Anna Byrne: Why royal nuptials make us feel warm and fuzzy
UNLESS you have been living under a rock or somewhere equally devoid of TV, twitter and tabloids, you would know that a royal wedding is set for 2018, writes Anna Byrne.
Opinion
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UNLESS you have been living under a rock or somewhere equally devoid of television, Twitter and tabloids, you would know that a royal wedding is set for 2018. Yes, Harry, the rambunctious royal redhead, has proposed to his girlfriend of 18 months, actor Meghan Markle.
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But some party-poopers have been quick to put a dampener on the regal romance, asking, “Why do we care?” It’s enough to make this monarchist clutch her pearls.
Thankfully, this is not my first royal rodeo; I have had to defend my royal-family-watching hobby many times over the years. I know political arguments won’t win you over, but a little sentimentality might.
We care about this wedding because we care about the feel-good stories in the world. As human beings we are drawn to stories that make us smile and serve as an upbeat antidote to terrorism or crime; a broadcast of positive vibes is like a shot in the arm of happy hormones.
And nothing transports you away from a world of blustering presidents with mysterious cheddar cheese-hued hair, or of sexually harassing gardeners, or of muppet MPs with dual citizenships, quite like a fairy-tale.
In this instance we have a soft-focus love story, a romantic comedy, titled When Harry Met Meghan if you will. The storyline is simple enough; couple meet through a friend, start a long-distance romance, go camping in Botswana, fall in love, and then, on a cosy night in at their cottage, cook a chook. And in that special moment, the pragmatic prince gets down on one knee and asks the beautiful screen siren to marry him.
But like any romantic comedy, this story also derives its frisson from the social differences and obstacles that must be overcome by the couple. Yes, this has meant that Meghan has given up her day job, has had to deactivate her online blog for a family that demands a decent dose of discretion and modesty, and has had to move continents to be by her prince. And sure, that does send a slightly outdated tone of monarchist marriage to the millennials.
But before you start believing the dross masquerading as modern-day feminist prose, Meghan’s marriage is no danger to our daughters. She is fit to be a feminist, and a royal role model.
Meghan will now enter into a new role, not as a bored housewife, but as patron of a number of charities, taking over a portfolio of philanthropic causes close to her heart; something which she will no doubt take in her humanitarian stride, having already been a UN women’s advocate, a key speaker for the UN conference on International Women’s Day 2015,
a global ambassador for World Vision Canada in 2016, a racial equality campaigner and a feminist writer, once stating in a blog post: “I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches — I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works.”
We care about this wedding because she will bring joy to hundreds of thousands of people through this work.
But finally, we care about this wedding because in some small way, watching a happy Harry hold hands with the woman he has chosen to marry begins to heal the heartache we felt watching him walk behind his mother’s hearse.
For better or worse, but mainly for better, we will watch this royal wedding with bated breath and with thoughts of his mum.
So cue the tacky telemovies, the archival footage of Charles and Diana, the toffy tipster who predicts her wedding gown and a boom in royal souvenirs. For anyone looking for those warm and fuzzy feelings, care about this wedding.
Anna Byrne is a Herald Sun journalist
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