Marriage of William, Kate May Be Set Down as Morganatic, But Promises a Spectacle To Enjoy

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Since the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is the first, first-time wedding of a British royal who has a serious prospect of being the monarch in nearly 30 years, and only the fourth in the last century, it is natural that it would generate some interest. There seems to have been some sniggering that the couple are unexciting, and even a few assumptions of loftiness that the bride is not in Debrett’s (the almanac of British peerage, baronetage and knightage). I cannot claim to have yet seen the antiquarian word morganatic fetched out and plunked down like a Victorian antimacassar; but I think the betting is only even that we will get through to the nuptials without it, and am prepared to fear the worst.

There has naturally been a slight deflation of expectations because of the marital difficulties that have afflicted three of Queen Elizabeth’s children. But those problems should be seen not as an erosion of the seriousness of marriage vows in that family, but rather of the relatively recent impossibility of relying on their royal status to assure that even the most frightful infidelities would not lead to the break-up of the marriage. If the same criteria had applied in bygone days, many marriages in that family would have come completely unstuck, including, most notoriously, Charles II, George IV (whose marriage did effectively collapse very publicly) and Edward VII, as well as some others whom it would be indiscreet to mention.

Viewed from this perspective, the British royal family could be said to be becoming more firmly principled, rather than more cavalier, about the institution of marriage. If Princess Diana had been prepared to be treated like Princess and Queen Alexandra, and remain uncomplainingly with her children while her husband careened about London society like a rutting panther as Edward VII did, her marriage would have survived. (Edward VII even made a joke of it by filling the royal box at his coronation with his principal dalliances, including Winston Churchill’s mother. The royal box was renamed “the loose box” for the occasion.)

Surely it is a good thing that Prince William’s fiancée, Kate Middleton, is a solid member of the prosperous, hard-working, reasonably educated middle class, the backbone of Britain and of all advanced societies. As the Queen has cut the budgets and perquisites of some of the lesser royals in response to political complaints these past decades, it has been sad to see them, untrained for anything but a ceremonious role, scrambling for income, with mixed results. Princess Michael of Kent, though much criticized, has been imaginative and rather successful as an author and art dealer, where the Duchess of York did well with Weight Watchers, but was so starved for money, she made some other, more unfortunate, commercial decisions.

Nor should there be lamentations that this attractive young couple is not flamboyant enough. One of the secrets of the comparative success of the British monarchy is that since William IV (1830-1837), it has been a bourgeois monarchy, that though it lives in palaces and travels in elongated Rolls-Royces, it also clearly has middle class tastes in decor, behaviour and interests — such as dogs, and even scatological jokes. They work hard and always identify very emphatically and doubtless sincerely with average people.

George IV had style, as he showed at the Brighton Pavilion, and as did his friend Beau Brummel, but he almost bankrupted the royal family and aggravated his father’s porphyria. Edward VII had great style, (he invented the dinner jacket on his tour of India), and made Biarritz so popular a summer resort that even the Czar and Bismarck came there; and he was a popular and successful king. But that was because he was unusually talented. Edward VIII had style, but was erratic and headstrong and only lasted a few months before being forced out. George V and George VI were very plain men, but popular and diligent kings. When accused of being a “boring alien” (meaning German), George V replied “I may be boring but I’ll be damned if I am an alien.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton look like competent, pleasant, young people, with whom most people can relate; they have no affectations or delusions and show no sign of being prone to the sort of ponderous comments of the Prince of Wales that have so delighted satirists and anti-monarchists. These arise almost inevitably from some of his architectural and environmental crusades and his championship of exotic religions, and obscure the Prince’s undoubted achievements in helping young offenders relaunch their lives, and other good works. The British always carry off royal spectacles well, and there is no reason not to watch and enjoy this one.

A longer version of this column first appeared in the National Post of Canada.


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