Beyond the dress: The Royal Wedding

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The British crown and its members have a stuck up reputation, and a very conservative point of view of what society should be like. None the less, in past week’s ceremony we got the chance to see very eloquent signs of a will to adapt to modern standards that the vast majority of the people of the United Kingdom –and a great part of the world- understand as real life.

This winds of change comes at a moment when xenophobia, racism and hate speechs are gaining momentum all over the planet. In Britain, one of its latest consequences has been the decision (via universal vote) of breaking the deals of mutual cooperation between them and the European Union, isolating the Empire in times where most of the nations in the world are in need of a constant and improving connections amongst them.

One of the most important roles of the royal crown in British society, is to guide the people at difficult moments in history: During the World War II, when London suffered from daily bombings, a highly probable German invasion was in everyone’s mind. Was at this moment of need, when the streets were filled with a now famous poster, with a simplistic but powerful message along with an image of the actual crown.

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By setting an example of stoicism towards the struggle of war, the royal family showed the common people that the only way of getting out victorious of the war was if everyone overcame fear and keep doing their part no matter what.
The rest is history.

Nowadays, The British folk are walking in a thin line between bigotry and hate against who they consider different. The crown seems to have taken notice of the danger that represent not standing up to these kinds of behavior, and is again ready to lead by example.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding was the perfect opportunity to spread a very positive message of inclusion to the people of Great Britain, and to all who watched it. Here are some of the sings that you may or may not miss on Saturday morning:

• The bride

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Let’s get the obvious out: when we think about someone who’s going to marry one of the two sons of the future king of England, Megan Markle doesn’t make the top 10. This is not because she’s a horrible person or something like that, but because to fill up a position as high in the monarchy, that person must have some… pedigree, sort of speaks. At least until the day of the wedding, was an American that wasn’t part of a noble family. From here on, the facts about her just add up in a list that made the crown break –or just ignore- a couple of royal marriage’s rules and guidelines.

When she met Harry, she was and American actress that already married and divorced a fellow actor and producer. If we were in the 1900’s, it would be unthinkable just for that to see her as a possible spouse to a prince. But what really made a lot of people rise their eyebrows, is the fact that she is mixed race. This specially outraged a part of the English society and, who saw her unfitted to take the role of Duchess of Sussex, making the target of defamatory and racial comments in the press. In consequence, a statement by the communications secretary to Prince Harry was made to address the issue, urging the attacking parts to desist the defamatory stories and the harassment towards her to stop.

She represents not a golden standard, but regular one: she comes from a broken home, but is also a hard working self-made woman. She embodies the girl power, which was made evident as we saw her graciously enter the Abbey by herself, without any male figure who could take her to the altar (her father could not attend due to medical issues). This could have been a terrifying moment to anyone, but she held herself gallantly, walking with great confidence.

• You are family now

At halfway to the altar, Meghan was met by Prince Charles, who walked her until she was greeted by the groom. As far as I know, the prince didn’t have to do this, so it can be interpreted as a symbol of assuming her as part of the family, even before the weeding. Apparently, Meghan’s charm not only affected her father in law, but also Harry’s granma: Queen Elizabeth, in her own tradition of breaking the rules, took her to the place where the royal tiaras are stored, and allegedly insist on her to choose one to wear at the ceremony.

Since we are talking about the Queen, one detail got my attention: Her dress color was very similar to the one that Doria Ragland, Megan’s mother, was wearing. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but one could see it as trying to show equality between union’s two closest mother figures –at least for that day-.

• Concelebrated ceremony

One of the things that the new Duchess of Sussex has to leave behind with her old common life is her own religion. This is because when you marry a royal member, it is require renouncing to one’s faith if it isn’t Cristianity as practiced by the Church of England. However, the ceremony was concelebrated between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Episcopal Bishop, Michael Curry. This last one is the first African American to serve in such a high level of the Episcopal Faith.

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At the ceremony, he offered a sermon that could be perceived as long and unorthodox to this kind of royal event, where he cited Martin Luther King Jr. along with a very vigorous analysis of a bible passage read earlier in the service. It safe to say that this is not frequent at all, and gives an idea of the importance of traditions and faiths in both sides of the wedding without one roughly imposing over the other. This showed respect and religious tolerance between the two churches, demonstrating that peaceful coexistence is something we can manage to achieve, even when tradition tells you not.

Another sign of religious tolerance were the Arabic joy chantings heard as Meghan got out the car and when the married couple went out to greet the people gathered outside. It was a deliberated message to the Arabic community, as saying to them “you are part of this joyful day. You are part of the British people”.

• The Gospel Sings

Speaking of integration and culture blending, The Kingdom Choir, a gospel group, was asked to sing at the service. Right after the Bishop’s sermon, they offered a very moving rendition of the Ben E. King’s classic “Stand by me”. This gesture speaks of the couple’s wish of not imposing on each other culture, but embracing it completely.
At the end of the ceremony, the gospel choir sent off the bride and groom singing “Let it shine”, which coincidentally was sung for the Queen years ago on an official visit to USA.

...Maybe a wink at the Queen?

• Royal catapult

The name of Sheku Kanneh-Mason may not have ringed a bell for many until the wedding, but certainly will from now on. He is the 19 years old cellist chosen by the couple to perform during the ceremony and the reception. Kanneh-mason origins are very humble, as his parents spent every penny they earned in his and his brother’s musical education. However, he is not just a simple performer: He being a dedicated and virtuous instrumentalist, got him awarded in 2016 with the BBC Young Musician of the year, becoming the first black artist to be to get it since it exists.

But besides winning a BBC award definitely won’t get you as far as playing in a royal wedding: since he performed that day, his album got to number 11 in chart, becoming “the highest charting cellist in official album charting history”.

• Prince Charles Dad

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Prince Charles has been criticized for years because of his alleged cold, selfish and insensitive personality, especially because of how he treated Princess Diana when they were married and supposedly not paying enough attention to William and Harry atfer her death. But if all this is true, that wasn’t the case of the Charles we saw at the wedding.

In adition to walking the bride to the altar, he also displayed other gestures that indicate that there is a change of heart in how he relates to others: when was the time of the wedding paperwork, he offered his hand to Meghan’s mother as he passed by her side, and for a moment, they walked holding hands. Later we saw them walking together, him leading her with his arm. This is very uncommon, because them willing to touch someone outside the royal family is a really rare event. Charles effectively seems to be embracing Harry’s mother in law into the family circle.

But the most surprising of the Prince’s gestures, was that arrangements for the ceremony, the Kingdom Choir’s selection for the wedding was supposedly his suggestion to the couple. Charles is known to be very keen for music, so this was another way to show that he wanted to be a father with an active part in this important event beyond all the protocol involved on that day.

As you can see, this royal wedding intended to be a trend setter in more ways than just dress’s styles and wedding planning. In my humble opinion, the message of social inclusion was loud and clear, and only history will tell us if it fulfills its purpose.

Sources

(https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a20914182/prince-charles-stand-by-me-royal-wedding-performance/)
(http://time.com/money/5252291/meet-the-19-year-old-cellist-who-just-got-booked-to-play-the-royal-wedding/ )
(https://www.royal.uk/statement-communications-secretary-prince-harry)