As Dunkin Donuts puts finishing touches on their jelly-filled, heart-shaped Royal Wedding donut and Papa John’s continues to accumulate contestants hoping to win their mosaic-style pizza that features the happy couple’s faces made out of cheese and peppers, it may seem as though truly everyone has bought into the royal wedding madness. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s big day is less than a week away and all eyes will turn to Westminster Abbey on Friday, April 29th to celebrate. Although President Obama did not make the guest list, famous Brits like Sir Elton John and the Beckham couple are expected to attend the luncheon reception at Buckingham Palace, which, according to the New York Times, will only feature a menu of 2-bite appetizers called canapés, champagne, and of course, the wedding cake.
If, like me, you don’t plan on getting up to watch the event as it unfolds at 6 a.m. our time, then perhaps you would want to take part in some of the events going on across New England to recap the day.
1) The British Consulate is partnering with the Bostonian Society to host a “Royal Wedding Open House” at the Old State House, 206 Washington Street, from 12 pm to 2 pm. Their websites welcomes everyone to join them as they “toast to the health of the Royal couple and celebrate our many past and present ties.”
2) The British Beer Company in Walpole will be celebrating at 6 pm with various reenactment groups portraying the Red Coats and a Scottish Pipe Band. More info can be found at britishbeer.com
3) More locally, the restaurant 75 Chestnut will be serving royal drinks, British dinner specials, and even complimentary wedding cake throughout the day in honor of the Royal Wedding.
Now, I will honestly say that I did not originally know much about the royal wedding, its traditions, or, most importantly, the bride! I took a quiz and was deemed a “commoner” because of my pathetic score of 50% (try your luck here). But few know much about the elusive Kate Middleton. The New York Times did a whole article yesterday on how rare she is in today’s day in age: a celebrity without a Facebook, Twitter, or memoir about to be released. She has successfully managed to stay out of the media, only addressing them once formally – to announce the engagement!
From what is said about her, however, 29-year-old Kate does not seems to be too unlike the rest of us HC ladies. She comes from a middle-class family (her parents met working for British Airways) that worked hard so she could go to a good school (University of St. Andrews). There she met Prince William and the two are said to have based their relationship upon a strong friendship that came first, and isn’t that what we all hope for? Although she has a degree in Art History, Kate worked as an accessory buyer for the clothing chain Jigsaw and is known as a fashion icon, always making the best-dressed lists. That is partially why many are anxiously waiting to see what wedding dress she chooses to wear and if she will truly be applying her own makeup, as it has been rumored she is not hiring a makeup artist despite the fact that millions of people all over the world will be critiquing her appearance. If that is not confidence, I don’t know what is.
My search for information about Kate sparked my interest in the Royal Wedding as an institution. I even downloaded the NBC Royal Wedding App for my iPhone in my quest to learn all I could about it. It has been rated one of the best Apps out there for the wedding, and I would definitely recommend it. There are some awesome videos, explanations of traditions, sketches of potential dresses, and even a timeline of the day’s events so you can follow along. The best part – it is free, so go download it now!
I wound up learning some cool historical and logistical facts along the way, too, like how there is a rule against royals marrying a Catholic or that Princess Diana was only 20 years old when she was married (that’s how old I currently am). Now Kate wears Diana’s former sapphire and diamond engagement ring as her own and many wonder if she will go on to touch the lives of many people like Prince William’s mother did while she was alive. For now we will just have to stay tuned to our TVs and Apps and wait to see.
*Photo courtesy of MamaPop.com