One Day, My First Born Son, All This Will Be Yours

Here's the thing; We Americans, as a nation, rejected the concept of primogeniture over 250 years ago.  We betrayed and slandered King George III and all that the monarchy stood for.  Yet I awoke at 5:45 AM EST, on my day off, to watch the royal nuptials between the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  I stayed glued to the TV until the much anticipated first royal kiss which occurred at exactly 8:26 AM EST.  That is 2 1/2 hours of my precious time that I thoroughly enjoyed and am proud to embrace as a sentimental part of my heritage as a citizen of the former colonies. 

George Washington was our first elected president but our wise founding fathers were very worried he would be embraced as our first King.  He was a great leader imbued with a natural charisma that easily could have  lead to a ruling "cult of personality" in our fledgling nation.  The very real possibility of creating an American Monarchy existed during the drafting of the Constitution and avoiding this outcome was never far from their minds, thus our tripartite system of government.  Yet our fascination with, and a vague sense of fealty to the British royal family still permeates our culture.  One may liken it to our love affair with celebrities in general but I think it is different.  I for one have never felt  personally vested in the success of a celebrity marriage like Brad and Angelina.  Yet I desire for Kate and William to be happy and I wish for them to be great leaders of humanitarian efforts which is basically what the Monarchy has evolved into during modern times.

Perhaps my feelings are due to the fact that they are such a handsome couple.  The Duchess of Cambridge has a natural poise and posture that is certainly the envy of models everywhere.  And the Duke seems to radiate a certain sense of warmth and joie de vivre not often associated with his father.  I was only 21 when Charles and Diana were married and I can't remember my feelings, but I think it became obvious early on that their hearts were never fully committed to the task of a royal marriage.  And judging from the history of the British Monarchy it is clear that in a royal union, personal emotion often trumps royal protocol.  Princess  Diana was a great beauty, Prince Charles not so much, yet we all longed for their marriage to be a great success.  So I hope Kate will embrace her role as the future Princess (one must be born the Queen of England), and I wish them the best of luck. 

And as I think about the monarchy I will keep on hoping that our 250 year old experiment in self governance proceeds apace and that temporary rancor leads to enduring rapport between the tribes that we like to call States.