The big news of the week is that we are about to have the wedding of the Century. Prince William has announced he will marry his long time girl friend Catherine Middleton, better known as Kate. The time and place have yet to be decided. The one thing known is that it is going to cost a bundle. This will be tough in these hard economic times. The estimated cost will be about 15 million US dollars. This is a big figure, but less than the more that 60 Million for Prince Charles and Diana. Back in war torn England in 1947 the wedding of Elizabeth and Phillip also cost a major fortune, but the British people loved it. I suspect there will be a lot of critics but the British people will also love this wedding. It gives them something to do and a purpose in life.

The Queen and William will pick up some of the tab but the taxpayers will still foot a large share of the expense. Just cleaning the streets and security would probably be enough to feed the homeless in London for a year or more. It’s still worth it for the English people who worship their Kings and Queens. We have become almost as bad as the English in this country with the way we pamper the President. Harry Truman was our last cheap President. Truman and Calvin Coolidge were our best deals, money wise. William Henry Harrison wasn’nt bad since he was President for only a month and was sick the whole time.

It’s not just royalty. I think all weddings cost too much these days. I have been to some big blowouts in the past few years and I wondered if they were worth all the expense. I ask my spouse how much our wedding cost over 50 years ago. She figures it was between 200 and 300 dollars which included; invitations, postage, dress, church, flowers, reception, preacher and all. She remembered paying a lady 5 dollars to help with the reception and cleanup. Her mother made her dress and that saved a few dollars. I even wore a suit. I didn’t even know what a tux was and there wasn’t any where to rent one if I had known. My spouse’s boss gave us a honeymoon at the great Shamrock Hilton Hotel in Houston. We had the Honeymoon Suite and he paid the whole tab. It probably cost him at least 100 dollars for the weekend.

My wedding was probably pretty lavish compared to my parents. I remember them telling me they were married on the front porch of my mother’s home. Maybe, that’s the reason I have always taken a liking to the porch. I can’t think of a better place to get married. The porch is one of the most reverent places I know. I may write William and Kate about the porch but I suspect even the British people wouldn’t like that idea. Anyway, I can’t wait for the Royal Weeding. It might give us something worthwhile on the news rather than the dismal economy and the squabbling between the Republicans and Democrats.