• Royal wedding fever? Some Britons are just sick of it

    Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

    British Union Jack flags hang along London's Regent Street on Friday, in preparation for the royal wedding.

    By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com

    LONDON – Are you dreading the royal wedding?

    If so, you’re not alone – plenty of people won’t be wrapping themselves in the Union Jack to celebrate the marriage of Catherine Middleton to Great Britain's second-in-line to the throne Prince William next week.

    Richie Turnbull, a musician and house-painter from Scotland, has invited friends and friends of friends to collectively thumb their noses at the royal family during a special gig in East London on April 29.

    "Instead of sitting around and complaining, we're going to celebrate being anti-monarchy," said the 51-year-old from Scotland, which, he said, was "conquered, raped and pillaged by the English."

    "The party is for fun, for people to have a laugh," he said.

    The signs for the party have a picture of the happy couple with the words emblazoned on the top: "Not Wanted, Dead or Alive." Attendees will listen to electronica and are encouraged to wear costumes.

    Quite a contrast to the thousands of block parties around the country where people will eat frothy cake, play soccer and compete in crown and tiara competitions, all the while watching the big event live on TV.

    Turnbull isn't the only one to want to try and have a bit of fun at the royals' expense. A song entitled "Dreading the Wedding" by The Headlines making the rounds on the Internet starts off with:

    "I'm dreading the wedding
    I don’t know what to do
    I think I'll leave the country
    Or take up sniffing glue."

    Sounds of vomiting and pictures of "B-list celebrities" accompany the cheery, if somewhat risque jig.

    Others have a more serious take on the nuptials, however.

    "There is this idea that they are a benign institution, that it is just a bunch of people in a big house," said Graham Smith of the anti-monarchist organization Republic. "It is actually a political institution."

    Courtesy of Lydia Leith

    Royal wedding sick bags designed by Lydia Leith.

    Republic contends the monarchy is unaccountable to the population, expensive and, thanks to the lack of a written constitution, allows politicians too much power.

    To add insult to injury, the royal wedding also embraces unsavory monarchs from around the world.

    "The king (of Bahrain), who has reportedly received a personal invitation to the wedding from the queen, has violently crushed the pro-democracy movement in his country," Smith wrote in a recent article in The Guardian.

    Smith contends that most Britons are at best indifferent to the royal nuptials, although the jury is out on that. According to a recent poll by Ipsos MORI, three-quarters of subjects support the monarchy, compared to 18 percent who would like the country to be a republic.

    Talk of despots and democracy aside, Republic will try to get in on the fun in its own way by holding its own street party in central London on the day of the wedding. There'll be stalls selling merchandise – including "I'm not a royal wedding mug" mugs. People will be able to sign a card for the happy couple that says, essentially, "Good luck with your married life but don't assume you will be King or Queen."

    "We're doing something quite fun, actually celebrating republicanism in a positive way," he said. And the anti-monarchist organization has good reason to celebrate – membership has jumped by half to 14,000 since William and Kate announced their engagement in November.

    A few have found themselves cashing in on the wedding inadvertently.

    royalbreakfast.com

    SLIDESHOW: Wacky royal wedding memorabilia

    Artist Lydia Leith, 24, designed the Royal Wedding "sick bag" in time for Valentine's Day. She's sold about 8,000, each personally signed, to people in countries as far away as Lithuania, Japan and Brazil.

    "Before this happened I was quite poor," she said. "Now I've made quite a lot of money, hopefully enough to set up a business."

    But Leith is adamant that she isn't anti-royal and is just "having a bit of fun."

    "I made it to entertain myself and never thought it would get this popular," she said.

    A bit like the main event itself, then?

    Related links:

    Kate who? Chinese factories cash in on the royal wedding

    For all things Royal Wedding-related, read msnbc.com's Windsor Knot blog.

  • Royal succession debate shelved til post-nuptials

    By Truus Bos, NBC News Producer 

    LONDON – Prince William and Kate Middleton are still three months from tying the knot, but already British lawmakers are debating the Royal Baby!

    More precisely they are debating whether the first royal child, if she is a girl, can succeed her father William on the throne.

    Under the 309-year-old law which governs royal succession to this day, if William and Kate become the parents of three girls, and then a boy, the boy would leapfrog over the girls and
    become the next in line to the throne.

    This afternoon Labour MP Keith Vaz presented the House of Commons with a Ten Minute Rule Bill calling for the “removal of any distinction between the sexes in determining the succession to the throne.”

    Even before the bill was introduced, Downing Street warned that changing the antiquated law would be a "difficult and complex matter.”

    The reason seems to be that Queen Elizabeth II is still head of state in 15 Commonwealth countries, and the changes would have to be made in all these countries. 

    The Prime Minister's office said discussions have been taking place in these countries, but it could be a lengthy process for any change to be approved.

    "Amending the Act of Succession is a complex and difficult matter that requires careful and thoughtful consideration,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron who wished to remain anonymous.

    “Absolute drivel,” said Lord Jeffrey Archer in a televised discussion on the issue last November.

