I know that Prince William and Princess Kate having a baby is some sort of news, but can anyone explain to me why it is receiving the same level of news attention that Neal Armstrong landing on the moon, or the Fall of Baghdad gets, at least here in the US?
I get that it impacts the line of succession of the British royal throne, but why do Americans care. Didn't we reject all that gold plated plush silliness in 1776?
And it isn't as if they're the only monarchy still around. Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands all have European royal families who retain thrones. At least France, Spain and Greece still have royals who can be identified, even though their countries aren't constitutional monarchies. Even the Russian imperial line has identifiable descendants, in spite of the disaster of the Russian Revolution. Jordon and Saudi Arabia have monarchies that actually rule, if people like to observe that sort of thing. Japan's imperial crown has been occupied by the same family for much, much longer than the English throne has. Indeed, England has a pretty pronounced history of having booted royal families out, or having their lines die out, and whatnot so that the current group of monarchs, who descend from a family imported from Germany, haven't really been on the throne all that long, in historical terms.
Maybe its just television, which likes big flashy shows, which most European monarchies seem to have grown out of, but the whole thing is a mystery to me. They aren't, after all, our kings and queens.
2 comments:
I think part of it is the culture of girls being princesses and finding her prince charming that we receive from Disney and other media/movies, etc. It seems to be that we latch onto anything that gives the appearance of "happily ever after" even though that may not be the reality of what happens.
That might explain why the two males of the household are yawning through the story while the two females seem enthralled.
Post a Comment