Anyway, I did want to post this bit about the Royal Wedding. It was quite an experience. The following is from the email I sent to friends and family after the big day:
"So, it’s official. There’s a new princess in town. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know there was a wedding here Friday. And, in a brilliant PR move, the nation was given a holiday to celebrate. Added to the May Day Bank Holiday today, and we actually have a four-day weekend (after a three-day week, so not too shabby). I thought of escaping the royal wedding madness and going away, but then I thought, my friends and family would never forgive me if I didn’t report back. So, for you, I stayed in town! Actually, that’s not completely true – I just got back from St. Ives, in Cornwall, where I spent the rest of the holiday weekend (C’mon, you know it, “As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives . . .” – yes, you will have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day.). But, Friday, I joined the multitudes in celebrating Wills and Kate’s big day.
I didn’t actually have any fixed plan for Royal Wedding Day. On the day the National Holiday was announced, one of my Fulbright colleagues texted me to stay with me. I agreed, then kind of regretted it, because it meant losing the rest f the weekend. In the end, she decided on a hotel because she was going to be with her parents. I immediately booked my trip to Cornwall, precluding any other surprise guests. As for the day itself, I figured I’d just wander the periphery, get a few back of head shots, and be able to say I was in London for the Royal Wedding. It’s funny how things can turn out very different than you anticipate.
Originally, I was going to walk around Thursday afternoon, since it was my early day from work. That was the only way I knew I’d get close to Westminster Abbey, Horse Guards and the Palace. Then, Wednesday, I heard from another Fulbright teacher, who was down from the North. She wanted to do dinner Thursday. We agreed to meet up, do the same walkabout that I was planning, and then do dinner. She was staying with another colleague who lives just south of London (quite near my school, actually). While we were walking around, we were talking about their plans for the next day, and she said they were getting up early to come into town. I offered my fold-out sofa, and they ended up staying with me Thursday night.
As we walked around Thursday and saw all the people camped out along the Pall Mall and near Buckingham Palace, we decided to go instead to Trafalgar Square and try to watch the big screen. Being near the palace meant only seeing them go by in the car, and then the carriage, for about 30 seconds. There were no screens, so you couldn’t watch the ceremony (turns out, they played the audio for those people). Also, if you had not already been camped out (and I don’t even camp out for Yankee tickets), there was no way you were going to see anything anyway, you’d be too far back. More on why those locations were a bad idea later.
So, Meredith, Jeff and I left Cali and Brooke watching the festivities on the BBC, and headed to Trafalgar Square, with about 50 thousand of our closest friends, at about 7 AM (a reasonable time that did not involve sleeping on pavement). We had to pass through a security check, and we ended up with a seat front and center, right near the big screen and in front of the MSNBC cameras (you may have seen me!). Looking around at our fellow revelers, we did realize that playing it by ear had it’s drawbacks – we forgot a blanket, and didn’t even think to bring the bottle of sparkling wine I had in the fridge (actually, I blame the open container laws back home for that – I’m conditioned into thinking you need a brown paper bag if you want to drink in public). But, given the length of the “loo queues,” turned out, the less liquid consumed, the better! We could have bought champagne at Trafalgar, as they had bars and food kiosks set up for the “street party.” But, once you were in your spot, it was hard to move around (as I discovered on my way back from the loo, when I had to play a highly sophisticated game of twister to find my way back to our spot).
At about 10, they asked everyone who was sitting to stand and move forward, so more people could get into the square. The drawback was having to stand for the rest of the time. The advantage was we got even closer to the screen. There was an emcee, and music, along with the BBC “pre-game” coverage to keep us entertained, and it was a nice atmosphere. Once the festivities started, it was amazing to see the various crowd reactions. Every sighting was cause for a cheer. People oohed and aahed over the dress and the hair (and laughed heartily when the male BBC announcer said as Kate got into the car, “It’s a limited view to be sure, but what a delightful view it is” – just as the camera happened to be showing a fairly clear shot of the bride’s bosom). There were “aaws” as Will snuck a peek at Kate walking down the aisle, and every time they shared a smile. There was also some healthy criticism of some of the dresses and hats (did anyone see the Kafka-esque roach on Princess Beatrice’s head?). Throughout the service, though, the square was almost entirely silent, which was impressive. People sang along with the hymns (they sold programs at the square which had the entire service printed in it, so you could follow along), and the crowd’s rendition of “God Save the Queen” proved emotional even for us Yanks. Speaking of emotion, the only one of the three of us who actually got choked up was Jeff, as he watched Kate’s dad walk her down the aisle!
After the service, they kept us entertained with a band, Mayor Boris, and a crazy hat contest (I can’t even begin to describe some of the outfits. Fortunately, you can see the photo below for a sample). Quote of the day (actually beating out the BBC announcer) came from a 5-year-old girl in the hat contest who, when asked by the emcee when she had turned five, looked at him oddly and said, “On my birthday.”
Then it was time for the balcony scene – the kiss everyone was waiting for. This is when we knew for sure that we had made the right decision in not going to the Mall or the Palace. When the BBC cameras showed the scene at the Palace, it was clear that the crowd had surged forward with such force, that they had simply knocked over the barriers. If you saw it on TV, you have a sense of how many people there were – they all pushed forward. Our other colleagues (some of whom had camped out), said people fell and nearly got trampled. And, even if you didn’t get trampled, people were pushed so close together you couldn’t move or breathe deeply. It took them an hour and half to extricate themselves from the crowd, and they couldn’t even see much.
Meanwhile, back in civilization, the crowd at Trafalgar Square did press in a little to get closer to the screen, but within reason. Everyone was pleasant, popping champagne corks as they kissed, laughing, “aawing” and generally enjoying themselves. We were very grateful not to be in the crush. Again I thought, why spend hours waiting for a 30-second glance (and that open carriage was moving really fast!), only to be pushed and shoved by a few hundred thousand people? Not worth it. We even got a great view of the fly-over from the square too.
Once the Queen decided that the festivities were done, we left the Square in search of lunch, and non-port-o-san toilets. The party was still going on in the square, but we were done. We had a leisurely lunch at a local Italian restaurant that we all knew, which was the perfect quiet, comfortable spot that we needed. Afterwards, we walked back toward the square, down Whitehall (literally – we could walk in the middle of the street, which never happens!), through Horse Guards (the same route as the Royal Procession), down the Mall, and past the Palace. There were still large crowds, but the madness had eased somewhat by then. Then we headed back to my flat, asked Cali and Brooke what they thought of it all (they liked the dress, and wondered where the Royal Corgis were), and went back out to the pub to meet the other teachers and compare notes. The end result of which was realizing we’d had the best spot (and, I think, the best time) of everyone!
The other plus was that Meredith and Jeff are easy to spend the day with (maybe because they’re New Yorkers – even if they’re from upstate!). A lot of the time, when I hang out with any semi-large group of Fulbrighters, I feel like I’m back in high school, instead of teaching it. There is so much drama. I don’t get it – we are all adults. Why do we need to revert to such childish games? But, there was no drama during our day out – everyone was easygoing, and went with the flow. All in all, a great day, and a highlight of the Fulbright year."
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