldn’t put it on FB. The other thing I hate is people explaining how their child’s potty-training is going.
aimai
@Gremcat:
Yes, this is the only part of the ceremony I caught, after reading Sarah Proud and Tall’s commentary I clicked on the live feed and saw the Queen looking, as reported, as though she had a thought bubble “They’d better have a large whisky and soda for me in the vestry.”
aimai
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Villago Delenda Est:
the reagathon for multiple neurosis.
J.W. Hamner
Yeah, I dunno… weddings are pretty freaking boring even if I know the people in them. Hard to fathom wanting to watch rich strangers get hitched. Crazy hats are cool though.
OzoneR
She wasn’t wearing a flag pin also, why does the Queen hate England?
benjoya
Fuck all royalty, I’m an American.
jibeaux
@Crashman:
What’s gross about sonogram pictures? I can’t say that I’d look at them — sonogram pictures are basically only interesting to the parents of the little bundle of joy — but I’ve never found them objectionable.
Slowbama
On the contrary, the British monarchy has enormous authority. The Queen appoints Governors General of various Commonwealth countries, including “independent” Canada and Australia, who have the power to remove prime ministers and call off parliamentary elections. They have done these things, most recently in Canada when a conservative gov’t was in trouble and the Governor General postponed an election. Also in Australia when the gov’t didn’t want U.S. nukes in country. Look it up.
Cacti
@Slowbama:
But hereditary titles of government based on primogeniture are no different than Paris Hilton because…
Kate’s so pretty, and shut up, that’s why!
Chris
I tend to see them like Hollywood stardom, actually. Maybe they are obscenely rich, thoroughly useless and given way too much attention, but they’re harmless. It’s not like they’re out there starting wars, destroying economies and whatnot. You want rich people who’re really worth getting hot and bothered about, Wall Street and Congress (or the British equivalents) are right there.
biff diggerence
I must disagree with the characterization of American royalty as the equally silly Paris Hilton and House Bush (or House Kennedy of history).
The American Royals are names much more obscure: Koch, Blankfein, Dimon, Trump, et al, plus a host of Galtian Overlords sitting on each other’s Boards, collecting their retainers and per diem.
For these, the eventual solution may be French.
Chop their f**king heads off.
Chris
@Slowbama:
Ah. Huh. Perhaps my previous post should be rescinded, then. I thought they still had the legal authority to do all that but couldn’t get away with actually exercising it.
Superluminar
@BobS @Cacti
well reading about half the comments on this thread it would appear that Bread and Circuses (oh, and sorry but the bread’s run out) are the order of the day…
Chris
@rickstersherpa:
Nah, fuck him.
BOSS BITCH
LOL! I noticed that too. I was wondering why she wasn’t singing and then heard the words of the song.
I thought the wedding was very nice and cool to see all those people celebrating their wedding.
Cacti
@Superluminar:
Marie Antoinette’s mistake was not being Queen of England.
Her alleged “Let them eat cake” remark would have been greeted with flag waving and cheers.
BOSS BITCH
The channel I watched showed the balcony scenes going way way way back and good lord was Diana’s dress monstrous. I probably wouldn’t have thought so at the time if I was paying attention then but good grief.
Superluminar
@Slowbama
presumably you’re talking about the ignomious end to the Whitlam Gough government in Oz? IIRC, there are actually valid points to be made in favour of the GG’s actions in that case, though it’s been a couple of years since I read anything about it, so I may be wrong…
Cat Lady
@aimai:
Horribly fixt for accuracy.
Michael E Sullivan
“She needs to eat a sandwich though, now that the wedding is over.”
Did you really need to say that?
This kind of thing doesn’t really hurt thin princesses in the way that the opposite kind of comment contributes to a brutal reality for fat people, especially fat women. But it’s all of a piece. The idea that as a culture, we get to define what people’s bodies should look like.
You’re better than this, John.
pk
@Crashman:
No big deal. I can’t say I’ve ever found them to be gross.
Steeplejack
@Amanda in the South Bay:
Good luck on this momentous journey.
DBrown
Read the oildrum and learn our real future.
Thank god the shuttle went up to day so the american bread and circus can compete and further help us to forget about the 1% that really runs this place solely for their benifit.
Cacti
@Superluminar:
It’s more the idea of an unaccountable royal agent being able to dissolve the elected government of an entire country. Similar to what is happening on a smaller scale in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
jibeaux
@Superluminar:
You know, having progressive economic policies are not actually inconsistent with a little pomp and circumstance or pageantry. The Scandinavian countries have both royalty and a substantial safety net last time I checked.
It’s just another false-choice argument, like the one wingers sometimes make about how we can’t give any money for foreign aid because we still have people hungry here (needless to say, these are not generally the people supporting spending money on folks here, either…)
I get a lot more upset about hedge fund managers and CEO salaries than the last of the princesses, myself.
dogwood
@Chris:
You’re right. I find it amusing to read people’s disdain for the royal family when we live in a country that has elevated a moron like Trump to the pinnacle of celebrity . When members of the royal family go on the BBC demanding David Cameron’s birth certificate and questioning the intellect of non-Anglo MPs, then we can bitch. At least the British revere the royals for what they believe they represent – duty, restraint, service, patriotism. It might be a crock but it’s better than our hero worship. Our royals are rich, smug, shameless and self-serving. We don’t even pretend they represent anything noble.
Alex
Yes, why don’t we honor blatantly anti-democratic political traditions in foreign countries that would rightly be excoriated on this side of the Atlantic. It’s worth it, if only for being able to take cheap shots on our own political culture. Don’t forget the Bush Clan! And Trump! British delusions are permissible because they hold them for admirable reasons! Who are we to judge!?! Don’t forget how many rich people we have here! Also, too, the pageantry and the hats.
Emma
I used to work freelance for someone whose job was to evaluate charities — and she was freaking impressed by the amount of money the British royal family brings in to different charity organizations. Prince Charles’s own trust, The Prince’s Trust, pours millions into helping young people set up businesses and get professional training.
Also, in spite of much mockery by the British press, the Prince was one of the first farmers to move to all-organic farming. The sale of products from his farms have plowed something like 6 million pounds into his charities.
