Loving the fairy tale

November 18, 2010

Cuppa?

Handsome Prince William has chosen the lovely future Queen Catherine as his bride and memorabilia’s already in British shops. {Cuppa tea, anyone? Stitch? }

Marriage is hard under the best of circumstances, and even harder when your faces are on mugs and thimbles. Constant scrutiny has played a role in the disintegration of almost all marriages within the British Royal family. I can not imagine what it would be like to forge a meaningful relationship when chances are good you’ll be the next King and Queen of England.

Still, we love a fairy tale and the hunger for news about this mediagenic young couple, the next generation of royals, is not likely to abate any time soon.

This announcement comes as I’m catching up on Season 4 of The Tudors. {Talented Irishman Jonathan Rhys-Meyers has done a spectacular job in this role, especially since he’s said to be a raging drink & drug addict whose recovery just won’t take.}

The Tudors is a hit because we love the whole fantasy of royalty: golden, gem-encrusted crowns, silks and crinolines, moats and horses, hushed conversations in the dark on stone staircases, religious and political intrigue and romance.

It’s hard to believe that after watching the heads of previous wives roll, literally, women continued to flirt with and marry Henry the Eighth. Despite incredibly gruesome executions, such as drawing and quartering, queens and courtiers continued to have risky affairs and to attempt to reform religious conventions.

{I like a fairy tale as much as the next girl but it would concern me if that King showed an interest in MY neck. A paucity of good sense, back then.}

Today’s royals have fallen short of our fantasy, but they’re still the modern version of The Tudors.

The beautiful and highly visible Princess Diana was a spoiled, petulant media manipulator who also did a lot of good for the charities in which she was involved. She wasn’t significant in my sphere. And yet, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of her shocking death.

That’s the impact of the royal fantasy world. Of course, the whole concept of “royalty” is archaic. But it does play to our imaginations.

Here’s the thing. Prince William seems like a relatively normal and nice guy. He could be doing the charitable thing full-time, but he decided instead to be a search and rescue helicopter pilot. {How dense could these Windsors be? Two of them are pilots and I assume had to achieve some understanding of aeronautical engineering.}

His future queen, not of royal lineage, seems normal enough, too.


The hunger for news about this young couple and the upcoming royal wedding reflects our desire to step out of the drudgery of every day life for a moment and enter that fantasy world of curtsies, courtiers and horrendous, huge hats.

Royal-watching today is like watching The Tudors.

We could all use a little more fantasy in our lives, don’t you think? {No mugs, plates or thimbles for me. I’m holding out for a tea towel.}

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