Can William and Kate be a ‘normal couple’

Hi and thanks for visiting my blog, just for something different with this entry, I am providing a spoken recording of this particular post. I have included my reasons for doing so in the podcasted version, so if you would like to listen, just follow this link William and Kate, a normal couple?

The written entry:

Can William and Kate be a ‘normal couple’ ?

How many times was the word ‘normal’ pushed up next to any mention of Prince William and Kate during the wedding build-up? Who were they trying to kid? What was normal about a wedding that size?

Sure, we all understand the need for some privacy, and William would understandably have special concerns about Kate and the intensity of press interest, but drop the pretense of normality. Since when did being born into a family that that is nurtured and promoted by the state, both as tourist icons, and as the modern facsimiles of a lineage that proves the previous greatness of the nation mean normal?  I think never.

It has been documented that once the media turns its spotlight away from achievements, and onto the details of an individual’s private life, then it is at that moment that the individual has moved into the realm of celebrity. From this point on, the details of their private life become the objects that the media trades, to consumers who are eager for more. This knowledge is not new, and so if privacy ever really was a consideration, then screening a movie about the details of how the couple met, just prior to global coverage of their wedding, hardly removes our gaze from the details of their private life.

Perhaps our fascination with celebrity can be partly explained by the irreverent behaviour we are more likely to get away with, in our acts of celebrity worship. It is as if a mass hypnosis can take over, making ‘out of the ordinary’ behaviour so much more acceptable. People picnicking on traffic islands in London, and handing out food and drinks to strangers is not usual, but people love to play their part when the occasion allows. Maybe this creates a communal sense of belonging that magnifies our good feelings towards celebrity.

Either way, you can’t say that these things are normal or every-day, they happened because William and Kate are part of the state machine that is able to play host to the world on this scale. Examples like the British ambassador in Bolivia inviting a local couple who were tying the knot on the same day, to marry at the British embassy, as evidence that “this is a human event as well as a grand state event”, doesn’t make this marriage ordinary. It really just serves to show just how much their wedding belongs to the state. I’ve learnt enough to know that William and Kate are celebrities, and I’m sure that they know this too.