Why Americans can't stop obsessing over the royal wedding
Behind the patina of pomp 鈥� the bunting, flags, trumpets, and carriages 鈥� Friday鈥檚 royal wedding highlights the ironies behind why people who tossed off monarchy 235 years ago now find themselves riveted by royalty.
Indeed, Americans and Brits will view the wedding very differently, say historians, magazine editors, and sociologists.
鈥淭he Brits may be calculating a bit more about how much it鈥檚 all costing, and who鈥檚 who 鈥� they鈥檒l be paying sharp attention to snubs, and who鈥檚 seated where, says Sally Kilbridge, deputy editor of Brides Magazine.
鈥淲e Americans are an easier lot to please 鈥� easy to dazzle with pomps and parades, since we have so little of it,鈥� she says. 鈥淪how us an Irish Guard in polished boots and we just about fall over backward, so imagine what the scene of hundreds of gorgeous horses and shiny carriages and smart uniforms will do to us. Add a gorgeous young woman in a real diamond tiara and we鈥檙e besotted.鈥�
America and monarchy
鈥淭here is clearly something odd going on in America鈥檚 fascination with the royal wedding,鈥� says Patrick Allitt, a native of Great Britain who teaches American history at Emory University in Atlanta.
The American Revolution could have led to 鈥渁 complete American revulsion of all things British, but that didn鈥檛 happen,鈥� says Professor Allitt.
鈥淓ven though Americans tossed away the idea of monarchy for themselves, there is still this lurking feeling that Britain is still the repository of high English culture that Americans can鈥檛 quite match,鈥� he says.
Chad Martin, assistant professor of history at the University of Indianapolis, thinks English royalty fills the same American hunger for celebrity that feeds fascination with the Oscars and Grammys.
鈥淭hey want to know who鈥檚 invited, who鈥檚 sitting where and what are they wearing,鈥� says Professor Martin.
A British take on the American dream?
In another twist, the prince鈥檚 choice of bride evokes the American dream, says Susan Shapiro Barash, author of "The New Wife: The Evolving Role of the American Wife."
鈥淢arrying up has been done in America for years, whereas in a class culture like Britain, you don鈥檛 have that kind of fluidity,鈥� she says. 鈥淸William鈥檚] choice supports the American dream as women in the US see it.鈥�
Brides Magazine鈥檚 Ms. Kilbridge echoes that idea. 鈥淎mericans clearly appreciate the fact that Kate is a commoner 鈥� a bit more like us than all those posh aristos,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his wedding feels much more 鈥楢merican鈥� than royal weddings past, what with Kate inviting her butcher, arriving in a car instead of a glass coach, and having an after-party with friends, not politicians.鈥�
But America still cherishes meritocracy over aristocracy, Kilbridge notes. 鈥淎n awful lot of Americans 鈥� seem furious that the Obamas weren鈥檛 invited to the wedding, even though this is clearly not a political snub, but simply a way of controlling numbers and security expenses. As practical a move as it might be, we seem to feel that our president earned a place at the wedding!鈥�
Nobody does excess like royalty
One additional explanation for American fascination with the wedding is the American love of excess 鈥� an extension of the corporate-driven, consumer culture.
Weddings have become a modern 鈥渞itual of ferocious, gluttonous, consuming, a debauch of intensified buying, never again to be repeated in the life of an American couple,鈥� says Marcia Seligson, author of 鈥淭he Eternal Bliss Machine: America鈥檚 Way of Wedding.鈥�
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 over, five hours later, there鈥檚 the debris, the soggy egg salad, the drooping peonies, the cigarettes shredding in the champagne glasses, and the bills. Somehow, it鈥檚 all worth it.鈥�
If competing with the Joneses floats your boat, history shows there ain鈥檛 no bigger or richer family to compete with than the Windsors of Britain.
