Back in 1776, our country threw off the yoke of British imperialism, fighting a revolution against the king's army and declaring the United States of America to be free from such hereditary inequality. All men, we proudly said, were created equal.
In the years since, though, our nation of equals has become obsessed with the trappings of European royalty, particularly our old rulers in the U.K.
That's especially evident today, when Prince Harry, younger son of the Prince of Wales and the late, beloved Princess Diana, marries his American fiancée Meghan Markle. Chances are, by the time you're reading this, the two will already be hitched-the ceremonies are set for noon in the U.K., or 6 a.m. our time-but some early risers may catch it live. Indeed, we expect there will be a lot of early risers for this one. Others will have to be content with a replay-and most networks will oblige endlessly.
It's an old story. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, American tycoons-and their socially conscious wives-rushed to marry their daughters off to foreign nobles, trading much-needed infusions of U.S. dollars for old and venerable titles. Nothing said you made it like having your kid addressed as duchess or marchioness. And the newspapers of the day covered the stories on the front page for the eager folks at home to read.
More recently, in the 1950s American aristocracy swooned over the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. He was the former King Edward VIII and she was the twice-divorced adventuress from Baltimore who made caused the crisis that forced him to abdicate. Our rich and famous wined and dined them, gave them the best rooms in their fine mansions and showered them with adulation. That suited the duchess, who occupied the throne in her native country denied her in Britain. And it more than suited the duke as well. As long as his wife was happy, she was less of a nuisance. Also he was known to be very tight with money, be it dollars or shillings, and was happy to have willing commoners pick up the tab. Needless to say, they were the stars of popular society and gossip columns, more so than the biggest Hollywood names.
Fast forward several years and the ill-fated romance of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was the stuff American fairy-tale dreams are made of. That was the first royal wedding beamed into hundreds of millions of homes here in the U.S. and around the world. In the U.S., 17 million watched and it was big news. As were the ups and downs, divorce and tragedy that followed.
When their son and heir, Prince William, married commoner Kate Middleton, 23 million of us tuned in. And Charles and Diana's younger son, Prince Harry, will be getting married, also to a commoner and an American to boot. No telling how many will be watching.
America doesn't have a king or queen. But after today, we will have an American princess (technically she will be a duchess) in the world's most renowned royal family. That should make a lot of dedicated royalists who just happen to live here in the land of the free very happy indeed.