"All looking forward to the Royal Wedding"

I'd rather stick pins in my eyes.

They seem a nice couple and I wish them luck, they will need it.

But I wish the wedding was in private somewhere out of view of the world.

I won't be watching it but the extra day off is a bonus.

Muck

Frankly my dear.....

I told the Queen I was busy that day watching re-runs of congressional voting on C-Span.

They are going to trot this couple by every tourist site in London someone said, saying the route must have been drawn up by the London Tourist Board.

Q - will Prince Andrew, if he is still a prince by then, attend and if so with who?

This is a Royal Farce the type of which IMO belongs in the Middle Ages.

What a joke - the British Royal Family in modern times!

Where is Oliver Cromwell when Brits need him?

I dream of the day when Britain joins the modern world and drops this kind of nonsense.

And I'm surprised no enterprising trash journalist has tried to compare Harry's DNA to James Hewitt's....

I don;t know why people are complaining - the royal Family is doing their job of being a major tourist attraction.

And at least in this case they aren't sacrificing the last virgin left in the country to a clueless clod in love with another woman.

"I dream of the day when Britain joins the modern world and drops this kind of nonsense."

Still, it brings in the tourists (Americans).

I don;t know why people are complaining - the royal Family is doing their job of being a major tourist attraction.

And at least in this case they aren't sacrificing the last virgin left in the country to a clueless clod in love with another woman.

"And I'm surprised no enterprising trash journalist has tried to compare Harry's DNA to James Hewitt's...."

Because then saint Diana would fall from her pedestal.

Harry looks like a Windsor--look at pix of The Queenl Mum, or even Charles now that he's older. The red hair is from the Spencers (the supposed remark Charles made at his birth--"oh no, he's got red hair" which is a SPencer trait. Look at Diana's sister, the one who also dated Charles.
No enterprising trash journalist compares the DNA b/c it would put an end to all gossip--and that is the trash journalists' bread and butter.

The French did right by their royals at the guillotine.

We have a week booked in London starting on May 21 - we were holding our breath and hoping the wedding didn't coincide with our trip. Couldn't think of anything worse. Thank goodness it will all be over and done with by the time we get there.

"Harry looks like a Windsor--look at pix of The Queen Mum"

Definitely a Hewitt no doubt about it.

I'm on holiday then and I have booked my hotels. Just as well if half of the UK is going at the same time
It's nice if people can wangle 12 or 14 days off at a rather nice time of year.

well, if we're in scandal-peddling mode:

http://www.guandongenterprisesltd.com/

I didn't tell you, mind.

I think that on the day a lot of people will be tuning in to see the happy couple. I just hope they get good weather.

A public holiday weekend - especially an extended one - tends to see a lot of people worshipping at one of the many shrines to DIY. Or down the pub.

Neither of which is incompatible with casting a glance at the TV for a while, of course, but no-one knows what else people are doing at the same time.

< the royal Family is doing their job of being a major tourist attraction.

"I dream of the day when Britain joins the modern world and drops this kind of nonsense."

Still, it brings in the tourists (Americans).>

I wonder if these sentiments is not a classic case of if someone repeats something enough folks will believe it and then repeat it as fact

Where are the facts to support the tenous IMO theory that Americans will stop flocking to Britain if the royals were no longer officially royal?

YOu could still have sundry things like the Changing of the Guard - B Palace guards, etc and the royal trappings without actually having them officially be royals (i e the Head of State)

And Americans will continue to flock to Britain regarless of whrether there are roayls or not IMO

IMO this canard about the royals bringing in Americans is just a nuch of nonsense and actually belittling to Americans.

OK, I'll admit it. I'm looking forward to it.

>.YOu could still have sundry things like the Changing of the Guard - B Palace guards, etc and the royal trappings without actually having them officially be royals (i e the Head of State)<<

Exactly. So why make such a song and dance about the fact that we do? It simply doesn't matter that much, one way or the other - the point is, it's not about them - we know that, they know that.

Patrick- I could care less if you do it but to give as a reason that it draws American tourists is to me, as an American tourist, belittling

You all do it because you like it - the tradition that harks back to when England was really a great country, etc. Fine

But when some say the reason or a big reason is to draw American tourists that even cheapens the monarchy and royals as a circus side show IMO.

My only point this time here is that I think the drawing American tourists thing is lame - we'd still come even if the royals were not officially royal.

"the tradition that harks back to when England was really a great country,"

Flipping heck....when was that?

"Patrick- I could care less if you do it but to give as a reason that it draws American tourists is to me, as an American tourist, belittling"

When I traveled to the US regularly (worked for IBM), as soon as an American eventually worked out that I was English and not Australian, the first questions they asked were ALWAYS about the Royal Family, so much so that I firmly believe they are obsessed about it. As for the other questions that I was often asked, it's probably not a good idea to mention them only to say that it often involved fog, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper and rain!!

As an American, I can say some folks in the US are interested, others could care less. Even though I indicated I am looking forward to the wedding, at the moment, I think more of us are focused on what is happening in Japan.

Being interested and going there mainly because they have royals are two different things.

How many people living in the London area plan to be out of town during next year's Olympics?

