I was up early today to watch the Royal Wedding. Being the granddaughter of a British military man during Queen Victoria's reign and having lived in South Africa when the British anthem was sung and the Union Jack flown with the National Flag, before South Africa became a Republic in 1961, I have always been fascinated with the Royals.
My mother used to have the Women's Weekly mailed to her from England every week and I enjoyed keeping up with what the Royals were doing through their articles and the many colored picture booklets embedded from time to time within the magazine on the Royal Family. I remember too, how disappointed I was on occasions when the Pendennis Castle mailship had been delayed and that would sometimes mean we would skip a week and get two magazines the following week.
I found, when I made my first visit to London and stood outside Buckingham Palace that the aura of pageantry touched every corner of it and because my paternal grandfather, as cavalryman in the 13th Hussars in the British Army, must have stood outside those gates too at some point in his life, it was a poignant moment for me.
Today that pageantry with all its grandeur came to life again in the celebration of Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton. He, Prince William, in his schooled formality that he performs with such aplomb, made a splendid groom. She, Kate Middleton, wearing a gown that was truly majestic in its simplicity, appeared poised and stately and made a strikingly gorgeous bride. Congratulations to HRH The Duke of Cambridge and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.