What the commentators said

Twenty-five years ago, I tried to develop a sitcom about a girl from Brixton who marries into the Royal family, said Trevor Phillips in The Sunday Times. TV executives who were fine with the concept of “teenage witches and time-travelling doctors” rejected the idea as “preposterous”. How times have changed. Last Saturday, the public seemed “far more interested in the cut of Meghan’s gown than in the colour of her skin” – which is just as it should be. Mixed marriage is not a big deal in Britain these days: some 2.3 million people in this country cohabit with partners from another race, according to the last census.

The monarchy has proved more adroit at moving with the times than the Government has lately, said Bagehot in The Economist. It’s a far cry from the situation 20 years ago, when Tony Blair, at the head of a modernising Labour administration, had to step in to save the beleaguered Royal family from itself after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Today, it’s the politicians in Westminster who are floundering, while the monarchy is looking robust, having sidelined “Prince Andrew and his ilk” in favour of a new generation of more popular royals. Harry and Meghan are more worldly than their predecessors, agreed Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph, which should hold them both in good stead. It’s “an astonishing fact” that Meghan, 36, is a few months older today than Diana was at the time of her death.

This wedding marked a further step in the convergence between the worlds of royalty and celebrity, said Sean O’grady in The Independent. As guests waited in St George’s Chapel for the bride to arrive, “we saw Earl Spencer standing on the tomb of Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour chatting to Idris Elba as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps it is these days, now that Diana’s Boys are taking over the Firm.” This added glitz will only bolster the monarchy, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. The “worm in the bud” for royalists, however, is that the entire enterprise is currently anchored on respect for the nonagenarian Queen. What will happen when the less popular Charles takes over?

The Government last week announced that it will cut the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2, a major victory for antigambling campaigners. Bookmakers had warned of job losses, and the Gambling Commission had advised the stake only be cut to below £30, but Culture Secretary Matt Hancock said the terminals had been a “very serious social blight” ( see page 54). Britons spend £1.8bn a year on the machines. The Government will make up the estimated £400m it loses in tax revenues by raising rates for online gambling providers.