A place where I can ponder on thoughts that catch my attention
Thoughts on the Royal Wedding
On Friday 29th of April 2011 the media did not fail to report on every aspect of the wedding between HRH Prince William and his wife Catherine, now Duchess of Cambridge, mentioned in the press as Will and Kate.
Of all the various statements that were made about them, one in particular caught my attention and that was the fact that there had been no interference in the choice made by Prince William as to whom would be his bride and that he had married the woman he loved and had not been forced by protocol to marry one thought suitable.
This took my mind down two avenues of thought. One on the meaning of marriage and the other on the fact that no matter how senior a position we may have, no one is completely free in all aspects of life, even Royalty. Many a problem has been caused by Royals being coerced into marrying those they might not want to, for the benefit of the realm, not only in ancient times but also in recent history.
The Church of England could in some way be said to have come from a King not being able to marry who he wanted and another situation in a like manner caused the abdication of a more recent King just prior to the Second World War. We often envy people like the Princes, Kings and Queens their life style, but as mentioned above they are as walled in as the rest of us, albeit in a different way.
In recent times most of the young royals do work for a living and this is shown in the fact that Prince William is an Helicopter Pilot on a Search and Rescue Base with the Royal Air Force and will be returning to that post. During the Falkland Conflict Prince Andrew flew Helicopters and at times put himself in harm’s way in order to draw missiles away from the ships of the fleet and Prince Harry has served his turn at the front line of Afghanistan. It might be an idea if all leaders of all Countries were to serve in the conflicts their people are involved in.
Marriage in the real sense of the word is not a Romance, albeit that there is of course a Romantic side to it, neither is it mainly an Emotional Event, though there are emotions involved. It is in fact, or should be a total commitment made by a Man and a Woman, for Life, to be true to each other and to support each other for each other’s benefit and for the benefit of any Children that may result from such a union. This is why the choice should be entirely that of the couple themselves with no interference from outside other than maybe friendly assistance in important points.
What of the future? Well the Queen has shown no sign of stepping down even though she is not a young woman. A point not lost on the Press who often push for an answer to the question who will be next to sit on the throne of Great Britain. According to protocol it should be Prince Charles, but there are some who would rather that it jumped straight to Prince William.
Getting away from the politics of the Royalty, another aspect of this (Fairy Tale wedding) as it has been described, there were over a million people turned up in London to be there on the great day and street parties were held in Cities and Towns all over the Country. We even had one here in the Falkland Islands where I live. Some of the media tried to use this in a negative way, as they often do, by mentioning that many had said they would not be watching it at all. Well I admit I did not give more that a brief look at the news, but I am a Royalist, because let’s face it, I have never seen a politician I would fight for yet and the phrase; Serving Queen and Country, has a much better ring to it.
And of course not to be outdone there were many Americans out in the streets soaking up the wedding atmosphere. I do believe that even in this Great Republic of the USA there are many Closet Royalists trying to break out.
I would like to close by Praying for the Royal Couple. I truly hope and pray that their union will stand the test of time and that it will be fruitful in all ways.
May God Bless them and bring them peace.
Fr Peter Norris SFO.
Parish Priest St Mary’s Falklands
On Friday 29th of April 2011 the media did not fail to report on every aspect of the wedding between HRH Prince William and his wife Catherine, now Duchess of Cambridge, mentioned in the press as Will and Kate.
Of all the various statements that were made about them, one in particular caught my attention and that was the fact that there had been no interference in the choice made by Prince William as to whom would be his bride and that he had married the woman he loved and had not been forced by protocol to marry one thought suitable.
This took my mind down two avenues of thought. One on the meaning of marriage and the other on the fact that no matter how senior a position we may have, no one is completely free in all aspects of life, even Royalty. Many a problem has been caused by Royals being coerced into marrying those they might not want to, for the benefit of the realm, not only in ancient times but also in recent history.
The Church of England could in some way be said to have come from a King not being able to marry who he wanted and another situation in a like manner caused the abdication of a more recent King just prior to the Second World War. We often envy people like the Princes, Kings and Queens their life style, but as mentioned above they are as walled in as the rest of us, albeit in a different way.
In recent times most of the young royals do work for a living and this is shown in the fact that Prince William is an Helicopter Pilot on a Search and Rescue Base with the Royal Air Force and will be returning to that post. During the Falkland Conflict Prince Andrew flew Helicopters and at times put himself in harm’s way in order to draw missiles away from the ships of the fleet and Prince Harry has served his turn at the front line of Afghanistan. It might be an idea if all leaders of all Countries were to serve in the conflicts their people are involved in.
Marriage in the real sense of the word is not a Romance, albeit that there is of course a Romantic side to it, neither is it mainly an Emotional Event, though there are emotions involved. It is in fact, or should be a total commitment made by a Man and a Woman, for Life, to be true to each other and to support each other for each other’s benefit and for the benefit of any Children that may result from such a union. This is why the choice should be entirely that of the couple themselves with no interference from outside other than maybe friendly assistance in important points.
What of the future? Well the Queen has shown no sign of stepping down even though she is not a young woman. A point not lost on the Press who often push for an answer to the question who will be next to sit on the throne of Great Britain. According to protocol it should be Prince Charles, but there are some who would rather that it jumped straight to Prince William.
Getting away from the politics of the Royalty, another aspect of this (Fairy Tale wedding) as it has been described, there were over a million people turned up in London to be there on the great day and street parties were held in Cities and Towns all over the Country. We even had one here in the Falkland Islands where I live. Some of the media tried to use this in a negative way, as they often do, by mentioning that many had said they would not be watching it at all. Well I admit I did not give more that a brief look at the news, but I am a Royalist, because let’s face it, I have never seen a politician I would fight for yet and the phrase; Serving Queen and Country, has a much better ring to it.
And of course not to be outdone there were many Americans out in the streets soaking up the wedding atmosphere. I do believe that even in this Great Republic of the USA there are many Closet Royalists trying to break out.
I would like to close by Praying for the Royal Couple. I truly hope and pray that their union will stand the test of time and that it will be fruitful in all ways.
May God Bless them and bring them peace.
Fr Peter Norris SFO.
Parish Priest St Mary’s Falklands