It is just under
thirty years since Prince William’s parents, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, were themselves married in St Paul’s Cathedral. Below are two Spectator articles relating to that wedding.
The first is the Spectator editorial from the time, the second an essay by Auberon Waugh on the lessons to be drawn from the occasion. Now that Kate Middleton has become Princess Catherine, you may
also want to click here for an article entitled “What Kate should know,” by
Diana’s former private secretary, Patrick Jephson, for The Spectator in 1996. Anyway, back to 1981…
The symbol of unity, The Spectator, 1 August 1981
The marriage of the heir to the British throne inevitably leads one to reflect on the on the monarchy and its function today. There are two broad categories of government in western democracies — those where the head of state is a ceremonial and symbolic figure with little or no “power”, and those where the head is a real ruler.
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