The Royal Wedding

It should come as no surprise to the readers of this blog that I have been very excited about the Royal Wedding. Congratulations Will and Kate! I have taped 8 hours of wedding coverage and will spend my evening on the sofa with tea and scones, watching the ceremony.

Before I go watch the coverage, however, and in honour of the royal couple, I thought I would share with you one of my favourite books. The book is particularly appropriate for today: Two Centuries of Royal Weddings by Christopher Warwick.

The book covers all the royal weddings from Princess Charlotte to Prince Michael of Kent. As it is a bit old, it stops right before Charles and Diana. However, you get all the weddings of every other important figure from Princess Charlotte on. You learn about the race to get married and father an heir after Princess Charlotte dies. You learn about the marriages of Queen Victoria's children. And, finally, you learn about all the important marriages of the royals in the 20th century.

Warwick has a pleasant writing style and the book flows well. Enough history is explained in the beginning for the reader to understand who the people are, and Warwick gets more detailed as we move into the 20th century and to weddings which might be of more interest to the general reader (such as the wedding of our current Queen, Elizabeth II, in 1947).

What I really enjoy about the book is its mix of history and gossip. You learn about the royal family members, but also about some of the lighter gossip surrounding the parties - nothing malicious is repeated here. Warwick is also a style correspondent - he describes the outfits of the bride and guests. He's like a history buff with an eye for fashion.

I wouldn't mind an updated version of this book to encompass the weddings of Charles and Diana, Andrew and Sarah, Anne and Timothy Laurence, Edward and Sophie, and Charles and Camilla - if only to have all the photos of the many lovely gowns! Or a look back at the royals before Princess Charlotte. However, this book is a good read for anyone who wants to learn some of the history of other royal weddings and take a look back at some of the weddings of William's relatives.

Now it is off to my couch for tea, scones, and the Royal Wedding! I do wish Will and Kate all the best and hope that their marriage is strong and happy.