Due to a spot of illness (hey, at least it's not a bladder infection like Prince Philip. I love that they keep having to say that in all the press coverage.) I've been sidelined from my Jubilee enthusiasm to my couch today. So I'm watching all the pomp and circumstance on a high def television. In one sense, I love that two longest reigning monarchs of Great Britain have been women. On the other hand, as I've gone about the city and been looking at some of the coverage, I can't help but notice a few things.
1. How bored everyone looks. Especially the Queen herself. But everyone, really. The Queen definitely looks the most bored-- like completely zoned out during the toast to her-- followed closely in boredom by Harry.
2. They can't show the Queen eating, but they're giving us a complete rundown of what literally everyone is eating and drinking and where said food came from. The tee-totalers will have Apple Juice from Sandringham. The vegetarians will have this, the gluten intolerant will have this, etc etc. Time-filling in event coverage is force-fed with inane minutia no matter where you go and what the event is.
3. I love that the coverage swings between commentary from ultimate man of pretension, David Starkey (who takes the pronunciation of the word "year" past just your typical "gap yah" "yah" to a full-on yuhhhhhhh) and atonal drags queens singing Kylie Minogue in the rain in Anglesey. This. Is. Britain, ladies and gentlemen.
4. MERCH! I think the entire point of this event is to sell merch. Looks like it's working. The Guardian estimates 823 million pounds in merch sales for this event. I mean, listen, I'm all about merch, but I found it rather fascinating. If I was purchasing any mementos, I think I'd splurge on this.
5. THIS.
6. The color coronation footage from 1953 is genuinely gorgeous. Nothing dazzles the eye like those primary colors and jewel tones. If you haven't seen it, check it out. I'm guessing the remastered footage will be up on youtube soon. In the meantime, here is what's already available.
As I was reading your blog, I got the menu run-down on BBC. (I've got it DVRd, so I'm quite a bit behind.)
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