And of course, right about now, a number of hotels, restaurants, souvenirs sellers and makers, etc. are just jumping for joy.
Omnes Omnibus
@DBrown: Yes, thank you so much for the reminder that life is serious business and one should never take a moment to enjoy something.
Cacti
I find it equally amusing to read internet “progressives” defend an institution held by a handful of privileged elites and built on centuries of oppression and pillage of foreign nations around the globe.
But it’s old and foreign, so that makes it good.
Superluminar
@Cacti
oh I agree with that, I mean hell, I want the UK to be a republic (granted we won’t actually be called the UK anymore…), let alone all the former colonies/dominions. But given his responsibilities at the time, did the GG act incorrectly, is my point. Honestly I cannot remember enough of the details to give a clear answer myself, hence the question.
Kirbster
The Vote-For-Your-Leadership method of governance (as opposed to hereditary monarchy/dictatorship) is fairly new and untried in human history. The ideals are nice but sometimes I’m not sure it has much of a future.
JCT
@Cat Lady: I agree. And congratulations! Did all of the mishigos pay off??
Not my thing in general, though I have to admit paying some attention to her dress out of curiosity and since I’m getting the “we’re serious” vibes from my oldest and her guy.
I thought going with Alexander McQueen’s shop for the dress was a really classy and thoughtful thing to do. His death was a tragedy and this sort of publicity will help keep his brand alive.
James K. Polk, Esq.
No king is a good king.
Cat Lady
@Alex:
Uh, it’s a wedding, fucktard, not a political event. Anti-democratic? Were the English supposed to vote on who got married?
Steve
The people who despise the royal wedding and everything it represents may indeed be savvier and more intelligent than those who enjoy it. The people who enjoy it seem like much nicer people to be around, though.
yet another jeff
Good luck, Amanda.
Corpsicle
@Superluminar: Dear Retard:
There is more social mobility in Britain than there is in America.
Cat Lady
@JCT:
Yes, it was a wonderful occasion. I didn’t cry at all, due to the relief of having it all come together as I hoped for and planned. It was a very happy day, and I’m all for celebrating and proclaiming love, loudly and proudly as possible. Good grief. Happy people in love and being happy is a good thing.
Agreed about McQueen, and most of the guests for the royals are contributing to their designated charity instead of giving presents, so there’s a lot more social consciousness to this affair that they should get credit for. But hey, haters gotta hate.
Cacti
@Corpsicle:
And just as a young Barack Obama ascended to the United States Senate and Presidency on the merit of his own talents…
Had he been born a Brit, he would have even more quickly rose to the House of Lords and the British Crown.
Bulworth
Seriously. A pizza or two would also help. I don’t doubt there’s a lot of pressure for her and other woman to be super-skinny. It’s unfortunate.
zzyzx
My main problem with the wedding is that it’s on every blerping channel. I mean it’s hard to avoid the superbowl, but it’s not like every single network shows it.
Corpsicle
@Cacti</@Cacti: During the decades when your head was firmly jammed up you ass, things changed. Social mobility is something that can be measured, and there is more in Britain than here.
benjoya
@Cacti:
you win the facility prize. corpsicle’s point is that a poor person in britain has a much better chance of becoming middle-class than one in america.
Chris
@zzyzx:
I usually love events like that because they glue everyone to the TV and thus leave the laundry room in my building free of competition. Alas, they had to get married on a work day. Way to go, royals.
jibeaux
@Steve:
I don’t know, I’m sure these guys really know how to throw down for the right event. Everyone wears brown cotton and gets a slice of bread and cup of water.
eemom
@Superluminar:
I’m with y’all. I can’t even stand the pomp and circumstance of a NORMAL wedding. Fuck this shit.
Corpsicle
@benjoya: Thank you. It’s so refreshing to find someone who grasps reality.
Cacti
@Corpsicle:
So a commoner can work their way up to the Lords and eventually the Monarchy? I hadn’t heard.
Superluminar
Wow…so much stupid, so little time…
@jibeaux
If we had the same kind of social mobility Scandinavian countries have then this might be a valid point, but we don’t so it’s not. And even then, it’s still a fucking discrace that one family have a monopoly on who’s the Head of State.
@dogwood
so you and others who agree with you are in fact counter-evidence to the argument you’re making…uh, ok.
@emma
oh, they give money to charity?! Woop-de-do! So do I. I can haz royal title naow?
aimai
@Cacti:
Don’t think the British Royal family didn’t learn a whole lot from Marie Antoinette and her fate. Plus the rage of the public against the Prince Regent when he mistreated his wife in public (although they seem to have forgotten all about that when it came to Charles and Diana).
There have been great essays written about exactly how calculatedly the British monarchy and its governments have shored up their prestige since Victorian times. All the pagentry is designed to create a zone of comfort and identification for the monarchy and to turn what were formerly largely private ceremonies into public affirmations. At the time of Marie Antoinette the court had moved deliberately outside of Paris and there was simply no connection between the Royal family and the people. Every public kiss that takes place in London is a rejection of that old model.
aimai
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
The missus has had occasion to stay at the Goring (where Kate spent the last few days), and said that it rally is the complete shizzle.
She’s also spent several days at Lizard Island, where they’ll be honeymooning. Apparently, it’ll be near impossible for the paparazzo parasites to get to, as the Aussies won’t provide them transport or clearance so far out to such a private location.
aimai
@Cacti:
Commoners certainly can “work their way up to the lords” and always could–the Bishops sit in the house of lords. Plus, also, too, I’ve got a friend who was made a baroness. Those are life peers, of course, specifically to keep the number of permanent aristocrats from pullulating like chickens.
aimai
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
@eemom:
I cringe when I get invitations, as I can think of lots of more fun stuff to do on a weekend.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cacti: It is true that the best way to measure social mobility is to determine the likelihood of any given individual becoming the head of state. Looking at the chances of moving from poor to middle class or wealthy is just plain silly.
eemom
@Chris:
That is the first sensible pro-wedding comment I’ve seen.
I also don’t get the defensive vehemence of some of the Windsor fanboys here. What, the rest of us don’t have a right to not be royalist starfuckers?
