In the Wall Street Journal’s Thursday, April 28 article, “Wedding’s Far-Flung Audience”, we hear about the fifteen realms including Canada and Australia that still count Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state and are tuning in eagerly for footage of the royal wedding on television or You Tube. We hear of a Commonwealth with fifty-three independent countries where their is also wedding frenzy.
At The Windsor Arms, an inn in Toronto, in Eastern Canada, which some say is more British than the British, the owners will feature live coverage starting at 3:00AM and the ceremony starting at 6:00AM Eastern Time while the gawkers make themselves comfortable eating and imbibing. Descendants of Britons in faraway Australia and South Africa plan celebrations and parties.
Media hype is all that remains of what was once a functioning political entity during the First and Second World Wars. The British could once command troops from their far-flung empire to fight and die in the trenches of a hellhole like Gallipoli. Now all they can get them to do is tune in on T.V. , munch microwave popcorn, and buy replicas of Kate Middleton’s wedding gown.
