A joyous day, but Charles is right: It’s time to trim down the monarchy
THE sun was shining, her dress was pretty, the Royal Family and her celebrity friends turned out in force. With a peacock-proud dad and an anxious Fergie in lurid pea-soup green, it was nigh-on a perfect day for Princess Eugenie to marry her beau.
Yes, the buffeting wind disrupted proceedings, but the grand setting, glorious music and the couple’s obvious love for each other ensured a moving and memorable ceremony.
Yet I found this royal fairy tale ever so slightly disquieting: the grandiose scale of the event was out of all proportion to the marriage of, let’s face it, a minor royal.
And I wasn’t the only one. It’s true, thousands of ordinary folk applied for tickets to watch proceedings inside Windsor Castle. But in contrast to Harry and Meghan’s summer wedding where views from the street were also at a premium, just one person camped out overnight. It seemed as if there were more police than well-wishers.
And this despite Prince Andrew’s attempt to build interest by releasing unseen pictures of the couple as children in the run-up.
An interview with ITV’s Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford followed on the eve of the wedding during which Eugenie recalled how she and former nightclub manager Jack met.
It was love at first sight. ‘I want to run down the aisle to marry him,’ she said. Clearly Eugenie is a nice girl and by all accounts she’s very popular. But with all this razzmatazz, she did herself few favours.
There were so many celebrities — some of them more famous for their alcohol and drug habits than anything else — that at times the bride was in danger of being eclipsed. We had the unnerving sight on TV, for example, of Kate Moss gurning away in the front row, just feet behind the bride as she was taking her vows. And what on earth was Demi Moore doing there? Looking for a new husband?
This Hollywoodisation of the Royal Family destroys their mystique and is deeply unedifying — as well as ill-advised.
Talking of advice, who allowed sister Beatrice to do a reading comparing her brother-in-law with Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s reckless bootlegger . . . who got murdered?
It’s not Eugenie’s fault — the wedding was clearly hijacked by her searingly ambitious parents.
The result was a self-promoting shindig that divided the nation — between those who didn’t give a damn and those who were appalled that taxpayers had to stump up £2 million for security.
Camilla did not attend, citing a prior engagement visiting schoolchildren in Scotland, as you do. No doubt she’s already reminding Charles of his promise to slim down the monarchy, doing away with the trappings and extravagances of minor royals.
I wish the loved-up couple every happiness, but after yesterday’s event Prince Charles’s plans can’t come soon enough.