Hot ticket... ‘weather gods will smile’ for royal couple’s big day
And the US cleric giving sermon has turned the heat up on ‘un-Christian Trump’ and cuts to taxes
‘Bring sunblock, not brollies’ May sit uneasily with royal family
FORECASTERS have said the ‘weather gods are smiling’ on Saturday’s royal wedding and on the 100,000 well-wishers due in Windsor.
The UK’s Met service said yesterday that it was expecting an unseasonally warm 22C and bright skies.
Crowds should pack sunblock, not brollies, they said.
It also means that Prince Harry and bride-to-be Meghan Markle will travel in an opentopped carriage to the wedding.
Forecasters said temperatures will rise as heat blows in from France in time for the wedding.
Forecaster predicted the warmth will last through the following week and until the end of May with ‘very warm’ bursts.
Good weather is also expected in Ireland for several royal wedding events.
UK Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said: ‘It looks like turning warmer from the weekend of the royal wedding onwards.
‘Warm air is expected to come up from the near continent, with warmer-than-average conditions likely for the UK as a whole.
‘Saturday looks pleasant for the wedding, with dry and bright conditions most likely.’
MeteoGroup forecaster Mario Cuellar said: ‘Air will probably start coming to the UK from France, with 24C shown on forecast models by May 21 as temperatures increase.’
Several events are planned in Ireland for the wedding and good weather is also expected here.
The entertainment site Evoke.ie, which is owned by the Daily Mail Group, is organising a royal wedding event at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin.
The €75 tickets includes pink gin, Prosecco and style and beauty tips from an expert panel, with stylist Brendan Courtney and TV presenters Aisling O’Loughlin and Lisa Cannon taking part.
William and Kate enjoyed a spring sizzle for their wedding in April 2011, and Prince Charles and Princess Diana saw a baking hot 24C for their big day in July 1981.
Meanwhile, it seems the American bishop chosen to give the sermon at the wedding, Michael Curry, has little time for the view that politics has no place in religion. In fact, less than five days after the wedding, he will be leading a march on the White House to protest against President Donald Trump, a man he has denounced as un-Christian, dangerous, authoritarian and dishonest. The 65-year-old Chicago-born cleric is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the US branch of the Anglican Union.
Usually, the cleric asked to give a royal wedding sermon has some personal connection – Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, who did the honours at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is an old friend of Prince Charles.
Given neither bride nor groom knows Bishop Curry, one can only conclude they chose him because of what he represents.
And this, increasingly, is a trenchant and highly politicised Christianity which some might feel sits uneasily with the royal family’s duty to stay out of politics.
The bishop is the most prominent church leader to have come out against the Trump administration. He has in fact has been clashing with conservatives for years, championing social issues such as transgender rights and gay marriage, but also more political ones such as immigration.
He was among the first group of bishops to allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the diocese he led.
As the bishop of North Carolina, he participated in ‘Moral Mondays’ demonstrations in Raleigh, the state capital, which aim to fight conservative policies that critics say hurt the poor and marginalised.
And while many clerics prefer not to share their opinions of the president, positive or negative, the same cannot be said for Bishop Curry.
In a treatise, he has condemned Mr Trump’s tax cuts for the rich. He has also made it clear he believes that anyone who continues to support Mr Trump, such as the millions of Bible Belt evangelicals who helped put him in the White House, cannot call themselves proper Christians.