Today is neither fish nor fowl: it's a public holiday but not a statutory one. That means that some businesses are working as usual, some are asking some staff to work but for no extra pay although they will get a day off in lieu, some workers will be offered overtime and a day off in lieu and some businesses are closed for the day. Certainly the streets were quieter than usual when I took Fern for her walk this morning so I guess that means most people have the day off to watch the wedding.
What wedding, you ask? The wedding of Prince William and Kate (or Catherine as we should call her now) Middleton. The papers have been desperate to fid something new to say about the occasion over the last couple of days and have been reduced to reporting numbers and betting odds. I have seen figures ranging from 8,500 to 12,000 for the number of media people in London and I forget how many miles of cabling, how many portaloos etc. The estimate is that about a million will be lining the procession route, some having been camped on the pavement since Monday and some having travelled in from the USA, Canada and even a whole family from Australia. The worldwide TV audience is expected to be 2 billion.
I do, of course, wish William and Kate every happiness. But I'm also pleased that we will have a worldwide audience for something we Brits can still do fairly well. Every wedding is theatre, but this one will be theatre on a truly grand scale. I don't think I am verstating the case when I say that there are few countries which can manage that as well as we can. I'm quite looking forward to watching.
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