GABIT attendees thread

[Chelle DB]

Is it true it was a 40million pound wedding? And that the Middletons put in 100,000 pounds? Ouch!! I heard that the media paid up to 6000 pounds to have a seat near Buckingham Palace...which was good coz it meant that the general public could get in free...that was what was said.

[Trindajae]

I really enjoyed the wedding (woke myself up at 3:00am and turned on my tv and watched for a couple hours before falling asleep again.) Loved the music especially.

My mom couldn't get the day off work yesterday for my grandmother's funeral (she & my dad got divorced a decade ago, so she doesn't qualify for her employer's emergency funeral leave because "ex-mother-in-law" isn't on the list of approved family, and she couldn't get regular vacation leave because of the short notice). She was very unhappy about missing it, so I went to her house to visit in the evening and I turned on the wedding because my mother loves a bit of pomp more than anyone else I know. BBC America showed and re-ran the 2-hour highlights segment every two hours from the end of the ceremony and they're still airing it now. They haven't listed all of today's shows, but it's even scheduled to still be airing tomorrow. (They're still advertising Doctor Who, so I think it's safe to assume that they'll take a short break from the constant "Will & Kate Stalking" to give us the conclusion to last week's fantastic cliff-hanger.) My mom loved the wedding so much, I was actually worried she'd have us sit through the repeat so she could watch it all again. She had me pulling up the seating chart, the list of who's who,, descriptions of appropriate forms of address for different people, everything up to and including the history of the building of Buckingham Palace.

Funniest bit was when they were playing "God Save the Queen" but all she could make out was the tune and not the lyrics. I jumped in with the title of the song before she could get completely confused. "What? We stole the tune for 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'? Along with the colors for the flag? Didn't we have any of our own ideas when we started a country?"

I have to say I was laughing too hard to come up with even an unsuitable answer for that. The flabbergasted expression on her face was just too perfect.

[Jumble]

Charles could abdicate in favor of his son...in my opinion that's what he should do. William is much more popular than Charles and with so many people down on the monarchy these days...they need all the help they can get.

I have to disagree. Will is only popular because he is young and has just married a beautiful girl, but he's far too young and inexperienced to be any kind of a king.

Charles has been raised and trained from birth to be King and has proved himself both capable and worthy of the job. He is also a lot more popular in the UK than people outside it seem to think. Diana, on the other hand, is not as loved by 'everyone' as the press wood have you believe. Rather a lot of us consider her to have been the worst thing to ever happen to our Royal Family.

I know it was over the top and all, but seemed more like a real family wedding- compared to the arranged marriage feel of Charles and Diana.

That's the point I think - Will and Kate are a love-match, and I'm very glad that they were allowed to marry. Lesson learned, I think, from the Diana fiasco

[Skydiver]

security was paid for by the tax payer...but really, not only did it protect the family and guests, it also protected the attendees....keeping a million milling revelers tame and under control, not an easy feat.

[EH-T]

My mom couldn't get the day off work yesterday for my grandmother's funeral (she & my dad got divorced a decade ago, so she doesn't qualify for her employer's emergency funeral leave because "ex-mother-in-law" isn't on the list of approved family, and she couldn't get regular vacation leave because of the short notice). She was very unhappy about missing it, so I went to her house to visit in the evening and I turned on the wedding because my mother loves a bit of pomp more than anyone else I know. BBC America showed and re-ran the 2-hour highlights segment every two hours from the end of the ceremony and they're still airing it now. They haven't listed all of today's shows, but it's even scheduled to still be airing tomorrow. (They're still advertising Doctor Who, so I think it's safe to assume that they'll take a short break from the constant "Will & Kate Stalking" to give us the conclusion to last week's fantastic cliff-hanger.) My mom loved the wedding so much, I was actually worried she'd have us sit through the repeat so she could watch it all again. She had me pulling up the seating chart, the list of who's who,, descriptions of appropriate forms of address for different people, everything up to and including the history of the building of Buckingham Palace.

