For the only other real “royal wedding” in our lifetime, Mother and Daughter were up before dawn, Eastern time, to watch stodgy Prince Charles marry pretty Princess Diana. That was 1981. Mother and Daughter were so enamored with the event that they took pictures.
Remember now, it was on television…and they took pictures.
In case you are just returning from playing golf on Pluto, or something, the next “royal wedding” is scheduled for April 29, when the elder son from that royal union walks down the aisle. Charles and Diana then…William and Kate now. The world will stop, or at least the world in Great Britain will, and probably in our house, too.
Customers of Cunard aren’t going to miss a beat…nor a nuptial. All three Cunard ships will devote every screen they can find to the “Future King” and his chosen one, Kate Middleton. The new Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Mary 2 all have Royal Court Theatres for a variety of theatrical performances in normal times. Cunard describes its theaters as West End in style, West End in color.
In abnormal times, which a Royal Wedding surely is, the event’s pomp and pageantry will be on all screens on all ships, live and in digital. For the Queen Mary 2, there is room for 1,000 passengers to see the wedding on the big screen, and don’t be surprised if it’s pumped into the stateroom TVs.
For the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Victoria, the theaters each seat 800. Dinner on all three ships that even will include a commemorative menu and champagne toast.
“Cunard is a company with an enviable heritage and unparalleled links to the Royal family,” said company President Peter Shanks.
Indeed, as they say in England. All Cunard ships have been presided over by royalty at their naming ceremonies, most recently by Queen Elizabeth herself when the ship named after her first set sail.
That vessel will be at sea on April 29, en route to Southampton. Queen Victoria will be somewhere in the Mediterranean. And the big ship will be in the midst of a Transatlantic crossing — who knows what time of the morning it will be on the Queen Mary 2’s big screen.
But it doesn’t matter, does it? Just ask Mother and Daughter, who are probably trying to find a way to get on the Queen Mary…or at least a way to get a better camera.