    In 1996 Lord Archer introduced his own bill to make sure that the first-born girls become the monarch. He asked the bill drawing specialists in the Public Bill Office to draft it for him, and "it was a beautiful little bill of one clause! I was allowed to present it to the House. If I was allowed to present it to the House, it must have been all right.”

    "My bill is still there to pick up, and you know how long it would take to get through? A couple of hours! Who's gonna vote against it?" What about the Commonwealth countries making difficulties, Archer said a couple of phone calls should take care of them.

    In Europe, Spain and Monaco are the only other countries who pass over princesses in favor of princes. Denmark was the last European country to make the change in 2009, when 85 percent of the Danish population voted for a referendum which put princesses on an even footing with princes in the succession rules for the Danish Throne.
    Britain has been “ruled” by several strong women – including Queen Elizabeth II since 1953. She is much admired and loved by most of her "subjects,” so it’s doubtful that all but a few curmudgeonly old Lords would still object to allowing a change in the law.

    Williams and Kate would no doubt support a change in the law that would bring equality into their future family. They seem a thoroughly modern couple – they've lived together quite openly before the marriage and announced that they won't surround themselves with a host of servants for a while afterwards.

    This afternoon in the House of Commons the draft bill passed to a second reading by what's called a "voice vote,” which was unanimous, but the House was not full.  It will now be debated on May 13, two weeks after the royal wedding.

  • Brits say: 'Roll on the wedding...bring on the knees-up'

    By Chris Hampson, NBC News Director of International News

    LONDON – Not many people know this, but it's been scientifically proven that the brain of the average London cabbie is somewhat bigger than ordinary brains like mine.

    That's because they spend years cramming their heads full of what they call “The Knowledge” – how to get from one end of the city to the other by the best possible routes. Thousands of memorized street names mean they are human GPSs (but with no off-button).

    A by-product of these super-sized brains is that they always have a view on every topic under the sun. As they sit for hours in traffic, they spend their time wisely, quietly absorbing what's going on around them. They are the litmus paper of London.

    Oli Scarff / Getty Images

    The front pages of British national newspapers are dominated by news of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Wednesday in London.

    This means you can always get an opinion in the back of a black cab - whether you want one or not.

    On my way back from Buckingham Palace Wednesday, I could see from the size of my driver's baseball cap that here was a man worth talking to. 

    No need to seek dozens of interviews about the only news in the U.K.: the royal wedding.

    I knew this cabbie could speak for England, and he did.

    In short, we love it.

    It's just what austerity Britain needs – a knees-up (party).

    “It means we get millions more of these,” he said, pointing to the tourists in the Mall, the busy street between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. “And some of them are going to get in my cab.”

    He liked William: “He seems grounded, not like some of those other royals. Got some common sense.”

    As for Kate – and he saved this till we were in Trafalgar Square – he knew her.
     
    Well, he did, if you count picking her and a girlfriend up from a nightclub six months ago. But that's closer than I've got.

    “She was nice, sensible, normal – not drunk like some women we pick up.”

    No scandal then, but it was reassuring to know our future Queen Catherine is not a binge-drinker.

    My driver – and I never quite got to see his face – was not a monarchist. He wasn't a fan of the minor royals. He was, to use his own word, grounded. But he was happy to give the “important ones” their due.

    The queen? “She puts in the hours. Always working.”
     
    Princess Anne? “She's really busy. I often see her out and about.”

    A man of clear vision, he could easily distinguish real happiness from a stop sign. And that's what he told me he saw in Kate and William yesterday.

    Now here's my point. If any of you have ever stumbled across my ramblings before, you will know that I am not a big fan of our royals.

    So I found myself somewhat at a loss last night to understand why I (oh the shame) had a tear in my eye as I watched Kate and William talk of their engagement and their plans for the future – including starting a family with, presumably, lots of baby kings and queens to keep the monarchy going.

    AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

    Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton pose for the media at St. James's Palace in London, Tuesday, after they announced their engagement.

    It was, I suppose, because we’re all suckers for a love story.

    We had one, or so we mistakenly thought, with Diana and Charles.

    Now it’s her son’s chance to put it right. 

    Ever since those haunting pictures of William and Harry walking with such dignity behind their mother’s casket, the boys have earned a place in this country’s affections.

    William’s choice of his mother’s engagement ring for Kate – so his late mother didn’t “miss out on the excitement” – seemed just what we expected of this particular mother’s son. How proud she would have been.

    SLIDESHOW: A royal couple's long courtship

    So, on behalf of my sage cabbie friend and I: roll on the wedding, roll in the tourist dollars, bring on the knees-up. And may they all provide our apparently cash-stricken country with a bit of fun.

    Lord knows we need it.

    Click for complete coverage of the royal engagement  

  • Party fit for a prince? Londoners hope for 'big wedding'

    Reuters

    Prince William and Kate Middleton made their first public appearance as an engaged couple on Tuesday.

    By Theresa Cook, msnbc.com

    LONDON — "They're engaged. THEY'RE ENGAGED!"