Americans obsessed about the Royals? That's nuts. We may have an interest, but obsession is reserved for important things like the Super Bowl, Opening Day, and March Madness (unrelated to King George III).

Obsessing over the Royals would be as daft as living and dying with every match of an obscure minor football team. [http://brookmyre.co.uk/].

"Obsessing over the Royals would be as daft as living and dying with every match of an obscure minor football team. [http://brookmyre.co.uk/]."

???????
Don't get me started on football.

Sorry PQ and BigRuss, but I doubt very much if any UK TV station is doing anything like what'sdescribed in this article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/16/hadley-freeman-america-jane-austen-dating

Quote PalenQ: "I could care less if you do it..."

Quote KTtravel: "As an American, I can say some folks in the US are interested, others could care less."

Presumably those that are interested are also the very same ones who "could care less"; since logically there are others who couldn't care less who aren't interested at all. I thought that included PalenQ but apparently not - he apparently could care less but doesn't, so therefore, by deduction, maintains a level of interest.

Honestly people, will you please stop mangling this idiom! I find myself caring a great deal more about your illogical phraseology than I do about the bleedin' carnival and hoopla planned for April, of which I could not care less!

...."the tradition that harks back to when England was really a great country,"....

At the time of King Arthur?
BTW, are those mugs actually on sale.
They'd be collectors' items.

Dr. I haven't go no interest in my myself.

Whoops!
That should really read
"I haven't got no interest in it me myself personally"

if it brings in the money for London, then that's a plus. Personally, I'm not really interested, which is odd because my sis and I woke up at 4:30am to watch Chuck and Di's wedding. Though I was a ten-year old romantic then and more interested in the pomp and circumstance than the main characters.

I'll probably read about it but that's about it, though i have American friends who are coming over especially for the wedding!!

But does this mean the news will carry endless stories about Kate's clothing, dress style and ad nausea stories about how a mere commoner became a princess?! cough**BBC**cough.

I haven't noticed many, in fact precisely two short segments about their first public events together. But the programmes that might make more fuss about it aren't the news programmes that I'd normally watch anyway (and not breakfast or daytime fluffyshow TV, either).

Wow, what a bunch of cynics!

I'm looking forward to watching. I think the world needs something happy to celebrate right now.

And William and Kate are a very attractive young couple who I believe have a sense of social consciousness. They seem to be trying to keep it as low key as possible - as much as the palace will allow - and they have requested that in lieu of gifts, donations be made to a number of charities.

I probably wouldn't go to England to see it, but I'll be watching in my living room. And I wish them well.

"does this mean the news will carry endless stories about Kate's clothing, "

No. The BBC news - the 10pm version for grownups and the earlier versions for the feebler-minded - generally shares Patrick's and Chris Patten's (the chairman of the BBC Trust, who recently boasted he last watched Eastenders the same time he last ate a McD Grottburger) priorities.

It's that there Sky you've got to watch (or rather got to avoid). Not because the Dirty Digger's got better insight into what Brits want to watch. Rather, as its pathetic audiences demonstrate, much worse insight, but he lives too far away to notice

Dr. Do, regarding the expression I used above, the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms states: "This expression originated about 1940 in Britain and for a time invariably used couldn’t. About 1960 could was occasionally substituted, and today both versions are used with approximately equal frequency, despite their being antonyms."
The Oxford Dictionary also recognizes the phrase as being written either way.

Perhaps it's just the Breakfast programme that seems to be dumbing down into GMTV levels. Though Carole the weather lady isn't too bad.


As for the day off, is that only for public sector workers or do private companies outside London give it off as well? Guess this will be a dry run for the Olympics.

American here. This is the who cares of the year. If they made one of those Bridzilla reality shows with Prince Philip and the Queen, I could probably watch it for at least 15 minutes.

A tradition is a mistake made twice and this one has gone on long enough.

I hit preview and it posted! I meant to add:

Skye reminds me of a slightly more benign Fox News. They have the sexy blond presenters but their commentators aren't quite so shrill as Fox. However, they seem to be the only station that broadcasts soccer/football matches.

As for Wills/Kate, hopefully it will be a happy royal marriage for a change. I'm sure Liz doesn't want anymore royal drama for awhile.

We're off to Scotland where they certainly won't be as interested in the shenanigans! When Charles and Diana married we spent a lovely day on the beach!

Patrick, that link just shows that New Yorkers have lost their flippin' minds regarding dating.

No shock.

Quote KTtravel: "...the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms states: "This expression originated about 1940 in Britain and for a time invariably used couldn’t. About 1960 could was occasionally substituted, and today both versions are used with approximately equal frequency, despite their being antonyms.""

I hold no truck with such modernities!

Be that as it may KT it makes no logical sense whatsoever to use could, becasue if you "could care less" it follows that you must have a residual level of interest, i.e. one that you could care less than.

Don't succumb to the blandishments of the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms nor its fellow malefactor the Oxford Dictionary.

Stay true to the enlightment of Aristotelian Syllogistics!

"is that only for public sector workers or do private companies outside London give it off as well?"

It's an official public holiday throughout the UK. In practice, of course, many private sector workers (and some public sector ones, like police) will get double pay in lieu, since most customer-facing businesses will be working more or less as usual: roughly equal to a 0.75% increase in many businesses' wage costs this year.