Funniest bit was when they were playing "God Save the Queen" but all she could make out was the tune and not the lyrics. I jumped in with the title of the song before she could get completely confused. "What? We stole the tune for 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'? Along with the colors for the flag? Didn't we have any of our own ideas when we started a country?"

I have to say I was laughing too hard to come up with even an unsuitable answer for that. The flabbergasted expression on her face was just too perfect.

LOL!

How unfortunate that your mother's employer stuck to the letter of the rule and had no compassion to make an exception.



One other comment regarding the wedding. I am always impressed by the well behaved crowds at these events. No pushing or shoving to get down The Mall to the palace, just an orderly walk. Reflects well upon you lovely Brits .

[Fan-e-Gate]

They talked to each other and looked I thought her dress was quite understated compared to Diana's. I liked it....simple yet elegant.

Me too. Never thought Diana's dress was that great.

[Fan-e-Gate]

I agree with you. We have the same situation, though our royal family is a lot younger. Next in line should be king as it is expected.
I do think it's strange that Elizabeth is 85 and still queen though.

She'll be in power as long as she's mentally & physically fit to rule.

[SWMBOTGSG]

One thing we did notice that is unusual - and a sign of the times - there were a large number of armed police on the route. (For those who don't know, UK police are not normally armed.) I have to admit I felt happier once that open carriage was safely inside the palace grounds. We are such a target these days and I felt sure that somebody would try and spoil the day.

Mumsey

[ScifigirlSG]

One thing we did notice that is unusual - and a sign of the times - there were a large number of armed police on the route. (For those who don't know, UK police are not normally armed.) I have to admit I felt happier once that open carriage was safely inside the palace grounds. We are such a target these days and I felt sure that somebody would try and spoil the day.

Mumsey

I didn't notice the 'armed' police because the media cameras didn't focus on that. Could it be that Charles and Camilla were attacked while riding in a covered car during the student protests?

[Fan-e-Gate]

Are there any true monarchies left? I know there are still some countries with royal families, but do any of them truly rule anymore or are they figureheads.

I think some Asian & African countries still have absolute monarchs, as I think they're called.

[Fan-e-Gate]

Is it true it was a 40million pound wedding? And that the Middletons put in 100,000 pounds? Ouch!!

I heard that it was cheaper than the Charles/Diana wedding.

[SWMBOTGSG]

I think some Asian & African countries still have absolute monarchs, as I think they're called.

There are several Arab kings who are absolute monarchs.

Mumsey

[SWMBOTGSG]

I didn't notice the 'armed' police because the media cameras didn't focus on that. Could it be that Charles and Camilla were attacked while riding in a covered car during the student protests?

If you go here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13200114 and navigate around the picture, the police men with white shirt sleeves are armed with sub machine guns and pistols. This picture was taken at the Buckingham Palace end of the Mall where the crowd was thickest and where they eventually filled the area around the memorial in front of the palace. I did notice the armed police all along the route though. It had less to do with the attack on Charles and Camilla and more to do with terrorism. That attack was a fluke caused by somebody's carelessness not thinking about what was going on around them. They should have re-routed the car knowing the demonstration was going on. I'm sure somebody got a good rocket up their rear end for that.

Mumsey

[rderoch]

i have royal blood in my veins too. my great,great,great,great,great grandfather was an indian chief -blackfoot tribe. if i ever get married(don't hold your breath waiting) the ceremony will be at my church-informal attire required and the reception will be at "Chuckie Cheese" buy your own tokens.

I want to be invited! That sounds like fun. I once went to a wedding reception that was at a farm. Everyone grilled burgers and dogs and ate picnic food and played volleyball etc. It was a great time.

Supposedly, my great, great grandmother was choctaw. And in pictures she definitely has the bone structure of someone with Native American blood, but so far I haven't been able to find any proof. That kind of ancestry is very difficult to trace.

The royal family pays for most of it and Kates parents pay for Kate's and bridesmaid's gowns and some other odds and ends. But I heard someone (a commentator) say security was paid by the government (taxes?).