Cacti
Well, now that the ceremony’s over, Mrs. Middleton-Windsor can move on to her highest duty…
Laying back, pointing her heels to 12 o’clock and thinking of England, so she can crap out their next head of state as ordained by God.
dogwood
@Cacti:
Get over yourself. I could care less about the royals or what the British think about them; it’s their culture. My comment was about our culture.
I find it tiresome to read internet “progressives” who are intellectually disingenuous in interpreting people’s posts in order to deliver smug lectures.
Corpsicle
@Cacti: Kate is a commoner, you jackass.
Emma
Superluminar: Sure. You can have one: Baron Annoying of No Accomplishment. I’ll get the Lord Lyon to issue the papers tomorrow.
eemom
@Superluminar:
yer on a roll today, my jolly good chap!
Cacti
@dogwood:
You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.
Cacti
@Emma:
I think Prince Harry has already claimed that one.
Superluminar
Oh good even more morony…
@corpsicle @benjoya
you pair of retards are aware that I made no argument suggesting that social mobility in the US is in fact better than in the UK, right? I know this is likely well beyond either of your comprehension levels, but it might just be possible that in both our benighted countries, social mobility is in a bad fucking state. And as others have pointed out, our chances of having a black king = zero. But nevermind, in your own minds (such as they are) you’re probably right. God, I feel sorry for your parents, choosing not to go with the abortions, when it was clear that was the most sensible choice.
eemom
eleventy kinds of awesome.
hey Cole, we gotcher new tagline right here!
Yevgraf (fka Michael)
@Cacti:
Link to images and video, please. I need to investigate this.
Sentient Puddle
Man, for everything ’round here, there’s always gotta be someone who takes a crap in the punch bowl. Even for something as innocuous as a fucking wedding between two people you don’t know.
Michael D.
For people harping on the monarchy… I’m Canadian, so these are my people. I get that people don’t like to have people who are “their betters” or “nobility” and whatever else you want to call it. If you disagree with the monarchy for those reasons (and I sort of do) then that’s a good argument to have.
Money is another issue. Largely, the Queen and Royal Family support themselves through investments. They also, voluntarily, pay taxes. Would that the the folks at GE be so generous!
But the Royal Family is worth many billions of dollars a year to the UK. You may not like them but, while security for the wedding may have cost $30 million, the city of London alone probably will make double that (conservatively) in the days leading up to and after the wedding. From tourism alone, having a monarchy is a gold mine for the UK.
It costs about US$ 60 million per year for the UK to have a monarchy. This is NOT a paycheck to them, either. It’s money for them to carry out their duties, travel, etc.. And they really do good work, for the most part. And again, they bring in billions.
So saying something like “But for something like this? …think of what else that money could go to” doesn’t consider the fact that there is a LOT more money coming IN to the British coffers because of the monarchy than is going OUT.
FAR, FAR more.
The monarchy costs each UK taxpayer about 65-70p per year. Less than the cost of a soft drink.
Omnes Omnibus
As far as I am concerned, the Brits can have or not have a monarchy as they choose. Having been raised in a country where, at least on paper, we don’t have people who are “better” than others by right of birth, I would have difficulties acknowledging a hereditary monarch. Since I am not British, it isn’t my problem. if people enjoy the pageantry, let them. BFD.
eemom
I do feel kind of sorry for Charles. Imagine waiting around your whole life for your mother to die. Especially when she’s got those long longevity genes going for her.
Hey, what happens if Charles goes first? Seems to me the actuarial tables are not on his side.
Amir_Khalid
@Superluminar: Being that head of state is a purely ceremonial role in Britain, and that not everyone flourishes in that spotlight, it’s no big deal if one family gets that role all to itself. (Although if I were a Brit and could elect the ceremonial head of state, my vote would go to Keith Richards.) In Malaysia, we have nine royal families that take turns at the constitutional monarchy. I don’t see how that’s much better.
The Saxe-Coburg-Gothas pioneered professional celebritying in the modern age, and remain the one of most long-lived, professional and popular ensemble acts in that branch of showbiz. Back in 1997, the funeral of Prince William’s mother was must-see live TV all over the world. They do deserve some respect for being good at their gig.
Corpsicle
@Superluminar: “where social mobility has become a sick joke”
Social mobility has been steadily improving in Britain, contrary to what you wrote. You might look into the definition of “has become”. And it seems rather assholeish to bitch about social mobility in Britain, where it is better and steadily improving, from the point of view of the USA, where it is worse and declining.
Cacti
@Sentient Puddle:
So, being anti-royalist/anti-monarchist is not a political position?
Superluminar
@aimai
you’re one of the best commenters on the internet, trully you are (sorry if that comes accross as patronising, I do mean it), but this:
is just completely wrong. The LPs are not to keep the numbers of hereditry peers down, as the number of the latter are already kept to 92 under the last round of Lord’s reform. Sadly, the number of LPs increases all the time, and we now have so many Lords/Ladies that they can’t fit in the chamber.
OzoneR
@eemom:
Throne goes directly to William. It’s happened before…George III inherited the throne from his grandfather George II because his father died before his grandfather did.
Culture of Truth
Keith is cool and all, but I’m not sure he’d be up to the task 7 days a week. I’d go with David Beckham and Gwneyth Paltrow
Paul in KY
@Michael D.: I’m fine with the House of Windsor, but alot of their ‘investments’ are by being the hereditary recepients of a few Dukedoms & Earldoms that own huge swaths of real estate, etc. (Duke of York being an example, Duke of Kent being another). The King/Queen gets to dispense those to their offspring. Sorta nice racket if you can get one like it.
I think it would be better for Great Britain if they could scale back a bit (IMO).
James K. Polk, Esq.
@Sentient Puddle: Even for something as innocuous as a fucking multi-million dollar taxpayer funded wedding between two people
you don’t know.who are filthy rich.FTFY.
Culture of Truth
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thomason would have made great a great royal couple.
Davis X. Machina
@Corpsicle: Soc.ial mobility in the UK exceeds that of the US by some ordinary methods of measurement, and lags in others; it’s close — but only because they’re both bad, in comparison to the rest of the OECD.
A Family Affair: Intergenerational Social Mobility across OECD Countries (PDF)
Paul in KY
@Superluminar: Remember the huge row back in 1911 or so when the Liberal government was going to increase the number of peers to 600 or thereabouts to stop the House of Lords from vetoing their reforms? Man the howls of rage that proposal received.
