I was up before dawn for Diana and Charles’ wedding. Now I’m up before dawn for Kate and William’s. For the first wedding, I was just a very small girl, but I remember feeling terribly excited to watch the pomp and circumstance on television. My fascination with the royals hasn’t abated as I’ve grown. A few years back, when I worked at Ohio State, I was assigned as part of the press retinue to follow the Duchess of York around for a day when she visited the university’s medical center. At one point, she winked at me after making a joke with a patient. Years later, when working for the University of Cambridge in England, I was assigned to help keep the press photographers in line when the Duke of Edinburgh made one of his many visits to the university, in his role as Chancellor. I can report that I received no winks from the Prince.
My professional life in England involved several, distant, brushes with royalty. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is the royal patron for Emmaus UK, a charity which employed me before the university, and she was said to be quite gracious in her work for them. Prince Philip composed an essay for a university magazine I edited, although a colleague handled all interactions with his press secretary. I spent a number of hours sifting through photographs of him, trying to find just the right images for the cover and to accompany the article. I had no interactions, distant or otherwise, with today’s bridegroom, although a friend did see him and his brother Harry go whizzing by our office on bicycles when they were in town for an event.
Now that I’m back in Ohio, I doubt I’ll have any brushes with royalty – no matter how slight – anytime soon. I’ll just have to settle for enjoying the spectacle on television from the comfort of my very own living room. Speaking of, it’s time to brew another cup of Yorkshire Gold tea and pay proper attention to the festivities being portrayed on screen. In a few minutes time, when the new couple takes their vows inside that beautiful abbey, I’ll be wishing them all the best for a happy life together as husband and wife.
susan dalzell 