I really enjoyed the wedding (woke myself up at 3:00am and turned on my tv and watched for a couple hours before falling asleep again.) Loved the music especially. There is something wonderful about the hymn Jerusalem I have always loved after being at the "Proms" in 1970 and sitting in the audience wishing I knew the words so I could sing along. Our hotel was right around the corner from Royal Albert Hall and i just wandered in wondering what the "show" was all about. One of my favorite memories from my first trip to the UK--England's green and pleasant land--just the way I could describe how England was that year in June--seeing it from the train to Scotland. I loved it!

It is a very green country. That was one thing we kept marveling at as we rode the trains around was just how green everything is. Beautiful.

Is it true it was a 40million pound wedding? And that the Middletons put in 100,000 pounds? Ouch!! I heard that the media paid up to 6000 pounds to have a seat near Buckingham Palace...which was good coz it meant that the general public could get in free...that was what was said.

Wow. That's a lot of money. And it seemed from what I saw that it was rather a pared down affair for being a royal wedding.

My mom couldn't get the day off work yesterday for my grandmother's funeral (she & my dad got divorced a decade ago, so she doesn't qualify for her employer's emergency funeral leave because "ex-mother-in-law" isn't on the list of approved family, and she couldn't get regular vacation leave because of the short notice). She was very unhappy about missing it, so I went to her house to visit in the evening and I turned on the wedding because my mother loves a bit of pomp more than anyone else I know. BBC America showed and re-ran the 2-hour highlights segment every two hours from the end of the ceremony and they're still airing it now. They haven't listed all of today's shows, but it's even scheduled to still be airing tomorrow. (They're still advertising Doctor Who, so I think it's safe to assume that they'll take a short break from the constant "Will & Kate Stalking" to give us the conclusion to last week's fantastic cliff-hanger.) My mom loved the wedding so much, I was actually worried she'd have us sit through the repeat so she could watch it all again. She had me pulling up the seating chart, the list of who's who,, descriptions of appropriate forms of address for different people, everything up to and including the history of the building of Buckingham Palace.

Funniest bit was when they were playing "God Save the Queen" but all she could make out was the tune and not the lyrics. I jumped in with the title of the song before she could get completely confused. "What? We stole the tune for 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'? Along with the colors for the flag? Didn't we have any of our own ideas when we started a country?"

I have to say I was laughing too hard to come up with even an unsuitable answer for that. The flabbergasted expression on her face was just too perfect.

I know what she means. It always throws me when they start playing it, because I start singing our lyrics. This is why sampling is wrong.

That's horrible about your mom not being able to get a day off. I've always wondered how they've come up with the bereavement policies. Where I work you get 5 days for parents, but only three for a sibling. Granted, with a parent you may have estate issues to deal with, etc, though that is going to take much longer than 5 days anyway. But how do they figure you don't need as much time for a sibling. You've spent your life with them as well. And you don't get any days for friends. People are often closer to their friends than they are their families. What if you have a friend that didn't have any family and you are the one that needs to take care of things for them? I know policies can't take into account every possible instance, but employers need to be more flexible. You can't put grief on a schedule.

I didn't notice the 'armed' police because the media cameras didn't focus on that. Could it be that Charles and Camilla were attacked while riding in a covered car during the student protests?

I had heard that that was one of the concerns, was that that particular group would act up again.

I heard that it was cheaper than the Charles/Diana wedding.

Diana's dress alone would have been a large chunk.

I think some Asian & African countries still have absolute monarchs, as I think they're called.

There are several Arab kings who are absolute monarchs.

Mumsey

I didn't think there were any left in Europe. I wasn't aware there were any still in Asia. Are they some of the Pacific island nations?

[Skydiver]

What's funny....as much as i've been around the US, the ONLY time i've seen armed men on the streets - as in armed with automatic rifles - was in the UK.

When we went to the changing of the guard, every time they opened the gates to buckingham palace, the uzi armed men strolled about.

I heard that several groups promised to make trouble, hence the extra security. fortunately, if anyone acted up, the press never knew about it