it seems to me, looking on from afar (New Zealand) that the average Brit couldn't care less about the wedding, or about the Royal Family in general, and that in a lot of cases they are positively malevolent about Kate and Camilla. Now, this could be because i read the Daily Mail which seems to be heavily slanted towards sensationalism (over the truth). But even with our magazines over here, one at present is saying Camilla is Kate's ally and the other is reporting Kate's fury at Camilla. I don't think any of them tell the truth, and at least it's refreshing to read peoples' comments on this forum as they are mainly positive. Hello magazine of course is also positive. But please tell me, Britons, is it really that negative over there? I remember when Victoria and Daniel were about to be married there was a lot of negative press there too, in Sweden, but on the day, looking at the photos, there were hundreds of thousands there on the day. And the people concerned about the cost in a recession; well just harking back to when the Queen began to pay tax (which i agree she should), well i doubt that made any difference to the general economy. Britain without the Royal family (IMO) would not be Britain anymore. And then the public would need to pay for a president or whatever. I feel sorry for Prince William; it's always seemed to me that even though he will do his duty, kingship would not have been his first choice of career. I'm sure he and Kate will do their bit (along with the rest of the Royal Family) but i wonder if they feel sometimes how wanted they really are. Prince Charles and Camilla would probably have been feeling that in that car episode a couple of months back, when they were attacked. And yet i see time and time again the Royal Family doing their best; they're on a hiding to nothing. No matter what they do they're heavily criticised. And here are William and Kate going to have a wonderful wedding because they're in love, and a big wedding because he's Royal, and i'm sure a lot of people will complain about the cost, and if they went and got married in a village church costing nothing to nobody, they'd still get criticised.
well, that's that off my chest; i look forward to 29 April and i hope all the kerfuffle doesn't get in the way of them enjoying their big day.