To not really understand why some people think the Royal Wedding makes our lives better

[electra]

'in these difficult times'

I will admit that I watched the wedding, seeing as it does not happen very often and found it vaguely interesting.

But why is it that I hear people saying this wedding is a great comfort in these difficult times and some acting completely hysterical in the face of it???

I really do not get how when nobody has any money (relatively) they all feel better by putting a bunch of people on pedestals who they don't know.

Ok, they're getting married. I hope they'll be happy.....but that's it. I don't know them and I don't get that their wedding will make me happier.

Royalists, I'm genuinely interested to hear what point I've missed.

I see that the Republic of France are ahead of us there RR

There are indeed but they have warm beaches and a good climate in the south that help to attract tourists there Can't see many foreign visitors coming to Southend on Sea

Apparently no other royal family attracts the same level of interest globally as ours does, look at Diana fever!

I didnt watch the wedding but went to the street party and loved it. Loads of drink, food, friends and the day of work!

Oh! - we are also behind China, US and Italy - now theres a thing!

Good points Restrainedrabbit

As an independant retailer I have fared very well as a result of the Royal Wedding. In turn I will spend and put it back into the economy.

The Diamond Jubilee and Olympic Games will hopefully contribute as much to the economy.

Do you not thing tourists would still come to see Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Windsor castle etc anyway? - even without incumbent Monarch? What about Shakespeare - presumably a big draw? etc?

I'm not a raving Royalist by any means and think a more streamlined royal family would be better but there is no denying the impact and interest they have. I also think British culture is all the better for the pageantry, makes us unique and interesting. I don't think embracing some aspects of our culture prohibits us from embracing new aspects of modern lives, the two are not mutually exclusive - IMHO.

Now the Olympic games - am prepared to get excited about that!

Maybe some would but the attraction is that they are 'living' buildings as it were, as for Shakespeare he is dead and thus not much we can do about that! You talk to many tourists and they live in hope of bumping into a royal when at the palaces etc. Also what about the changing of the guard? If there was no royalty then those ceremonies would be made redundant.

'It's very telling that the Royal Family, for all of their 'we're in touch with the people', only feel comfortable hanging out with extremely wealthy people.'

Indeed.

I'm fairly 'meh' about the whole thing, and I think the sane majority view is really about on this level - an excuse for a party is nice but that's about it. And I have been gently telling DS that royal status is an accident of birth, or marriage, and not everyone thinks it's fair or that royalty is necessary.
THough I did take him to a family fun day celebration as I am not so anti-the whole thing that I was going to sit in and stew all day. And DS will remember the wedding day all right as, er, he fell over and cut his head open...

Now I on the other hand have no personal interest in the games. Not yet anyway, perhaps as the event drawers closer I may get drawn into the atmosphere.

I won't however be complaining when it is dominating the screen and press for a couple of weeks as some people have complained about the Royal Wedding. I will simply switch channels or not buy the newspapers. Just because I'm not interested doesn't mean I should complain and ruin it for others.

I respect that you have some background in the area, but it is mostly conjecture about would they or would they not still come. Is there much research in this area?

You see the Olympic Games could go either way - be a white elephant or the best thing we could ever invest in! Montreal was left with a debt after their games in 1976, Los Angeles in 1984 broke even and Barcelona did very well.

I am a crabbed old cynic, however..

Watching yesterday brought a lump to my throat and a tear in my eye. I remembered my own wedding and what a happy day it was. DH (Victor Meldrew) held my hand and looked all soft and said how it reminded him too.

Was a lovely day.

I am a tourist.
I went to see Westminster Abbey - due to is literary history. In fact i wasnt going to go in and was so glad I did. I went on that jump on and off bus but didnt see that much of london tbh as it was freezing ad raining.
I saw the crown jewels but dont remember much of them.
I went to ? the castle henry 8th lived in ..is it hanover? I went to windsor castle.
I also went to brighton, scotland (loch ness), liverpool, bath, york.

What I find irritating is people who cling tenaciously to the notion of 'British Empire'. It seems so small minded imo.

HalfPastWine - not quite the same thing. You might not like sporting events like the Olympics but you are unlikely to find it morally and ethically objectionable on a very visceral level, whereas a substantial minority of British people find the concept of monarchy morally and ethically objectionable and yet the media portrays it as if we are all of one mind, which is offensive tbh

Oh I also went to where shakespear was born, how could I forget!

and wales, sorry forgot

There is an awful lot of research into the area.

"Britain?s royal heritage plays a crucial role both through the built heritage legacy of monarchy and through the many legends and stories associated with royalty. In 2008 nearly five million experienced one of the properties overseen by either Historic Royal Palaces or the Royal Collection. British Royalty is linked to Britain?s strong tradition and heritage image, and ?royalty? and ?the Queen? are key associations that people have with Britain. Therefore it is no surprise to find that visiting places associated with the Royal Family/Monarchy is regarded as one of the best activities to do in Britain (ranked 3rd). There is some variation in how the activity is perceived by different nations" (VisitBritains Culture Profile)

Oh I don't know hmc. Some people have had compulsive purchase orders placed on their properties in order to make way for development of the Olympic village. Now that's morally and ethically objectionable.

whereas a substantial minority of British people find the concept of monarchy morally and ethically objectionable and yet the media portrays it as if we are all of one mind, which is offensive tbh

The media are a law unto themselves. There are many things they don't portray correctly in my opinion.

See page 62 of said document: www.visitbritain.org/Images/Culture%20%26%20Heritage%20Topic%20Profile%20Full_tcm29-14711.pdf

" It's very telling that the Royal Family, for all of their 'we're in touch with the people', only feel comfortable hanging out with extremely wealthy people.'

Well I don;t know about anyone else, but I tend to " hang out" with people like myself, just like the Royals do. I tend to find that my friends and I have things in common which includes similar educational level, similar earnings bracket etc. I don't have any friends form a completely different social level because we would have nothing in common .
Birds of a feather.

Electra, These days with experience I think the Royal family 'hang out' with those who have enough intelligence to have at least some understanding of what their position means