Pageantry and discipline

The colour, the historical significance and the pageantry apart, the spectacle of the Royal Wedding in England provided a brilliant answer to why the British have been able to stretch their former empire to as far as they did: discipline. There was as if an invisible conductor waving a similarly invisible baton and ensuring everything human on display went in clockwork precision. The almost exaggerated emphasis on Prince William's part to ensure he and his new bride didn't stumble (and there was plenty of opportunity of that) would have passed all but the sternest of examinations and it was uncanny how a choir could perform on the trot without a glitch. And no matter how dress rehearsals are conducted, everything about a wedding can never be re-produced and one doesn't get royalty to practice without the public getting to know about it. It was the public that was most impressive. Close to a million people were estimated to have converged on the adjuncts of St James' square and the London police don't normally use guns. Given that such a high-profile event could not have taken place without the abominable but necessary security measures of our times, the Brits can take a bow for having those elements discretely out of sight; that too with no less a person than a Queen on display. For some time there has been a royal vs. anti-royal debate in the UK. Friday's event therefore, had a little more significance than just curiosity about regal affairs. Judging from the turn-out, pro-royals are big in their numbers and, from the sale of official and unofficial memorabilia, there certainly remains an interest, if not affection, in the royal family. Most of those interviewed by the BBC instantly connected the event to Diana, the much maligned yet loved former wife of crown prince Charles. It was a connection that went beyond to purely the fact that it was her son who was going through a process his mother had all those years ago. It was the same 'those' amongst the public who thronged the area, put up with all the annoyances of no place to sleep, scanty food and utility facilities available just for the few precious moments when William and Kate passed by on their short journey to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. Three rows of uniformed police were what separated the public from chaos and they faithfully followed the lines, so to say knowing the limits that even their interest would have. How pleasant it was to see royalty not flanked by grim-faced uniformed personnel; to see a wedding ceremony where there were no uniforms around sans that dictated by tradition and a human chain not of activists but the law ensuring order. And to think that this is a family that isn't elected by popular vote. (The writer can be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com)