Royal Wedding 2011: It's Just Not the Same

Recently I asked on Facebook if I were the only person who really didn't give a *&%^ about William and Kate's upcoming wedding and was pleasantly surprised to confirm that indeed, I'm not the only one who's getting kind of tired of the global hype surrounding this event. Don't get me wrong - I don't dislike William and Kate in the slightest. I think they come across as two very nice young people and I sincerely wish them a lifetime of love and happiness (aka let's hope it works out better than it did for William's parents.)

It's just that...well...doesn't it seem to you that the magic just isn't there this time around? I suppose there are a number of reasons why I feel that way. For starters, I was 9 years old when Diana married Charles in July 1981. Like so many other little girls from that time and generation, I wasn't disillusioned yet by the real world and had no idea at the time that poor Diana was stepping into a viper's nest of a family. Diana was the first time any of us had heard of a real princess being married on TV, so that in itself was pretty exciting. Seeing the horse drawn carriage, the pomp and circumstance, the remarkable train on her gown, and the multitudes of people watching - this was definitely a fairy tale come to life. 


Also, the wedding was exciting because Diana seemed very down to earth and girls and young women could look up to her. Lookswise, she reminded me of one of my sisters. She wore regular clothes when the media first introduced us to her. She was young, pretty, shy, and she loved Duran Duran and dancing, which totally made her cool in my eyes and the eyes of my school peers. Not that Kate doesn't have that same level of approachability, but I distinctly remember the footage of Diana Spencer at the school she worked at, and as a kid not much older than the ones she taught, it definitely gave me a different perspective. Through the years, as I got older, so did Diana, who became more beautiful and grew into her role as a humanitarian.

I don't recall getting up at 4 AM to watch the wedding as some women from my generation did, but I do remember seeing a good portion of it on live TV. And that's another thing: Royal Wedding 2011 has a large technical component to it. There's the official website, Facebook page, Twitter account, video spoofs, etc. I think part of what made Diana and Charles' wedding so magical was the fact that it was broadcast live and for those folks who hadn't yet adopted that wonderful new invention called the VCR, the only way to catch the excitement was to watch it live. Sometimes I miss the days when not everything was so easily recordable: it's been said that the crime rate dropped the night the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, because everyone was watching the show. 


Having said all that, I probably will catch part of Royal Wedding 2011 because it's one of Diana's sons getting married (and I think she would be quite proud), and William and Kate found each other on their own accord. I just know it won't be quite as exciting as Royal Wedding 1981.


What do you peeps think? What do you remember most about Diana and Charles' wedding...and are you going to watch Will and Kate's?