Royal Dysfunction

Did you watch the royal wedding? I did. I woke up at 4 a.m. to catch the pomp and pageantry. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Not sure how I feel about the monarchy and its place in politics. Let’s just say with their track record for Empire that they wouldn’t have voted to leave the EU. Wasn’t there a motto to make the world England?

Now England will be mostly—England. No one is sure if Scotland or even Northern Ireland will land back on the side of the EU. In a world of complex global alliances, to go it alone leaves very little wiggle room. Especially with a vacillating US who from one day to the next wants to impose tariffs, start a trade war, or tear up deals/treaties/agreements. Suddenly having a trading partner is raised to a whole new level.

But for now our greatest export has been Meghan Markle. She was a radiant gem on Saturday. A delight. The wedding commentators kept saying over and over—this is modern. I had the impression that Rev. Bishop Curry was the most radical thing to happen to the royal family since—since, well, they quit India. There’s a new color in the castle—and I’m loving it.

I also kept wondering what was going through Meghan Markle’s mother’s mind. I wondered if at some point she thought: I can’t wait to get back to LA. If after a while the rules and “proper” way of doing something, the spoken and unspoken rules and decorum might be enough, out her over the edge. If at a certain point you just wanted someone to burp or fart. Stand up and scratch their crotch.

Not that that is typically American, but it is a sign of letting one’s hair down. One of my favorite moments, was the unguarded joy of a child, when the fanfare started up when Meghan entered the church and the boy/page holding her veil broke into a gaped-tooth smile.

This to me and the arrival of Meghan’s dog in the queen’s automobile were priceless.