Now they have many more I think.
salacious crumb
and fart with freedom, in peace.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Cacti: @eemom: @Superluminar:
Why don’t y’all find a private room and jack off there? It’s kind of squicky watching you do it in front of everyone.
Omnes Omnibus
@James K. Polk, Esq.: As noted above, they bring in a good chunk of tourist money every year, but, whatever, the Brits and Commonwealth subjects commenting here have a stake in the matter; everyone else is just wanking.
Linnaeus
This is pretty much my view. Royal weddings and such aren’t my thing, but they don’t happen in my country, and I’m fine with leaving those to others if they choose.
Superluminar
@corpsicle
here you go, douchbag. Enjoy.
Emma
Cacti: You mean Captain Harry Wales, helicopter pilot, Afghanistan veteran? At least the British Royal family puts their children at actual risk, unlike our unelected, but politically and socially catered to, “betters.”
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Mornin’, gang, left coaster here. Well, did anything good happen? William chicken out? Kate throw up on the Archbishop? House of Windsor forced into exile?
Villago Delenda Est
@OzoneR:
Queen Betty is about 2 weeks from beating George III’s reign as it stands. She still has to go on for another four and a half years to top Victoria’s reign.
She’s already the longest lived overall monarch in the history of the UK/Great Britain/England.
McMullje
I thought it was lovely! Any excuse for a party – especially when it is full of hope and romance! Whoever said it was a break from all the BS here was right on!
Suffern ACE
@Emma: I think you mean “Duke Hottie” (who really ought to know better than dressing up like Nazis, but since he’s a lust object, who cares what he’s thinking.)
Chris
@Superluminar:
If this chart is accurate, then I find it interesting that the three most powerful countries in the West (America, Britain and France) are also those with the worst social mobility (along with Italy).
Maybe it’s as simple as “more military budget = less social spending.” Germany seems to be doing better. I don’t know, just speculating.
Superluminar
Comrade Scrutinizer
Hey you’re American, right? Didn’t you guys have some kind of revolutionary war to remove monarchy from your territory? If you want, you can have our Royals. Really, I don’t mind. It’s ok. Take them. We’ll quite happily take that Obama guy in return, he seems nice enough, and we don’t really mind where he was born.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I just wish they’d let Big Red Sarah attend. She seems like lots of fun, and she could perhaps be a good pal to the lovely new bride.
@Superluminar: You may keep your own royals, but we’d happily give you Trump and the former half term governor of Alaska as sort of a consolation give for us having left the Empire back in the day.
Tom
@Slowbama:
2 points
-In Canada, the GG is appointed by the Queen, but this is a rubber stamping of the Prime Minister’s choice
-The GG didn’t postpone an election, she shut down parliament at the request of the PM. The opposition parties had got their stuff together and banded together to form a coalition. With more seats than the party in power, they would have formed the Government. The PM begged the GG to shut down parliament early so that the upcoming vote would be postponed, and he’d have time to fight the coalition on TV.
Emma
James Polk: Nope. The wedding was not considered a matter of state because William is only second to the throne, so everything but the security arrangments were financed by the parents of both bride and groom. And as some others have pointed out. The security costs were probably doubled as profits for the city of London.
snarkypsice
@Michael D.:
So true!
I don’t care one way or the other, but to argue that Londoners are not financially better off because of the royal family is insane.
eemom
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
who the fuck died and made YOU king?
Also, I hate that stupid word “squicky.” In my experience the only people who use it are it.
Emma
SuffernAce: He is delish, isn’t he? And he was as much of as screw up as any young man of my acquaintance, but unfortunately his sins were all public, unlike my cousins. He’s grown up a great deal since then, it seems.
Superluminar
@Chris
Interesting catch! I don’t know, but I suspect that’s a random correlation rather than anything more suspicous. I only have a degree in this shit, probably worth asking a prof or someone about the actual processes happening here.
sukabi
you are a strange man John Cole, very strange.
sure all the hoopla is “harmless” fun… if you’re not one of the folks that’s been left hungry through their “austerity measures” while millions is being shoveled out the door for a couple of hours of pagentry.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Michael D.:
fair enough, i just hate that much of the money they generate is from stupid fucking americans.
oh, and that queen victoria was the hitler of the 1800s and somehow, her family wasn’t shamed not just into abdicating, but into changing their names, and running dry cleaning businesses in relative obscurity in who cares whereshire.
Cat Lady
@Emma:
He got the looks and the hair, didn’t he? I really wonder if his father was Charles. Oops, I’m apparently supposed to wish them all dead by beheading, so never mind.
Superluminar
@snarkyspice
You really think the royals make any kind of difference to our wages in London? Here’s a hint…they really don’t.
Emma
Cat Lady: a few years ago a friend, who is Canadian and a royal buff, visited Althorp, the Spencer family home, and she tells me Harry is the spitting image of the Spencer portraits, so she figures the Spencer genes overrode the Windsors’s :D
Sentient Puddle
@Cacti:
I really don’t give a damn.
@James K. Polk, Esq.:
Two points on these corrections:
1) Wake me when said taxpayer-funded wedding happens in a country where I pay taxes.
2) As pointed out above, if my share of the tax money for this wedding doesn’t break $1, don’t even bother waking me.
Jesus, if you want something to complain about, Bernanke said a lot of dumb shit two days ago. Go with that.
Amir_Khalid
@Culture of Truth: Not too sure the Brits would want another American woman close to their king, after that business with Wallis Warfield Simpson.
Paul in KY
@Emma: Harry’s dad is supposed to have been one of Diana’s riding instructors. If you look at a picture of the guy, Harry looks very much like him (red hair & all).
Amir_Khalid
@sukabi:
You do know that it is an elected government, not the Royal Family, that runs Britain. Don’t you?
