Friday 29 April 2011

Wedding Shmedding ... may lose some followers with this post.

Ok... if you are a staunch royalist or a died in the wool romantic I suggest you turn away now. I may become loathed throughout the universe for this post, but I have an opinion and this is the place its getting aired. Please feel free to disagree!!

As I write this the wedding of William and Kate is taking place in London. I am glad that at last the day has come because, frankly, I am sick to death of all the sycophantic froth that has surrounded it. Nearly everyone I know is close to fainting with the excitement. I am close to putting up posters shouting 'Vive la Republique!!'

Don't get me wrong... I have nothing against the couple. They seem like a perfectly nice pair full of common sense and good intentions. But I don't agree with the monarchy and I don't see why the entire world is obsessed with a pair of hideously privileged toffs. All the hype about Kate being an ordinary girl swept up by a prince is poppycock.

Kate was born into extreme wealth, her parents having made lots of money. She went to a school that costs a fortune each term and has been surrounded by everything a girl would dream of all her life. William has been born into a position of obscene wealth and power. He has earned it purely by being born into a family that was in the right place at the right time.

So... why should we pay for their wedding? Why should our taxes be spent on their security? The government is making cuts left right and centre and ordinary people are having to have their wages cut, their living expenses rise.

By celebrating their wedding I feel that I am agreeing to the monarchy. I do not and never will agree to the monarchy. I am not saying off with their heads, but I am adamant that as one of the richest families in the world they could pay for their own wedding. By waving flags and gushing over the fairytale romance I believe that I would be putting myself in a position of subservience. Like a country yokel 2 hundred years ago waving as the lord of the manor swept through in his gilt carriage I would be gawping and gawking while they look upon most of the population of this country as inferior.

They may be more ordinary than the royals who have come before, but that does not mean that they are actually ordinary. If any of us even tried to talk to them we would be swept away by security.

As a young couple getting married and setting off on the voyage of married life I wish them well, but as the representatives of an institution which I consider fundamentally wrong I choose to turn my back and ignore the revelry. I am not their subject and I do not buy into the fairytale story.It makes me angry that so many people are fooled into thinking that this brings us together as a nation and that we are all pushing forward with the spirit of the blitz.

The sooner its all over the better.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read this after I 'finally' turned off the TV!
I have the same view of the RF as you, I am a republican. However, I do like that we (the British) can put on a show. The Blues & Royals, & the horseguards all looked fabulous. The control over the crowds surging up the mall by the police was awesome.It was nice to see the police have a peaceful job for once. The dress was nice, the bridesmaids sweet, the princes handsome. Can we get back to normal now though, please.

Gail said...

I have no interest in the wedding.

Thanks for commenting on my post, I was unable to reply since you use no reply comment.

Here is some irony, the Word Verification for this is Mated!

Inkling said...

I am a paradox, I think. On the one hand, moving to Canada and finding out that one day my citizenship here would require me to pledge allegiance to the queen seemed a bit much for an American who grew up being told all about the big, bad King George. In the horrible, legalistic, America-is-best private schools my parents sent me to, we were clearly taught two very bigoted things: England was the bad guy that forced America to be founded, and anyone who isn't a Christian is a horrible person. Clearly, I have healed myself from that brainwashing experiment. But it still does seem weird to pledge to the queen.

But on the other hand, I am a hopeless romantic and did set my alarm for 2:45 this morning so I could spend the next two hours watching the most important parts of the big day. And I grinned like a romantic, mushy girl throughout the whole time. But I think it struck my heart the way it did not only because I'm such a romantic, but also because I couldn't help but see some universal truths in it about how all of us humans want to have a life so beautiful and wonderful and good that it feels like a fairytale. At least, that's what I got from it.

Even if you suddenly said "off with their heads", I'd still love your blog. I love your heart and I am loving all that I'm learning from your gardening adventure.

E. M. Prokop said...

I watched the wedding, and I heard that the Queen and the Middleton's were paying for most of the cost out of their personal fortunes. Mind you, I'm not British...but as a Canadian, I know that we've had a fasination with the Monarchy for ages...than being said, I agree with you that the people that the Royals think of as 'ordinary' or commoners...are still very upper crust to us! You'd never see the Prince falling in love with a waitress...still, I was swept up in the romance of it all...I remember seeing Princess Diana carrying William out of the hospital,and now he's getting married...not only that, he's severly balding too eh?! Did you check out that sparsely topped dome?! I agree with Inkling..I love your blog! I've given you the Versatile Blogger Award...head over to my blog to pick it up..

Razmataz said...

I am so happy to read a real thought and perhaps a controversial one on a blog. There is intelligent life after all.....

I think that the money brought into the economy through this event is alone a huge boost to the UK right now. All political leaders and monarchs are off limits to the general public. I couldn;t get close to my PM without security intervening.

History is important to preserve, provided it does no harm. I don;t see the harm in the monarchy. They are no different than many elite....good bad and awful mixed in. A lot of them do some awfully good work.

Anonymous said...

I feel the same, but I'm an American and get particularly annoyed with how caught up my fellow Americans get with the whole thing. Figureheads people, that's all they are! Who cares!