Well, we've done a pretty good job of ignoring the impending wedding here at the facutly lounge. I hardly knew it was coming until a couple of weeks ago. I mean, we fought a Revolution to get out from under irrational authority. I'm pretty much in agreement with Tom Paine on this one:
A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself King of England, against the consent of the natives, is, in plain terms, a very paltry, rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it.
Now I see that the Middleton family just got a coat of arms? They just make this stuff up. For those of you who're looking for a balanced perspective on this — by which I mean a republican perspective — NYROB has a nice piece by Jonathan Freeland of the Guardian.
I was, however, pleasantly surprised to learn of the humble origins of Ms. Middleton (I get that her family now has a lot of money, but that was made in her parents' generation, as I understand it) — good for them that they got together across all the class divisions. That says something really impressive.
Since this is the faculty lounge, I'd like to focus on something related to the couple's college careers. I was most pleasantly surprised to learn that they'd met while studying … art history! Perhaps they even spent some time thinking about nineteenth century landscape art? Never can tell when a little time spent at an art museum or in an art history class will lead to love. And what will the fact that the Royal couple are graduates of St. Andrews do for that university's ranking? Will their UK News and World Report ranking go up? That may be difficult, because — in all seriousness — the University of St. Andrews is already ranked really highly.
Back for just a moment to the humble origins bit. Here's an article from the Washington Post on it — one question, then a thought. First the question, what in the world did Prince Williams' friends mean when they said "doors to manual" as a jibe about Ms. Middleton's mother's career as a airline stewardess? I have no idea what that means, but I suppose it's something that's said on British Airways? Anyway, now the observation: aren't insults like that beneath the dignity of, ahem, nobility? I get they're young men, but, really.
And in conclusion, I'll add, best wishes to the happy couple!
They say "doors to manual" on US airlines too. The pilot (or co-pilot) announces this over the PA, as part of the pre-landing routine, instructing the flight attendants to set the doors to open manually. A cheap jibe, as applied to Mater Middleton (of whom I'm no particular fan, but mocking her for actually having held a job is the sort of tacky peculiar to noxious Anglo toffs).
Thanks, Eric–just goes to show how little I fly — or maybe how little I pay attention when flying. I don't ever recall hearing that. Agreed 100% that's a cheap shot. Beneath the dignity of those young men, it seems to me. And not particularly creative at that. So I guess I'd say it's doubly offensive.