The Royal Wedding: Do We Care?

When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer 30 years ago, it seemed that everyone was tuned in to the spectacle—even in Dubuque, Iowa, where I was living at the time.

The royal wedding made the national news for weeks; even Mike Royko devoted a couple of columns to it. People got up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the live broadcast (I wasn't one of them; I wouldn't get up at 4:30 a.m. for my own wedding).

This year, the Internet has, of course, been awash with stories about the upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton—including an official website blessed by Buckingham Palace— and TLC has fired up a week's worth of shows about the English royals.

But beyond that? I asked my daughter if her high school buds were excited about this latest royal wedding and the answer was along the lines of "Huh?"

So what's the buzz? Is anyone in Downers Grove planning to watch early Friday morning? Or will you wait for the reruns? Do you care? Or is the English Royal Family just another soap opera you can do without?