Georgia Pig
The British monarchy has several points in its favor, but I think the royal wedding appeals to a lot of folks because it’s kind of like winning the lottery. The sheer arbitrariness of celebrating the wedding of someone who happened to be born to the right person, particularly in this case, the product of Charles and Diana’s trainwreck of a marriage, kind of punctures the mythology of meritocracy we have here in the States. Generally speaking, our leaders are no better, and probably worse in the aggregate, than Britain’s. William and Kate seem to be nice-looking young people, but not much more than couples you might see in the mall. Hopefully, they’ll simply enjoy having won the lottery and hope Charles lives a long life so they won’t have to do that boring king stuff. Elizabeth has taken the burden of that, they’re lucky she’s lived so long.
jibeaux
@Superluminar:
The point, obviously, is that the modern monarchy is not the factor that causes England’s social inequality, and if it were to be eliminated, it would not improve social inequality. These aren’t really the days of the serfs turning over their harvest to the lord anymore, which is why most people are sort of happy about the whole thing instead of reaching for pitchforks, see?
But anyway, first pic after the kiss is for you: http://katemiddletonforthewin.tumblr.com/
eemom
well, I didn’t care for the wedding but this thread has been a hoot.
And may I venture to say, Superluminar, good sir, that when I imagine all your lovely comments delivered with a British accent, for which I cherish a foolish American adoration, I get all cybercrushy inside. [blush]
Suffern ACE
@sukabi: Not to quibble, but those “austerity measures” are the result of the political process involving millions of voters who voted for them. While I would prefer it to be otherwise, there is no reason why the son of the Prince of Wales needs to have a cash bar and pot luck at his wedding because the voters preferred Tories after Labour wore out its welcome.
R-Jud
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Some reporters got her on tape a few months back, offering businesspeople access to her ex-husband in exchange for £500K (Prince Andrew’s main public role is as a trade envoy).
I don’t know if this is worse than being caught on tape telling your mistress you wish you were her tampon, but it probably wouldn’t have gone over well if they’d banned the father of the groom from the ceremony.
Origuy
My sister watched it with her 12-year-old daughter, who she said was fascinated. My sister’s Facebook comment: ‘I keep waiting for the officiant to say “Wuv, twue Wuv…”‘
jibeaux
@Suffern ACE:
awesome, that’s pretty much it.
I haven’t honestly paid any attention to the wedding at all, I didn’t even know it was today — heard people talking about getting up early and all, but thought it must be Saturday they were talking about — but just because I’m contrary I’m going to have a nice Pimm’s cup when I get home in honor of the Debbie Downers. Basically, I’ll be making lemons into lemonade.
Yutsano
@Paul in KY: Illegitimate children are a long-standing tradition in the British royal family. In fact the US has been a direct beneficiary of this tradition. The founder of the Smithsonian was the illegitimate son of a duke.
Emma
Paul: Shrug. Won’t be the first time there’s been a cuckoo in a royal nest. And to be honest, mostly I’m being contrarian here. I’m an American, I could care less. However, I’ve always admired the fact that at the very least they seem to take what they do seriously. They serve in the military in times of war, they perform their duties as defined by tradition and government, and they spend a lot of time raising funds and awareness for charitable organizations.
I have a great deal more respect for them than I do for the idiot children of our own “aristocracy.”
Sarah Proud and Tall
@Cat Lady:
Ugh. That’s just wrong.
asiangrrlMN
@Amanda in the South Bay: Good luck. Many positive vibes whizzing your way.
Superluminar
@eemom
*blushes just a bit himself* erm..thanks…
@jibeaux
I never argued the monarchy did, just that as a symbolic institution it was part of our problem, rather than part of the solution…
Culture of Truth
@Amir_Khalid: A mere trifle. She secretly yearns to be British.
Paltrow played Wallis Simpson in a recent episode of Glee. Message??
Cat Lady
@Sarah Proud and Tall:
Wrong ain’t the word sister, and before lunch! Every day! That probably explains something, but I’m not sure what.
Maude
@Sentient Puddle:
I saw the picture of William and Kate as they came out of the church. They were lovely.
2 Billion people watched the ceremony.
It was said that a sense of tradition and continuity is a comfort in these stressful economic times.
This was a wonderful wedding and the people who watched it enjoyed it.
Kate had to be at a certain weight to wear the gown. She couldn’t be a pound over.
I bet she’s thinking of a grand sandwich about now. John is right and I thought it was a sweet thing to say. She would have loved it, I’m sure.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Amanda in the South Bay: Thinking very good thoughts for an uneventful procedure for you.
@Sarah Proud and Tall: Wrong is an understatement; it’s a crime against gin and humanity.
Nellcote
@Emma:
The newlyweds are requesting wedding gifts be donations to charities instead. They’re paying for their own damn wedding with the taxpayers picking up the cost for security.
I loved the live trees in the cathedral and the crazy hats.
R-Jud
@Paul in KY: Prince Andrew also looks a lot like the late Lord Porchester, who managed QEII’s racing horses for her and was one of her closest friends.
Brachiator
Apparently, though, those sitting closest to the queen could hear her softly singing her own version of My Perogative:
It’s my perogative,
No one can tell me what to do.
It’s my perogative,
I can make an Earl of you.
I’m Her Majesty, bitchez.
Yo, Liz 2 out!
Superluminar
@Sarah Proud and Tall:
oh dear lady, only a complete idiot would mix these two fine liquors. As I believe Dr Johnson said, “surely it must take a moron to appreciate that Dubbonet and Gin as a mixed drink”, and as a certain Mr Blaise P said, Mr Chaucer pointed out that “theesee peoplee likee too drink theyree meade tooo the pointe of insensibilitye” and I think this point makes perfect sense.
Cat Lady
@Nellcote:
You royalty asskissing class traitor!11 Waaaahhhh! Trees should be outside!11 The hats should be on beheaded heads!1 Waaaahhhhh!
/the punchbowl turds
Paul in KY
@Yutsano: Agreed. You want to get some blood in there to diversify the line. I was just providing some data.
Lurking Canadian
@Tom:
Tom has said everything I would have said, but I will add one detail. She agreed to prorogue parliament because in her opinion, the law did not give her any other option. For her to refuse his request might have triggered a constitutional crisis.
Which is to say that if she had NOT shut down parliament, THAT could have been seen as an intolerable executive interference in the functioning of the government. (I wish she had done it, but I can see why she didn’t.)
The governor-general is a figurehead. Really and truly, a figurehead.
