Declaration of Independence recites the serial offenses of George III. When the Founders assembled to create a government, they established a republic. Position and power were to be earned, not inherited. We have no idea when the American fascination with the British monarchy began to manifest itself. In 1939, George VI became the first British king to visit the United States. The daughter now known as Elizabeth II accompanied him on a trip that came at the invitation of President Franklin Roosevelt.
Many Americans take pride in backgrounds that dog shows would rate as mongrel. They enjoy blood that mingles a little of this and a little of that. A lot of family trees get roots and branches wrong. If humans entered the world with Adam and Eve, then blending has occurred.
William and Kate are the principals, and their good looks are equaled only by their composure. The royal family, too, belongs to the celebrity age, a time when behavior that once would have been scandalous results in a starring gig on national TV.
American interest in the rite to take place in Westminster Abbey may reflect a healthy yearning for the dignity and decorum that counter a consumer culture's incessant vulgarity. This is an antidote to Charlie Sheen. Once upon a time there was a kingdom and a sword, a king named Arthur and a queen named Guinevere, the knights Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad — and Elaine, the heroine of lost dreams, the lady of Shallot. And in the distance lies Avalon. A new nation can make itself; it cannot eradicate myth.
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