We Brits know a thing or two, or three or four about class. I, for instance, know that I am commoner. I was born and bred in a poor working class family, and I have my poor working class British accent to prove it. So you can safely assume that I didn’t have maids and servants to attend to my every need when I was growing up, and the only throne anyone in our family ever sat on was the one in the loo.
However, I also know that no matter how much wealth and privilege you’re born into, money can’t buy you class. So as I sat there in front of the TV last Friday morning watching the royal wedding — with a cup of British tea in one hand and a crumpet in the other — I thought it would be pretty interesting to see how many of the attendees would maintain or improve their public images and demonstrate that they were, well, class acts of course.
The most royal person at the event was undoubtedly, the revered ruler of our land, the head honcho of the Commonwealth, the big cheese of the Church of England — yep, our very own Queen Lizzie 2.0.
Our little Lizzie has shrunk so much over the years that she’s often called Her Royal Lowness, as opposed to Her Royal Highness — but she still stands head and shoulders above the rest of her clan when it comes to projecting an air of, pardon the pun, majesty. So as you’d expect, she did justice to her HRH brand on the day, and even though she’s 86 years of age, she didn’t fall asleep either. Rock on Lizzie! (Or should that be rule on???)
Then of course, there was the father of the groom, His Royal Highness Tywysog Cymru. (That’s the Prince of Wales to you.) The Prince has had ups and downs with his public image over the years, chiefly because of, how can I put this politely, the ups and downs he constantly had with Camilla throughout his marriage to Diana.
Thankfully for Charles though, time is a great image healer, and he is now viewed by most Brits as the slightly eccentric heir to the throne that he actually is. As if to prove the point, there was Charles before the service chatting to Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses, commoners, and yes, even plants. (FYI, Prince Charles confessed some years ago that he, um, talks to plants, so it was no surprise to see them invited to the wedding and actually sitting in the abbey.)
There were of course some Brits in attendance that I was very concerned about from a “PR disaster” perspective, and they included another native with a title — Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
Boris was educated at the very best schools in the country but is nevertheless a self-confessed, blithering buffoon. He once famously said: “If you vote for the Conservatives, your wife will get bigger breasts and your chances of driving a BMW M3 will increase.”
Thankfully Boris’s biggest faux pas on the day was going on national TV and calling the revered Archbishop of Canterbury, “The Arch Bish.” That is unfortunately the equivalent of calling The Pope, “The P.” and in front of millions too, but who cares! At least he didn’t utter the word “tits”.
So what of the commoners then? Yep, the ordinary people who were invited to the wedding to rub shoulders with the royals, the titled, and the entitled just for the day. Well, I’m pleased to say that the family of the bride — Michael, Carole, Pippa and James Middleton, represented them brilliantly.
As you probably know, the Middletons rose from working class backgrounds and built their very own British empire around a company called “Party Pieces.” Among other things, their firm sells a “Best of British Party” range of, er, um, plastic and paper cups, plates, napkins, table clothes and cake stands. It’s not exactly posh, regal-like stuff and I’m sure there was a lot of nervousness about the possibility that the royal wedding cake might end up standing on a Middleton polyurethane, fluoropolymer thingamejig!
I am reliably informed however that the Middletons resisted the temptation to provide their particular brand of party paraphernalia for the reception itself and settled for the Queen’s super duper best china instead. It was a strategic PR move that will endear them to the British public, and their no doubt relieved in-laws, for years to come.
And finally, I couldn’t end this royal wedding blog without mentioning the stars of the show itself, William and Kate — the handsome, humble groom, and the beautiful, graceful bride. Though one was a royal and the other a commoner, they seemed perfectly suited and totally in love, and they didn’t misstep once on their big day. (No image consultants or media trainers needed here, that’s for sure.)
If Diana was indeed watching from up above, she would have been proud to see that William and Kate both have, what Earl Spencer once famously said of her — an internal and external beauty, and a natural nobility that is classless.
So yes, there were several class acts at the royal wedding. But when all was said and done, William and Kate were the classiest act of all.
