So a royal wedding with celebs in attendance is not of interest to the US media... The irony of your question with the above observation is somewhat staggering...

Actually, I'd be willing to bet that as a percentage, there are very few "UK tax payers" here on EF to give an opinion

... but for the record, tax payers are paying for transportation and security, while the rest is being paid for by the family (although reports I read did not indicate which family...). That said, tax payers and small companies will, in effect, be footing the bill for an additional bank holiday.

However, to echo the OP's original points, though, I do find the spin-offs somewhat sickening, e.g. the coat of arms, the "meet the Middleton's" tv show (which I only just narrowly avoided the other night)

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Never let right or wrong get in the way of a good opinion

I think Americans are offended or surprised Obama is not invited. You can definitely sense it on the news or the press even if the subject is not directly addressed.

Obama who?

Barry Obama. You guys never accepted that the bust of Churchill that adorned the oval office was sent back to Britain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...o-Britain.html

Oh, Derek's brother!

I don't think they invite those kinds of people to such events. One doesn't want to bring down the tone...

The British Royal family have no relevance or importance in this world? It's easy to forget that it's only a tad over a hundred years ago, a blink of the eye in historical terms, that their ilk was still a big influence and power in Britain (and indeed the world), at the height of it's colonial power, while you guys were still busy massacring the Native Indian population of America. Queen Victoria, you may have heard of her?

The Royal Family may now be ceremonial in nature, but they still (imo) symbolise much of what is (or was, depending how you look at it) great about Britain, and are an integral part of our culture and heritage in a nation that was ruled absolutely by monarchs for the vast majority of its history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch...United_Kingdom

However, coming from a land where you've only had a cultural identity for a mere couple of centuries or so, and where some believe the world was created on the day the United States of America was born, I guess your lack of appreciation for the rest of the worlds history can be forgiven.

Either way, i'd rather celebrate the wedding of a true institution that is a real and identifiable part of our culture and heritage, than hear about the latest wedding of some meaningless movie stars like Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes, who probably got just as much coverage yet weren't even remotely as deserving of it.

...............

Copy that!

Thanks everyone for weighing in on the subject. Of course, I was looking to rile some people up. Looks like I did. Maybe some of the below statements will rile a few more maybe not. I still just think all the wedding hubbub is funny, so I appreciate you letting me know why you care at all.


@TiMow: sports and ridiculous government spending on frivolities have nothing to do with each other. Plus, the British can’t talk about silly sports.

@Mikey: the British revolutionized the art of paparazzi, so I don’t understand your comment.

@FrankZappa: I can’t speak for everyone in the US, but I don’t think that anyone I’ve ever met in the US wishes they were in the Commonwealth. Most people don’t even know what that really is other than a sports league and a silly reason to put the queen’s face on Canadian money.


@smackerjack:

that last bit is a pretty good reason to care. There is a lot of crap going on in the world. I guess why not watch a silly wedding.

@Sky: I just don’t think that it is history that matters at all anymore and

@Meisie: I knew it was a little girl’s princess fantasy. I’m glad you’re honest. That’s cool.

@Carlos R: You seem smart. Your first statement confuses me, but your second statement is very informative and a good observation.


@Richdog: haven’t the British massacred none too few in their day? It seems difficult to judge someone else’s sins to me.

Really?

Glad you cleared that up for us.

Oh but it's never about history.... until it is.

The problem here is people are responding in a way that suggests you understand cultural identity. Of course, being American, this is not the case but it is common for people to argue until they are blue in the face of their fellow American debater not realising that it is not, as you say, any malice or disdain for the Royal Wedding, it is simply that you do not understand it.

To bridge such a wide cultural chasm over the course of a few bulletin board messages is simply impossible - should it be so then in all likelihood American's wouldnt go marching around blowing up countries the most of which the average yank couldn't even pinpoint on a map - so to answer the question directly, why do the British get so wound up about a Royal Wedding when you can see no relevance or point to it at al ? it might be better to think of the Royal Wedding not as a wedding but as a medical procedure and all the British have got fully comprehensive cover (even with pre-existing conditions) and so are Entitled to watch the wedding fully covered and will not be left to die in the marriage street (so to speak) because of a lack of insurance.

@MikeB: I'm totally lost in your sea of condescendingness. I didn't understand a word you said.

I think that just about wraps it up then. could someone please close the thread ?

why would someone close the thread?

Because it's a rather pointless attempt at trollery, started by someone who isn't really interested in the answer, to be answered by people who have no hope of ever explaining it to him.

Mikeb,
There is an enormous interest in the US. It is in every single magazine and we are bombarded on TV with reports on the upcoming wedding. Many people have at least some fraction of British ancestry and are therefore interested.
In general, I have not detected any contempt from Americans. British expats in the US are more ambivalent I noticed.

The fortunate thing about living in Switzerland is you can turn off CNN, forget about the wedding and get some swiss german cultural TV when the wedding is on

@AnAustralian: well said. I should turn my tv off more.

There are several reasons why I care, or rather, why I'm quite interested in the event.

What I don't understand is why the OP doesn't understand.

Why would I NOT have some interest in a major constitutional event affecting my nation's history, especially if there's a ton of spectacle attached? And the clincher is that at the heart of this event is a couple of kids getting married.

It seems that the OP is asking the wrong question. His/her exasperation is really with the amount of foreign media coverage it's getting. To reduce his stress levels he should be aiming questions at CNN et al rather than British consumers of the event.