Advertisement

Notes on a royal wedding and a blessed event

In a span of three days, television covered two newsworthy international events—the royal wedding of William and Kate on April 29 and the beatification of a well-loved Pope, John Paul II on May 1. The wedding was carried live on at least 10 stations locally, including ANC, GMA News TV, Studio 23 and Aksyon 41 and viewed by a reported two billion people, a figure disputed by some quarters. I too am skeptical that close to 1/3 of the total world population of 6.7 billion, many of whom do not own a TV set, watched the wedding. More believable are the Nielsen figures from the US which showed 22.8 million American viewers (about the same as the ratings for "American Idol") versus 17 million for the Prince Charles-Princess Diana nuptials.

The beatification did not attract as many broadcasters but our local networks were all present and accounted for. Viewership was probably much less than the figures for the wedding. In terms of live audiences, more than one million pilgrims jammed the Vatican while some 600,000 lined the roads leading to Westminster Abbey. Inside the Abbey, 1,900 invited guests witnessed the surprisingly short rites. In less than fifteen minutes, the Archbishop of Canterbury pronounced William and Kate, recently bestowed the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as man and wife. However, with the Archbishop's homily, Kate's brother's reading from the Bible, choral renditions and the trek to a private chapel to sign the necessary papers, the ceremony at the Abbey took more than an hour.

The beatification rites in Rome were much longer. Pope Benedict officiated at a mass then someone read late Pontiff's achievements in Latin. Thank goodness for interpreters who understood he dead language. Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre Normand, the nun who got cured of Parkinson's Disease through the late Pontiff's intercession carried a relic, a vial containing his blood.

The beatification looked simple from a production standpoint. Not too many cameras were involved since everything took place in St. Peter's Square. In London, there were lots of cameras because they covered the trips of the major players from their origin to the Abbey. They even had overhead shots from helicopters. Inside the church, cameras were also a-plenty judging from the extensive coverage of the wedding. In both ceremonies, I was amazed that I could not spot a single camera.

The American networks put too much emphasis on the fashion aspect of the wedding, with the announcers hyping the mystery of Kate's bridal gown. . BBC was more circumspect and gave a lot of details on the identities of the guests who arrived as well as a historical perspective of royal weddings. For me, the Brits offered the best coverage. The US broadcasters sounded like they were at the red carpet of the Oscars as they commented on the fashion sense of the arriving guests.

Of course, the hats that were worn by some female guests also caught my attention. Some were quite outrageous and the ladies looked like they were going to a masquerade ball. I also noticed that the men had to take off their hats before entering the Abbey while the ladies held on to their headgear.

Prince William who flies with the Royal Air Force surprised his comrades when he decided to wear the dress uniform of the Irish guard where he is a colonel. I think he made the right choice because his attention-getting red outfit was very telegenic.
Understandably, the coverage of the Vatican affair was more subdued. The scene at the Abbey was also solemn but the hats were really distracting. Plus when I heard that Rowan Atkinson, who's better known locally as Mr. Bean, was a guest, I half-expected him to disturb the solemnity of the occasion with his antics. (A little trivia: Atkinson played the officiating priest in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and a pastor in "Keeping Mum.")

Everything went smoothly except when the Prince tried to insert Kate's wedding ring. It took a while since the ring didn't seem to fit. What a global disaster that would have been! Since this was a close-up shot, the whole world heaved a sigh of relief when William finally accomplished his task. (Didn't the ring maker measure Kate's finger for the occasion?)

After the rites, the crowds looked forward to the traditional kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and they were not disappointed. In fact, the two kissed two times.

In Rome, the crowds cheered as Pope John Paul II was finally proclaimed Blessed John Paul, one step away from sainthood.