USA has longed for pomp and ceremony since they kicked out the British
I REMEMBER waking on a boiling hot July day at 4am at my grandparents’ home on the Long Island shoreline to watch the most magical wedding in history.
I was nine and they had a small, battered black and white TV — but I just had to see Lady Diana Spencer marry her handsome, if rather awkward, Prince Charming.
For me and millions of other American girls in the 1980s, Princess Diana was the embodiment of the British fairy tale.
We monitored her fashion and her poses, talked about her hair, discussed her marriage and celebrated with her over her boys.
What a warm and loving mother she was. She was emotional. She was demonstrative. She was like us.
Titles, tiaras, castles, coaches and couture — the Brits had it all as far as we were concerned.
We Americans kicked out the Royals more than 200 years ago but have been walking around ever since with a latent longing for a bit of the pomp and circumstance that left with them.
Why do you think Downton Abbey is such a massive hit there?
American women have long had affection for — no, read obsession with — British men.
Anyone who’s lived in Manhattan will quickly notice the phenomenon that is the vast numbers of ugly-as-sin British blokes walking around with supermodels.
It’s the accent, their calm, unruffled air and the fact that they use words like “darling”.
But over and above all else, we imagine that a bit of royal magic dust rubs off on even the roughest of the rough. And if they’re a tiny bit posh, then so much the better.
It should come as no surprise that when Prince William announced in 2002 he would be attending St Andrew’s University in Scotland that foreign applications rose by 44 per cent. Most were female Yanks. We wanted to bag our own prince.
Of course, it’s not the first time the subject has been raised. But when Wallis Simpson was shunned by the Royals, we all jumped on board with you rather than taking her side.
We agreed with the abdication because, the truth is, none of us really felt for the hard-to-like, sour-faced, American divorcee.
Simpson was a far cry from the beautiful and vivacious divorcee Prince Harry will soon wed.
Yes, it’s true. American women are in love with Meghan Markle.
Right now my countrywomen are universally cheering her on and applauding from the sidelines. Why? One of our own managed to get in the game and made a real-life prince fall in love with her.
And her American influence is already showing. Compare the stiff formality of William and Kate’s first engagement interview to what we saw on Monday.
Harry and Meghan were cuddled up together on the sofa, holding hands, demonstrably affectionate and emotionally connected. Meghan was poised, charismatic, confident and at ease.
She was a credit to her glamorous American sisters. We love her and we are deeply proud of her.
MOST READ IN OPINION
Americans have always been wild about Harry because he seemed real. He messed up and he owned it. There were no airs and graces about him. But after this I can tell you what we think the best thing about Prince Harry is — his remarkable taste in women.
- Ashley Pearson is an American-born and raised journalist now working in London.