Porsena
@Kirbster: “The Vote-For-Your-Leadership method of governance (as opposed to hereditary monarchy/dictatorship) is fairly new and untried in human history. ”
Actually, in western history hereditary monarchy is the new and untested method of governance having only reared its ugly head when civilization collapsed in late antiquity.
Rome went from a non-hereditary monarchy to a republic in 510 BCE. Athens went from a non-hereditary tyranny to a republic around the same time. Carthage had a hereditary monarchy, but they were from the Levant originally and they still switched to republicanism in 480 BCE. Sparta is the outlier but its hereditary monarchy was integrated into its pseudo-republic well before any primary sources of history existed (mid 7th century probably).
All of these were then subsumed into the generally non-hereditary Imperium of Rome before the 5th century collapse of civilization gave kings a 1,000 year run. Republics started popping up again in Italy and the Hanseatic League around 1200 CE and ruling monarchies were again a thing of the past 700 years later.
Amir_Khalid
@Culture of Truth:
Another American actress who recently played Wallis Simpson on TV: Gillian Anderson, who spent her early childhood in London and has been living there since the end of The X-Files.
Emma
Nellcote: The hats are my favorite part of any of this. The Queen’s granddaughters are all Mad Hatters.
Superluminar
@Maude
And you don’t see anything wrong with this? :-(
Paul in KY
@Emma: As I mentioned above, was just passing on a very widely known rumour (in the UK).
Wasn’t meaning to be a downer.
Paul in KY
@R-Jud: Wow! I always wondered why he was better looking than his siblings.
Emma
Paul: Not a downer to me. I had heard of it before. The Prince of Wales seems to accept him as his son, and if he’s satisfied, who am I to say nay? :D
Sentient Puddle
@Maude: I’m not entirely sure why you’re replying to me on this, but yeah, this strikes me as the right interpretation. I don’t really care about the wedding, but the Brits sure seem to be enjoying it without having some ontological crisis over the existence of a monarchy, so more power to them.
celticdragonchick
@Amanda in the South Bay:
Good luck, hon! :)
Who is doing the surgery?
salvador dalai llama
I don’t know if anyone’s seen this yet, but Breitbart is at it again:
Videos ‘Ripped’ From Online-Course Footage Bring Threats to Instructors
http://chronicle.com/article/Videos-Ripped-From/127319/
Gee, is there a pattern? Breitbart promulgates a heavily edited video. Angry letters and death threats ensure. Administrators panic. People lose jobs and get their lives wrecked. Someone points out the videos are inaccurate. No consequences for Breitbart whatsoever.
God Bless America.
(In the comments, someone links to the Columbia Tribune story on it, which has a link to the original videos–it’s a way to see them with out driving up traffic to Breitbart.)
Poopyman
@eemom:
And I imagine them being said by Andrew Sullivan, so my reaction is quite different.
Sarah Proud and Tall
@Superluminar:
I never met either Mr Johnson or Mr Chaucer, but I suspect we would all have gotten on like a house on fire.
Paul in KY
@Amanda in the South Bay: You need to have the surgeon put them in a jar of formaldehyde. Would be a great conversation starter ;-)
Seriously, best of luck on safe surgery & a speedy recovery.
Sarah Proud and Tall
@Lurking Canadian:
Quite a few Australian Labor voters might take issue with that statement.
Culture of Truth
You really gotta watch out for those riding instructors.
eemom
@Poopyman:
lolz. eeeeeyeeeew.
btw, what says the Most Important Person In The Universe about the royal spectacle? And why TF has Cole not posted about it yet?
Sarah Proud and Tall
@Amanda in the South Bay:
Best of luck, my dear.
Poopyman
@celticdragonchick: It’s now three hours after she posted, so she’s probably in surgery right now. (Crosses fingers)
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
Fascinating. Superman has renounced his American Citizenship.
Makes me think of shades of Cap. Not for the same reasons Captain America had so much, but for the fact that they both seem to be doing the whole ‘upholding ideals, not governments’ thing.
EDIT: My bad, linked the wrong page initially.
slag
Your bar. It is low.
sukabi
@Amir_Khalid: sure I do, and it’s also the taxpayers that fund the Royal Family’s lifestyle… your point was?
Mine was that taxpayer’s monies are being used to fund a wedding extravaganza for “figure heads” while thousands of folks that could use a bit of a hand are told to “suck it up” and “pound sand” … how about the royals “sucking it up” a tiny bit, and toning it down out of respect for those that are “pounding sand”.
@Suffern ACE: pretty sure that like here, most of the measures being shoved on the people in the UK weren’t explicitly spelled out on a ballot for people to vote on… they are likely the result of the politicians deciding “what’s best” for the rubes….. and don’t you think there’s a tiny bit of middle ground between a “cash bar” / potluck and the extravaganza on display?
Lurking Canadian
@Sarah Proud and Tall:
I carefully did not say anything about Australia. What I know about Australia comes mostly from commercials for Foster’s beer.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Lurking Canadian:
and what i know of fosters, as an american, is that the north american contract is with labatts, which i believe is canadian for pabst. coorsmolson is evil, but for macrolager, molson was always a go to beer for me.
of course, since the geeks fancied up beer, i quit drinking it.
Maude
@Sentient Puddle:
I was agreeing along the same lines you were.
@Superluminar:
No, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
Amir_Khalid
@sukabi:
My point was spelled out by Suffern Ace #153: that the blame for those austerity measures lies with the elected Tory government, not the Royal Family. Rage at the royals all you like for being no more than parasitic hood ornaments on the carriage of state. But not for the austerity measures.
And, as has also been noted upthread, they cost Britons less than one quid a year per capita, in return for generating lots of international goodwill and tourist revenue. I only wish my country’s own royals earned their keep to that extent.
Mandramas
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: A year ago, Superman even autoexiled to a different planet, New Krypton, trying to influence the society of recently released kryptonians to drop militarism and become a more just society.
Anyways, modern Superman comics are crap, since the character is so powerful that it is needed to maintain a constant cosmic treat level that is boring after a while. The old Supes also pales in comparison with Grant Morrison’s scripts on Batman.
trollhattan
@Villago Delenda Est:
You know what’s going to be worse than Teh Reagangazm? The 10-year Wingnut Christmas Jubilee, a.k.a. 9/11/11. It will make us long for the innocent days of longform certificates of birth.
