This past week we’ve all watched rather helplessly as American television turned over nearly every waking broadcast moment to the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, breathlessly obsessing over the most pointless sorts of details. Will he do such-and-such? Will she wear this or that? I’ve never been so sick of anything in all my life. . . and it took something as terrible as the catastrophic tornado outbreak in the Deep South to shake the networks loose from their Wedding Mania. And because the buildup had taken on a life of its own, I wondered if the wedding itself would almost feel like a tired or tiresome anticlimax.
Are you kidding?!?!
Kathy and I just sat down in front of the TV and watched our DVR of the service and were absolutely blown away by its magnificence. Not that our opinions matter at all, but here are a few random observations, to be stirred into the mix with the millions of blogs and tweets and commentaries that have the wedding has generated. . .
They Don’t Build Rooms like that anymore. . . I’m talking about the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, which has never looked more glorious than it did with this wedding. I especially loved how some of the cameras allowed us to see the splendor of the abbey like we never have before (that is, when those cameras weren’t lingering over all the weird hats in the room). My favorite view is pictured above- because it was almost like we were viewing the wedding through God’s eyes… and from that distance, everyone there looked the same . . . meaning equally small. . . from the lowliest doorman to the Queen herself.
Diana and Barbara. . . This may sound like a very strange thing to say, but in a day full of thrills, I found myself very excited to see Diana Sawyer and Barbara Walters seated side by side, functioning essentially as co-anchors of ABC’s coverage and looking much more like affecionate colleagues than tense rivals. And while it was fun to have Barbara offering a longer view (this was her third Royal wedding), for me Diane Sawyer is ten times more impressive as a journalist and as a communicator. For something as big as this, there is no one I would choose ahead of her to be in the anchor chair.
ABC vs. NBC. . . We DVR’d the coverage of both ABC and NBC, and we were rather appalled by how talkative NBC was – most egregiously during music and hymns – compared to ABC, which managed to remain largely silent through the course of the service itself. NBC’s choice drove us crazy because. . .
Music Matters. . . We loved what was played and sung for the service- especially the magnificent “Crown Imperial” of Sir William Walton, which was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. And when the newlyweds reached the front door of Westminster Abbey, and the sound of the Walton march merged with that of the joyous church bells pealing ecstatically. . . well, I thought my heart would burst right out of my chest. As for the choral pieces, they were lovely – although i have to say that the unknown Welsh composer Paul Mealon and his Ubi Caritas outdistanced the much more famous John Rutter and his This is the Day . . . although they were both put in the shade by “I was Glad” by Hubert Parry, which was the stunning processional. But I have to say that nothing was more beautiful than the hymns that were sung. I may be a bit biased, since we had three hymns sung at our wedding, but to me there is something missing from even the most beautiful wedding if you don’t give everyone present a chance to join together in song. And by the way, I was delighted to see both Kate and William joining in on the hymns.
I now know what a Fascinator is. . . I can’t say that I’m a huge fan, but there was some spectacular head wear on display. . . and other head wear that looked like something the people of Who-ville might wear in a Dr. Seuss book. (And I’m pretty sure that’s not the effect that any of those young women was going for.)
The Monarchy is Alive and Well. . . I know that there are a lot of intelligent people who fervently believe that the British monarchy has outlived its usefulness and is not worth the time, trouble or expense, but I wonder if that can possibly be true if an event like this wedding could generate such delight and joy, both in Britain and around the world. And so many of the choices which William and Kate made (such as asking for charitable donations in lieu of lavish wedding gifts) point to a monarchy much more in tune to the world in which we live and to what it means to making the world a better place. And let’s hope that they manage to do exactly that.
That’s all.