.....we were the most important Nation on Earth for that one day.

I am a Monarchist, a staunch supporter of the Royal family. I guess that is to be expected, being English but I couldn't find any enthusiasm in the lead up to the Royal Wedding. I thought that maybe it was the fact that the Princes are both younger than me, maybe it is a generational thing or maybe the fact that I had been working flat out on decorating the house, running on empty and late into the evenings after work, isn't conducive to any feelings of goodwill. However cometh the day before, cometh the feelings of Englishness and the patriotism that only the Royal family can confer. Yes, I started to get excited.
Come the Friday morning, I was almost beside myself and cursing my stupidity in not going to London. I vowed to my children that we would be visiting London for future Royal events. I watched the television avidly, soaking up all the details, that proud feeling welling up in my chest as I saw our young Princes, both looking calm and...well...Royal. And then the Queen, looking sunlike in yellow, every inch the Grandmother and naturally the Mother of Englishness.
Once the guests were in the Abbey, I took my wife off to Coombe Hill for the 21 gun salute. It was glorious, a handful of people and 3 great Cannons. I did take my camera of course and stupidly found that my 2 usual memory cards were at home and my spare had other rubbish on it....I had enough for 1 shot.



The rest of the day was spent in that haze of feel good factor that only an English day can bring. The realisation that 2 billion people were watching this tiny green spec in the North Sea and that we were the most important Nation on Earth for that one day.
It does bring many things into perspective and for anybody in England that doesn't support the Monarchy, they must have felt pretty lonely, but it must have also given them pause for thought, if they are important to the rest of the World, what have they missed that everyone else hasn't? I also realised how integral they are to being English. Sure we have the occasional event that makes us all proud but it is only the Royal occasions, weddings and the Queen's Jubilees that bring out the real patriotism that is the definition of who we are. I would think that every Country has days like that, I know that other Countries have more reasons to celebrate their nationality but it is simply amazing that as our place in the World slips and other Nations supplant our standing, for one day we transcended them all and all because we have a Royal Family that have proved to be a focus for the World.....incredible.

By Sunday morning Obama had relegated us to the back pages, ah well, there's always the commemorative plates, tea towels, condoms and toby jugs to remember the day by.