The Brits can indulge their monarchy all they care to, we have bigger trainwrecks (special Randian reference) in our own backyard. And anyway, it was a hoot watching the wedding vid with my 9 Y.O. girl this morning. She was fascinated by the whole spectacle and asked a zillion questions about protocol and tradition I couldn’t hope to answer. “Too much singing” though.
Also, too, Kate’s mum is a serious dish.
sukabi
@Amir_Khalid: the royals more than likely had to put in a “funding request” of some sort for all the festivities while being quite aware of the austerity measures inflicted on the rest of the country… it’s an IN YOUR FACE example of “bugger off, the rules don’t apply to us.”
Also, I find the US fascination with and coverage of the Brit’s Royal Wedding to be ridiculous bordering on pathological. Thought the same of Charles & Diana’s wedding coverage… It’s the same kind of pathology that gets Trump’s ridiculousness, Palin’s griftorama, and Snookie’s trashiness constant coverage.
Amir_Khalid
I hear what Britons are really celebrating is the four-day weekend: a public holiday on Friday for the wedding, plus international Labor Day on Sunday, May 1, which means Monday off as well.
Mnemosyne
@Superluminar:
Given that the US, which hasn’t had a monarchy in over 200 years, actually has worse social mobility than your country with its hereditary aristocracy, I think you’re pinning your hopes and dreams on something that won’t make any difference whatsoever to the social mobility of the British people.
JCT
@Amir_Khalid: I’m laughing at this, I needled one of my Brit colleagues about all the goings on and he basically said “laugh all you want but I have 4 days off”
Amir_Khalid
@sukabi: When you’re the Queen’s grandson and a more-than-likely future king yourself, an intimate wedding is just not an available option. Like I said upthread, these people are in showbiz. The wedding is merely another episode of the show — sort of like Coronation Street, but with more pomp. And for all their eccentricities and human failings, they do put on a good show. To repeat myself again (sorry) I reckon they’re not such bad value for money as royal families go.
Jay in Oregon
@p.a.:
The reason why they do that is to make sure that people can’t guess or deduce a “correct” account or ID number. That’s one of the reasons why credit/debit card numbers are 16 digits.
I do agree that putting it into a big chunk is bad usability. People are used to chunks of 2-4 digits with spaces or dashes between them; phone numbers, dates, SSNs, etc.
I do software tech support and our company uses 16-character alphabetical license keys; they’re actually 24 characters, but the first block of four identify the product and the next block of four are numerals identifying the version number, the rest are unique. Since we use numerals in the second block of characters, customers frequently assume that any O’s or I’s they come across are zeros and ones.
Personally, I think alphanumeric codes that are meant to be entered/managed by humans should avoid I’s and O’s. Sure, it means that the possible permutations for a 4-digit code go from 1,679,616 to 1,336,336, and an 8-digit code go from like 2.8 trillion to 1.78 trillion, but that’s just a burden we’ll have to live with.
…OK, I think I’ll stop now.
sukabi
@Amir_Khalid: don’t you think that’s kind of a sad commentary on society? That a “royal family” is counted as “value added” for the fantasy “showbiz type entertainment” they bring to their country / world?
what’s next, a reality show “Who Wants to be a Winsdor?” (yes, I’m well aware we’ve got you beat on that front with all our assholes lining up to be the next “Hilton, Apprentice and Millionaire”)
Emma
Sukabi: I understand that you will not believe me because you won’t want to, but no. This wedding was financed by the families. The only thing the state paid for was the security.
Paul in KY
@Jay in Oregon: Back in 2004, the KY Derby looked like the Vietnam rain scene in Forrest Gump. Everyone in infield was soaked to skin. All tickets were waterlogged & would not go thru the machines. Each of those tickets has a 18 position number/letter combo to individually ID the transaction. The people at the betting windows had to input those 18 digit numbers on all the winning tickets. Loooong lines that afternoon.
Mouse Tolliver
Doctor Who turned me into a full-blooded Anglophile. And Helen Mirren made it possible for me to not totally despise the Queen. So I don’t mind the round-the-clock on BBCA, but I think it’s obscene that our own news station stopped covering the news so we could find out what George Michael thinks of the wedding.
Amir_Khalid
@sukabi:
(Shrug.) It is what it is. In strictly utilitarian terms, royal families don’t provide much tangible benefit nowadays besides serving as tourist attractions and celebrities. But there’s worldwide public demand for their glamor, and the British royals look like a net positive financially for the country, so why not?
Bex
@Superluminar: Yeah, it’s a sad day when there’s no social mobility and the top 1% run everything. You’re talking about the U.S. right?
Elie
My two cents:
I loved the simple yet elegant decoration of the Abbey — basically green trees against the starkness of the stone walls.
I loved the service. The readings, the sermon and the music was spectacular and emotionally meaningful — not just empty babbling. I truly do not know how Kate Middleton and her Mom were able to keep a dry eye.
I loved the bride’s dress which was regal. Her posture and bearing made it even more stunning
I loved the unexpected impact of the Maid of Honor’s white, sexy/slinky sheath — which she also carried off flawlessly.
chuck
fucking peasants, all of you…
Cat Lady
@Elie:
I do. I just did this mother of the bride thing two weeks ago. It’s sheer relief and satisfaction to see it happening after worrying about every single detail. You know why they’re both so thin? Stress. I didn’t realize how big the knot in my stomach was until several days after the wedding, and I had a small fraction of the number of people involved that they did.
It broke every rule to have the MoH in white, but it worked.
Amir_Khalid
She can’t very well stand up in public and sing a song that essentially says “God Save Me”. That would be, you know, not cool.
Elie
@Cat Lady:
Congrats to you! Hope that you had some fun to balance all the stress. Still, all that stress also sharpens your senses so if you had stress, I hope that it helps keep the memories of the day strongly in your memory…
I love weddings. We have so little pageantry remaining anymore. Its important to mark these life milestones from birth to death — and yes, I believe good funerals are also important.
I enjoyed this wedding and I enjoyed my own — including the stress of planning it. I remember taking a few minutes during my own reception party to sit quietly and just savor it…its over so quickly. I hope that you have a few moments like that…
Svensker
@Bulworth:
Some people are just naturally skinny in youth. I was a bean pole (people were always happy to tell me that, too) but ate like a horse. Yum, food! God, I wish I had that metabolism these days — I still eat like a horse, but now I look like I ate the horse.
