Get set for another royal wedding. Britain’s Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle announced in London they will marry this spring.
This royal engagement gets hardly a hullabaloo
LONDON – People around the world — from celebrity Kim Kardashian to regular folks — rushed to congratulate Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle on their engagement Monday. But many here, where the royal family resides, reacted in British ho-hum fashion.
“I’m happy for the geezer, but I don’t care,” John Hedge, 42, said on a street in Streatham, a mixed-income neighborhood in south London.
That low-key response, expressed by others in the British capital, matched the way Harry said he popped the big question: while the couple were roasting a chicken on a “standard, typical night” at their cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace.
“Not interested,” said Tony Jones, a
“I’m happy for the geezer, but I don’t care.” John Hedge man on the street in south London “I love Harry. He’s the most natural of (the royal family). ... Let them live their lives.” Jerry Walsh carpenter, outside a pub
commuter rushing to a train at London’s Victoria station Monday evening.
Some took to social media to ask whether the engagement would mean a day off. It won’t. “Give us the bank holiday or else,” wrote Owen Jones, a leftwing newspaper columnist who believes the monarchy should be abolished.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said the wedding day — sometime in the spring — would not be a national holiday, unlike the nuptials of Harry’s older brother and future king, Prince William and Duchess Kate, in 2011.
“Me thinking about the monarchy on a normal day V me realising we might get a bank holiday for the Royal Wedding,” a Twitter user with the handle @Gamble1878 wrote. Posted with the tweet was a picture of a protester holding a sign that said “down with the monarchy” next to a separate image of a man dressed in a suit emblazoned with the Union Jack.
Others were upbeat despite what some described as “royal wedding and baby fatigue,” referring to William and Kate’s marriage and their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. A third is on the way.
“I love Harry,” said carpenter Jerry Walsh, 61, outside a pub in south London. “He’s the most natural of them (the royal family). They can do their own thing — let them live their lives.”
Marie Elleston, a housewife in her 60s, described the news as “lovely.”
“She’s very nice,” she said. “She’s a beautiful woman.”
Markle, 36, is from Los Angeles and met Harry, 33, last year when the two were introduced by a mutual friend.
“I’m happy,” said Kathleen Connell, 78, adding that Markle is “different from everyone else.”
Reaction outside Buckingham Palace, a top draw for tourists worldwide, also was low-key.
“I think it’s perfectly fine for her to marry into the royal family,” said Kieran Verseim, a medical lab technician from Denver. “Anybody should be able to chose who they want to marry regardless of background.”
Markle, who is biracial, will be the first non-white person to marry into the royal family in modern history, a fact that sparked debate about interracial marriages in the United Kingdom. About 1 in every 10 people are in racially mixed relationships in the U.K., according to the latest census data.
“We don’t know too much about the royal family in Turkey,” said Tarik Dogan, 42, an engineer from Istanbul. “The little ones, the children, they are sweet.”
The tourism industry reacted with glee. Visit London, the official city guide, congratulated Harry and Meghan and said the royal family is “so important for tourism in London.”
Tourism across the U.K. linked to the royal family attracts more than 2.7 million visitors a year and generates more than $666 million, according to Visit London. Last year saw a record for international visitors to London, the group said, “and royal heritage was a big part of driving that.”