I went over to Rachel's to watch the wedding with her flatmate Sorcha and a couple other of their friends. Man, I miss having a television. But considering my other option was to stream it on my laptop (since I didn't get a ticket to the breakfast going on in St Salvator's Quad), I'll walk the 20 minutes to their flat.
Wills whispering to his bride, 'You look beautiful'.
Walking out of Westminster Abbey.
First official kiss for TRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Of course, as if there was any doubt, the whole thing was beautiful (well, except for Princess Beatrice's hat/headpiece -- what on earth was that antler looking thing?) Her dress was gorgeous -- how much did I love those lace sleeves? -- and the best part was they actually seemed to be happy. They seemed to genuinely both want to be there, and genuinely happy to be there with each other. Which I think comes from them waiting, getting to know each other, being older than 20... You know, silly little things like that.
And as one of the significant locals in their love story, St Andrews was once again swamped with press. And with 6,000 people vying for the 1,500 breakfast seats to watch the livestream of the wedding on the big screen in the quad, after 1pm, they opened up the quad to everyone in town to come, listen to pipers, mingle and enjoy a beautiful day.
Mingling in the Quad.
Students and townspeople decked out in their tiaras, Union Jacks, and other assorted finery to pose for the cameras of the various news stations alternating broadcasts.
I somehow ended up in the circle for one of the BBC broadcasts with who I was told was one of the Radio One DJs... apparently for an event this big, you pull out all of your BBC employees and put them to work, normally on tv or not!
Masks were also a popular accessory -- one's the real Queen and one's a fake, can you tell which one?
As an American, I find the pomp and circumstance entertaining and so distinctly British. There is no direct correlation to something American. If they were celebrities of some ilk, they'd be trying to keep cameras away from their wedding. If they were elected officials, they would probably be too worried about election cycles to do a big wedding, and we more than likely wouldn't care. But here's someone who was given a public role by circumstance of birth, by fate. Americans don't care much for 'fate' -- but we do like a good party, and a good party with British accents, all the better.
And now the sky is darkening for that rain that's been threatened all week, but at least the festivities went on without a cloud -- at least here in St Andrews. London had a few clouds, but again, at least no rain.
And to the newlywed couple? I wish you nothing but happiness. Goodness knows your family is due for some.
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