Svensker
@Yevgraf (fka Michael):
S/B “lying back”.
/grammar scold
Elie
The other thing that was fashion forward was that the maid of honor did not carry some crappy bouquet. She was flower free and just held the hands of the young bridesmaids during the processional. A very sweet and nice way to both give small children a little guidance and do something with her hands in the absence of said bouquet.
I really dug her dress (the MOH). I would wear that in a heart beat if my behind looked like hers in it. Hell, even with junk in my trunk, I would wear it! Take that, all you bridesmaid dress easter egg color and frill lovers!
Calouste
@Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal:
When I spend some time in the Australian Outback, the only guy I met who drank Foster’s was a New Zealander. That tells you all you need to know about Foster’s.
Brachiator
@Elie:
@Cat Lady:
The Maid of Honor was Catherine’s sister, Pippa. The dress was designed by Sarah Burton, who also did her sister’s wedding dress and it was designed to complement it.
Also re: It broke every rule to have the MoH in white, but it worked.
A lot of unofficial rules were broken here. Catherine wore a veil, a bit of a no no. Traditionally, the bride does not wear a veil so that everyone can see that there has been no substitution for the real bride.
The little rebellions are an interesting bit of independence amidst all the tradition and formality.
And never ask how I know these things.
A L
I give myself credit for not being surprised that liberals defend literal aristocracy because “Well AMERICA is worse!!”
Guess what guys? Britain’s race relations are even worse than America’s, and the British Empire was unambiguously an even more malevolent force in human history than America has been so far.
P.S. Being president in the U.S. is almost as ceremonial a role as being the monarch of England, so that argument can take a hike too.
burnspbesq
@Amanda in the South Bay:
Umm … Is “congratulations” the right thing to say here?
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@chuck:
now this made me laugh
Paul in KY
@Calouste: I’ve had Steinlager & didn’t think it was as good as I had been led to believe.
Cat Lady
@A L:
You know, I don’t think anyone here who has enjoyed watching this particular wedding is defending aristocracy – it is possible to enjoy a traditional event celebrating two people who love each other and done with some pageantry, without endorsing inherited titles. I wished Chelsea Clinton’s wedding was televised, cuz I would’ve watched all of that too. Keep fucking that “liberals defend aristocracy” chicken if it makes you feel good, though. I’m going to look at more pictures of the hats.
Paul in KY
@Cat Lady: Those were some freaky hats! I’ve been to 18 KY Derbys & thought I’d seen every wild hat imaginable, but I guess my imagination was stunted when it came to hats :-)
A L
@Cat Lady: Hahaha Chelsea Clinton is also an aristocrat, so it sounds very much to me that you are defending the practice.
Nutella
@aimai:
I am reliably informed that the queen is a gin and tonic gal, so it probably wasn’t whiskey and soda she was thinking about.
Dog is My Co-Pilot
I really do like William and Kate, and I agree with JC – will take them any day over seeing Paris Hilton or any other celebrity that seems to be front and center these days. William seems so much like his mother, and seems to be as genuine a person as one can be in his position. I enjoyed watching the video clips of the wedding. It was a nice diversion from the more negative headlines I woke up to today. A diversion is okay now and again, isn’t it?
Cat Lady
@Paul in KY:
Women’s hats are one of those things I find fascinating. Here, it’s only the Kentucky Derby and the Sunday church ladies in the black communities where you see them. It’s another one of those things the Brits are good at. Too bad about their unfortunate teeth, though.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cat Lady: Many years ago, my mother wore a light colored linen dress and a good hat to my OCS graduation/commissioning. I had several people ask if my mother was a general’s daughter or at least from an old military family since, in their eyes, she was one of the only women dressed appropriately for the event. Apparently, hats can matter. My wife loves the Kentucky Derby pre-race show because of the hats.
Elie
@A L:
Oh for Pete’s sake, lighten up. Some of us just enjoy weddings etc. What do you do to enjoy life and mark its milestones?
Omnes Omnibus
@Elie: There is a segment of American society, especially on the left, who would condemn any form of frivolity as a distraction from the serious business of life. Some of it is a left over from the Puritans (who weren’t as puritan as one would think), but some is more recent. The fellow anarchist who chided Emma Goldman for dancing comes to mind. As the kids say, haters gotta hate.
poi
Look Johnny C. its so so obvious ie “I find Kate to be absolutely stunning” and then you said the Girl with the viral weekend video had “I nice smile.”
John you got to go on some dates–its real clear subcurrent.
–poi
Cat Lady
@Elie:
A L leaves turds in other people’s punchbowls then pats him/herself on the back for having the common touch.
poi
Look Johnny C. its so so obvious ie “I find Kate to be absolutely stunning” and then you said the Girl with the viral weekend video had “I nice smile.”
John you got to go on some dates–its real clear subcurrent.
–poi
Elie
@Omnes Omnibus:
I hear that.
I will join you and Cat Lady at the party and feel sorry for those who are afraid of a good time of two…
A L
@Elie: What party? There’s no party that you’re invited to. William and Kate have no work or worries in the world. So unless you too are a clueless aristocrat, you’ve got nothing to be happy about.
Or you can keep vicariously living through two people who are probably just as bad as you are, just so you can pretend that your life is apparently not a mess. Either way, it’s pathetic.
A L
Look how nice the royals are, paying the peasants below-living wage to clean up after them: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/104045
Wonderful kids. They’re just like us:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zt98ys08vo
Amir_Khalid
@A L:
What’s up with all that sourpussitude?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Paul in KY: Or, as they say in a prominent old KY business, linebreeding is great and even essential, to a point, then you need some good outcrosses. Or your dosage index starts to suck, and you got all kinds of other issues, including temperamental.
Mnemosyne
@A L:
You need to get out more.
A L
@Amir_Khalid: Just pointing out that deep down inside, liberals are just Republicans waiting to happen. If it’s not something like 9/11, it’s aristocrat-worship that makes them show their true colors.
This is probably why they’re unable to figure out that Obama’s not on their side. Maybe if he was true-hearted, like the royals…