Kate, William & Dad's Aston Martin
I have to confess. I didn't have the bunting out, didn't organise a street party and didn't feel particularly excited about this public holiday occasion. And the idea of a day off is a bit irrelevant when you run your own business. Well, the TV was on from around 08:30am with the Memsaab glued to it. I have to say, I did watch the wedding and genuinely enjoyed the whole extraordinary event as it unfolded.
I didn't think I'd grown into a grumpy old cynic, (maybe I have) but I was pleasantly surprised. My memories of royal occasion started with Charles investiture when I was 8 years old and we got a day off school. If I'm honest, it hadn't really improved much since, until yesterday's holiday.
I'd not followed the romance of Kate and William, beyond the news headlines; even less the background of her parents and the growth of their mailorder business 'Party Pieces'. Of course you'd have had to have been asleep not to have experienced some of the TV material made available leading upto this momentous day. It's been deliciously amusing for programme makers to explore the commoner connections in all its detail, filling their boots with investigating some of Kate Middleton's relatives and reflecting on just how close tatoos have come to the Queen of England. I was also amused to see how this 'great' event was portrayed amongst friends and 'others' on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.
I guess in all of this, I'm most impressed with William. Aside from marrying an easy on the eye commoner (smart man), it's his humility, his ability and no doubt determination to connect with 'his people' (afterall, one day he will be king), that I really like.
So after all the carefully choreographed and timetabled events that the BBC knew about, it was great to have the unexpected pleasure of the happy couple, pulling one over on the media and taking their own time to pootle down the Mall in Dad's car. What a wonderfully endearing touch, beautifully orchestrated with the right amount of tack attached - perfect.
My other observation is the glimpse we were afforded into what 'great' really did mean in Great Britain. There is no other country in the world that has such an extraordinary export.
