Forget the build-up, Harry and Meghan show love matters
In her fascinating book recounting the love-hate relationship between Irish people and the monarchy, the journalist Mary Kenny — of this parish — tells hilarious stories about the length to which some people have gone down the years to conceal their interest in the Royal Family.
The book, Crown and Shamrock: Love and Hate Between Ireland and the British Monarchy, tells the stories of Dublin families, who purchased television sets for the sole purpose of watching a royal wedding — as word got around, neighbours would discreetly ask if they could also watch the spectacle.
Those interested in a bit of royal voyeurism don’t have to be as discreet as in previous generations.
The hugely successful visit to Ireland by the Queen verbalised a love that dared not to speak its name before that moment for many Irish people.
Even if a Donegal hotel was forced to cancel a Meghan and Harry-themed afternoon tea, after apparently receiving intimidating phone calls from people describing themselves as republicans, many Irish people will take more than a passing interest in the pomp and ceremony surrounding Windsor Castle today.
Of course, some will say it’s only to see the style, or have an appreciation of the news value. But many Irish people are, indeed, fascinated by the royals.
They won’t be alone — hundreds of millions of people are expected to watch the ceremony. It’s not my cup of tea, but I have no desire to spoil the genuine excitement and enjoyment shared by so many.
What I do understand and share the delight in is the love that prompts such a wedding. Amid the mixture of glamour and frivolity that will mark the big day, Meghan and Harry are sending a powerful message to the world that marriage still matters and they want to seal their love before God.
Meghan even took the (unnecessary) step of being baptised into the Church of England to ensure that it could be a meaningful religious ceremony.
The fact they believe that standing together exchanging vows matters is a vital message since marriage still remains society’s greatest bulwark against poverty, educational disadvantage and social exclusion.
That’s why both Church and state should have a vested interest in promoting marriage and making it more appealing for the many couples who now choose to live together, rather than get married.
Strong families based on strong marriages create strong societies, where people look after one another and those in need of a little more help get it from families, rather than falling between two stools.
It’s become unfashionable to say that marriage matters. The fact that families come in all shapes and sizes has meant many people now think promoting marriage as a good for society runs the risk of excluding others — and not without reason.
of Let’s our modern face it: for history a long Ireland period wasn’t a very nice place to be if you didn’t fit a particular societal mode. But this shouldn’t stop us drawing on the evidence that marriage is good for soci-ety.
of Justice the US Supreme Anthony Kennedy, Court, has described marriage as the ‘gold standard’ for raising healthy, happy, well-adjusted children in the best position to take advantage of the opportunities life puts before them.
People like Meghan and Harry know that and study after study has proved it to be the case.
Neither of them have had the best experience of marriage growing up — their parents divorced when they were children — but in committing to one another today with solemn vows before the eyes of the world, they are saying marriage still matters.
In the words of Justice Kennedy, they are powerfully affirming they believe “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family”.
In a world often jaded by cynicism about fleeting encounters, or marriages that don’t work, Meghan and Harry’s optimism is something worth celebrating.