Royal wedding: The bit in the church is the bit that matters to the whole world
By Charles Moore, Telegraph
With two billion due to watch it, republicans are right to worry about the royal wedding, writes Charles Moore.
Did you know that there was no royal wedding in Westminster Abbey between 1382 and 1919? (In the intervening period, the couples were married more privately – in the Chapel Royal, for example.) Since then, there have been nine. This fact tells you something surprising: in modern times, royal weddings have become more important in our national life than ever before.
There’s a school of thought that says that the service doesn’t matter. I recently read a public figure quoted as saying: “I’m not really a massive fan of the bit in the church. The thought of watching somebody else’s wedding, well, it isn’t for me.” Fortunately for the British monarchy, indeed for the whole of “our island story”, this view is a minority one. It is said that two billion people will watch Prince William marry Catherine Middleton next Friday. “The bit in the church” will be the biggest box office hit of the 21st century so far.
There have been various stories about attention-seeking republicans trying to spoil the ceremony. A few newspapers have run anti-wedding supplements and features. They are all so dismally counterproductive that one might ask why they bother. I think I know why. If I were a republican, this wedding would worry me. I could not just shrug it off as a brief diversion. I would see it – and I would be right to see it – as a major challenge to my dreams of change. I would be furious.
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