    Those words, uttered by a NBC News producer rushing back to her desk Tuesday morning, would generally prompt a follow-up question of "WHO is engaged?"

    But in Britain, there could only be one answer: Prince William and Kate Middleton.

    After eight years of on-again, off-again dating and a recent spike in speculation, the royal family finally announced a 2011 wedding.

    Londoners weren't exactly shocked by the news. But despite wall-to-wall coverage on every U.K. television network, by lunchtime many people weren't aware that the rumors had officially been confirmed.

    "I was reading about Suu Kyi with more interest," said Anne Smith, referring to Myanmar's recently freed pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

    Smith had been shopping in the city's Covent Garden area with friend Gill Sutch. "They've been going out so long" that the announcement didn't exactly come as a surprise, Smith added.

    Self-described "monarchists to the core," the pair agreed William and Kate will not be able to maintain their media-shy ways for much longer. Sutch said it will be interesting to watch as the public gets an opportunity to know the likely future queen in the months ahead.

    "She hasn't given much away, has she?" Sutch mused.

    'More than modern couple'
    Across from the nearby Prince of Wales pub, Laura Canter had also not heard the news. But the 26-year-old, who has long brown hair and high cheekbones not unlike Middleton's, said she hoped for a "more private, more romantic" event for the "more than modern couple." However, she acknowledged that they'll have to "go big" if they need to accommodate a huge guest list.

    Many Londoners envision a wedding for the ages. By the time their son gets hitched, it will have been 30 years since Charles and Diana's ill-fated 1981 union. A 3,500-strong congregation packed into St. Paul's Cathedral and an additional 600,000 lined the streets of the capital that July day, according to the BBC. The wedding had an additional 750 million sets of eyes glued to TV screens around the world.

    "It should be what it should be — a big wedding," said East London resident Wesley Sargeant, on his smoke break outside the building he was fireproofing near Great Queen Street. "They're the royal family!"

    But will the bride wear a frothy designer gown with a 25-foot long train like Diana? Will the cost of the event draw criticism in a time of economic austerity?

    "Whatever you say about it, it's a good thing because it gives people something to look forward to," said Graham, a sharply dressed London resident in a grey coat buttoned all the way up to protect him against the chilly autumn afternoon.

    A royal wedding, and the monarchy in general, is part of a rich national history that "other countries would kill" to have, added Dean, his 28-year-old lunchtime companion. (Both declined to give their last names.)

    "The only problem for me," he said, "is I'm the same age as William, so now my girlfriend will be pressuring me!"

  • Prince, 'Waity Katie' set for $40 million wedding?

    AP

    Prince William has been dating Kate Middleton, seen here in 2008, since they met as students at Scotland’s University of St Andrews.

    By Nina de Roy, NBC News

    LONDON -- As rumors of a royal engagement gather momentum, the only ones keeping silent, it seems, are the very subjects of the speculation: Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton.

    Talk of an imminent announcement resurfaced recently after journalist Tina Brown reported June 3 and 4 had been mysteriously cleared from royal calendars. Now that those dates have passed without a peep from the palace, tongues are once again beginning to wag. It has also been suggested that William would likely propose after his 28th birthday, which is on June 21.

    While the date remains unclear, one thing royal watchers agree on is whenever the couple do tie the knot: it’s likely to be a party to remember.

    "Star" magazine estimates the wedding could cost up to $40 million with copious quantities of champagne and caviar on the menu. Senior editor Suzanne Rozdeba says William’s future fiancée has even ordered a $200,000 dress.

    Some 3 billion people could tune in to the watch the ceremony, eclipsing the 750 million who witnessed the prince’s parents Charles and Diana exchanging their vows in 1981.

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    'Closer than ever'
    William has been dating Middleton since 2003, when the two were students at Scotland’s University of St Andrews. Following a brief separation three years ago, the pair are now said to be “closer than ever.” It has even been suggested that William is on the verge of giving Middleton his late mother’s 18-carat sapphire ring.

    The U.K. tabloids started predicting Middleton was “the one” as far back as their college graduation in 2005, though William's pursuit of a military career and insistence on being “too young” made it clear he wasn’t going to be pushed down the aisle early.

    “The more pressure you put on William the more he backs off,” society commentator Neil Sean said. “Boys tend to drag their heels. It doesn’t matter whether you are a royal prince or not.”

    While he earned his stripes in the Royal Navy, Middleton held down just one job after her studies, earning the Berkshire beauty the nickname “Waity Katie,” as though her sole aim was to one day become William’s princess.

    Charity work
    Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly recommended Middleton take on some charity work to polish up the public’s opinion of the potential family member.

    “In England, it’s not looked on well because you don’t really want to have another member joining the royal family that seems to do nothing,” Sean says. “We have a lot of them already.”

    As William is second in-line to the throne, his future wife could one day become queen.

    So far it’s hard to know what kind of consort Middleton would be as they have kept their distance in public, which is a shame, because they make a picture perfect pair.

    And so, as the world waits for Middleton's position to become official, “one” wonders not when William will propose but why he hasn’t done so sooner.