Wedding wows

(bdnews24.com, April 29, 2011)

It is being called the wedding of the decade. But then they said that about another wedding that happened many years before, in 1981, when Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, heir to the throne of the British empire. On April 29, today, her first son, Prince William of Wales, married Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. And, we hear, that it all took so long to actually come about (ten years since the happy couple first met in 2011) because the two of them wanted to be absolutely sure that they would remain a happy couple indeed and not live separate and unhappy lives after a few seasons together as man and wife.

Whatever the two still-fairly-young people have decided to do, and for whatever reason they have decided to do it, it is after all their lives – or life, when it is all done and signed – and we, as bystanders, however interested, have no business sticking our noses into it. And isn’t that what got Diana killed? Too many people taking too much of an interest in her business? In a way it is all part of life as it is today. Enquiring minds, as the catchphrase goes, want to know and the media is duty-bound in its role as media to provide that information. So when it comes to the wedding of the son of a star personality that the press went crazy chasing, that frenzy starts up all over again.

The hype over the wedding of Prince William and his lady love is not without parallels in less royal circles. In India, the hype-bug struck very recently when paparazzi tried to storm the venue for the big day that Bollywood star Lara Dutta and tennis biggie Mahesh Bhupati were celebrating with a circle of close friends and family. A few years ago, the wedding of former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and Bollywood scion Abhishek Bachchan had the press photographers camped outside various places that the different ceremonies were scheduled to be held, with someone actually sneaking very private images of the actual nuptials out to the waiting newshounds for instant ‘scoop’ publication. And of course, on an international level, there is the ever-hungry public waiting to know more about when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are going to make their relationship legal. Gossip websites the world over focus on these issues, never mind that they do not really impact the state of the world apropos peace, global warming, nuclear winter or the price of…well…eggs!

What really amuses me is the so-called ‘educated speculation’ that people indulge in. While there is some justification for the royal PR people to divulge ‘insider’ information – that bit about how the royal couple wanted to be sure they would stay happily married before actually committing to a date comes from them – to have the man (or woman) on the street professing to know all sorts of confidential tidbits about how Kate and William will live their lives as husband and wife, from the colour of their bedsheets to the flavour of their toothpaste to the swimwear they will use during their honeymoon seems a bit too much to digest. However public a figure, whatever their profile, wherever in the world they may be, no one has a right to poke their snoopy noses into a private and personal existence; the outside world needs to learn how to stop at the bedroom door, for one!

Oddly enough, it is the new princess’ fashion sense that is attracting the most comment. From her figure – now even slimmer than before, perhaps because of the stress of becoming a wife so publicly – to her wedding gown, everyone has something to say. Along the way, comparisons are being made, naturally of course, to her late mother-in-law, Diana, with editorial opinions and photo-features by the dozen talking about how Diana wore this so what will Kate wear on a similar occasion? The burning question editors of websites, newspapers and magazines have right now is what will Kate wear for her wedding? Should it be sexy and a la mode, as befits a young woman with a decidedly modern personal style, or should it be modest and reflective of a future queen who will lead by example? Should she buy British or opt for a more global design statement? And should it be white, which seems out of sync since the pair has been together for so long, or include a touch of colour, which would make it more edgy, contemporary and young? Everything that is the bride’s prerogative has become a matter of open debate.

Is this fair? Doesn’t a young woman, especially one newly married, deserve some privacy? She has a life, she has so many changes to adjust to, she needs time and space to be a princess, a wife, a part of a very large and even more illustrious family, she needs to feel like she is still who she essentially is, a young woman with a mind and a psyche that has the freedom to be what it is. And it is up to us, as the general public, to give her that respect.