William was in the wrong re Harry’s wedding

[MaybelleMary]

Re William didn’t stay over with Harry the night before his wedding and caused a fuss about having to go to the hotel he was in the night before for dinner. As his only brother and as best man he should’ve been there with him. We hear all the time how wonderful and amazing Catherine’s family are - surely on the occasion of his only sibling getting married her parents could’ve come over to help her with her newborn and the children for the night. They have nannies and cleaners and staff so not exactly short of help in general.

my DH has only one brother too. He got married when my baby was 6 weeks old post a difficult c-section. We went to the hotel for 3 nights - so DH could have drinks with his brother and bridal party the night before, the night of the wedding and the night after the wedding. I was fine with this as it was his only siblings wedding. Yes it was difficult for me and exhausting but it was important to us both that we made a big effort for his DBro especially as (like Harry) they were missing a parent at the wedding.

from my view either William or Catherine or both didn’t care enough to put themselves out for Harry and his wedding which reflects poorly on them.

So if they are not close, and W is not emotionally supportive, then there's no reason for H to bleat about W not being at the hotel all night, is there, or indeed to ask him in the first place. Why should W&K be acknowledging anything? W gave his perfectly valid reasons to go home.

And it was not an American wedding, so there's no reason for anyone to have been following American wedding norms (whatever they are).

It's all very what's that American teen parenting book?
'I hate you mom, get out of my life, now give me a ride to the mall'?

It wasn’t because of an American custom it was because Harry had stayed with William the night before his wedding - they had clearly had a fun bonding moment that Harry wanted to replicate - but at the time of Harry’s wedding he wasn’t appreciating the difference between two bachelors in their 20s the night before a wedding and the best man in his late 30s with three kids including a newborn.

And I’d say that was fine to be disappointed - many of us before kids and family life don’t appreciate the difference.

Where Harry is being completely unreasonable is relaying this story FIVE years later as a way to criticize William without even the slightest acknowledgement of William’s parental responsibilities now that Harry knows what it’s like to be a father of a newborn.

That would be fine if the kids and Catherine were simply going to have a normal day the next day, or would simply be in the background. Unfortunately they were involved closely in the event in question, and it was being televised to be broadcast all around the world.

Again - William did the pre wedding walkabout with Harry, he spent the evening with him having dinner, and he simply went home to sleep and be there overnight for his kids.

He didn’t refuse to spend the evening with Harry - he just chose his newborn over a bed in a hotel and possible a very late night drinking session.

Yes he wasn’t there for Harry in exactly the same way that Harry had been for William at William’s wedding.

And the reason it wasn’t exactly the same is because they were no longer two bachelors in their 20s with no other responsibilities.

William now had family responsibilities that meant he preferred to stay in his own bed the night before the wedding.

Harry in his bachelor state the night before the wedding was understandably disappointed.

Harry father of two is unreasonable to be still moaning about this with not an ounce of empathy for William’s position FIVE years later.

What American influence? An American Preacher? What else about the ceremony was intrinsically American? Not the gospel choir, I'd say they were quintessentially British/Commonwealth influenced, not American. Not the lovely cellist, Shaku Kanneh-Mason, British of Antiuigan and Sierra Leonean descent. Playing European music. Not the venue, not the service, not the vows, not the bridal outfits (French), none of the bride's family other than her mother. A bunch of US stars in attendance does not make it an American wedding.

And in any event, which part of the English groom's night before dinner with his English friends and English brother was, or needed to be, American in nature?

True - and I will judge those people who would want him to put a late night drinking session ahead of going home to see his newborn.

I don't have the energy for this. Since you are Meghan - you are right.

No, you simply don't have any valid arguments - for any of the points anyone on this thread is making in support of W's valid choice to go home to his wife and children.

On a practical note, I don't believe you are being 'tagged' as such. What's happening is that Lizziet64 is using the quote feature, as I have just done here. It helps posters follow who said what, and what comments are being responded to. It's useful on a thread that is moving along quite quickly.