Royal Weddings

   Lately, when I've had a little free time, I've been watching royal weddings on You Tube. When I was researching Princess Elizabeth's 21st birthday speech, I found out that there was a video on You Tube I could watch. This led to me finding videos of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (parents of the current queen), the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales and even (really) a silent video of the funeral of Queen Victoria. (I didn't watch too much of this one because obviously there is no sound and is mostly of parades of men on horses.)
  This led to videos of various royal weddings. I had no idea how many monarchies there were in Europe.
  The first one I watched was the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling. This was an usual one because normally it is a prince marrying a woman who is a commoner (meaning she does not belong to any rank of nobility). In this case, the man is the one without rank. It's odd to see a groom in a royal wedding wearing a tuxedo instead of some kind of military dress suit with a sash. I loved watching them at their wedding. They act just like any couple in love on their wedding day. They held hands, they shared loving glances and showed obvious appreciation for the musicians that played or sang during the service.
   My favourite groom so far is Frederik,the Crown Prince of Denmark. He married in 2004, the same year I did. He's about my age as well. At his wedding, he didn't look his age, I was surprised when I looked it up. He wasn't stiff and formal at his wedding. You could see that he was fidgeting a little and talking with his brother who was standing up with him. When the bride came down the aisle, the camera showed a close up of his face and his eyes looked a little moist. I was touched.
  My favourite wedding so far is Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill. Like her older sister, Victoria, she did not marry a man of noble rank. In fact her husband is not Swedish. I liked this wedding because it was bilingual, probably because the groom didn't speak fluent Swedish. There were readings in both languages. The groom said his vows in English and the bride said hers in Swedish. I also chuckled at the fact that Princess Estelle, the daughter of Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, was caught playing with the wedding program as she sat on her mother's lap. She also got a little fussy while Princess Victoria was doing a reading. Prince Daniel got up from his seat and carried his daughter to a spot where she could be closer to her mother. It looked just like any other family wedding, except a lot bigger.
  I enjoy seeing some of the customs that these weddings have. In Sweden, crowns are placed on or near the alter to symbolize the person involved in the ceremony. (At least this is how I understand it. If I'm wrong about this feel free to correct me.) Before Princess Madeleine walked down the aisle two groups of children carried garland down the aisle. They stood to each side of the aisle with the garland while the bride and her party processed. After the ceremony, the bride and groom were proceeded by a group of fiddlers wearing what I think is traditional costumes playing traditional music. It was a nice touch and different from the usual organ fanfare that most weddings have.
  The wedding of Stephanie de Lannoy and Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg had a couple of nice touches. The bride was escorted down the aisle by her oldest brother as her father was quite elderly and in a wheelchair. The bride and groom had a moment to speak to her father before the beginning of the ceremony.  The bride's mother passed away about two months before the wedding. A moment of silence was observed in her honor at the start of the wedding ceremony.  Two very fitting gestures.
  There is one thing about all these weddings that I simply do not understand. All of the gowns worn by all of the brides had long trains. I've never understood trains in general. What is the purpose of having a very expensive and sometimes elaborately decorated piece of cloth dragging on the ground? All of these trains were so long that it required the assistance of at least two people to move it around. Most of these couples left the wedding ceremony in an open horse drawn carriage. The train took up almost as much space as the bridal couple. What do you do with a train that long during the reception or wedding dinner? It's not like you can bustle something that long.
   A couple of the videos showed wedding guests from the various ruling houses of Europe walking on a red carpet into the church. These guests would stop at a point on the carpet to allow photographers to take a picture before continuing into the church. It reminded me a little of the red carpet walks at televised award ceremonies. I must admit, the clothes worn at royal weddings are in much better taste. The hats and tiaras are pretty cool too.
  With so much unhappiness in the news recently, it's nice to take a break and watch something happy. There are few things happier than watching a couple start a new life together.