royal visitor

[Sue Webster]

hi , i was in walsall this morning and saw all the police and lots of people in the centre , traffic held up and thought there was a bomb scare or something! it turned out that Prince William was in town and had been at the gala baths for water polo--not sure what he was doing --but saw him shaking hands with lots of people on the other side of the road by the town hall before he went off in a people carrier towards birmingham .sue

[Anna Moss]

wow! You actually saw him! Thats pretty amazing! Did you get stuck in the taffic, though?

[Sue Webster]

hi thanks for mesage . yes ,i did see him . no ,i wasnt stuck in the traffic --i was on the footpath heading to a newspaper kiosk to get a couple of stamps . i`m not particularly interested in the royals but i suppose it was something different to see as nothing much happens here in walsall . wish i was back in gloucester where we used to live or in wales /scotland where my ancestors from. mind you ,the arboretum is lovely in walsall and i do have sandwell valley not far away ! sue

[Petermax]

This thread reminds me of the Royal Wedding Day July 29th 1981. Having watched the pageantry on television, I decided that I wanted to see the main participants for myself. A quick trip from Fareham to Romsey on the train ensured that I was in position to view Charles and Diana's motorcade en-route from Romsey railway station to Broadlands. I found a good vantage point in the town, but not before being stopped and searched by the police, a lone fifteen year old with an old army haversack containing an ancient 35mm camera attacted some suspicion!

The motorcade passed through very quickly and I somehow managed to get a photo. The atmosphere was electric and quite a few women among the crowds were overcome with emotion. I cannot imagine such fervour today, the past is indeed a foreign country.

[Kitty]

What a haunting picture. And how interesting to have been there to take it!

[Boodi]

I cannot imagine such fervour today, the past is indeed a foreign country.

I don't know....after all, there was a great deal of emotion when Princess Diana died in 1997. Admittedly that is over ten years ago now, but I still think that royal events attract a great deal of attention. Nice photo Petermax. I was actually in Sweden when that particular wedding took place and I can remember watching it on TV there.

[lizarfau]

I cannot imagine such fervour today, the past is indeed a foreign country.

Unfortunately, I can see just as much - if not more - fervour being created if and when William takes a bride. I doubt the public - and certainly the media - have learned anything from the whole Diana saga.

[Lucky Star]

I cannot imagine such fervour today, the past is indeed a foreign country.

Agreed Lizarfau. The cult of celebrity is thriving these days. People spend fortunes on silly magazines in order to see a picture of some famous person's living room. Certain sections of the popular press seem to be given over entirely to following the every move of the two young Royals and various other C-List celebrities. At work I hear endless discussion of Amy Winehouse's drug problem and Liz Hurley's new dress etc.

The past is cerainly a foreign country but only because, in days gone by, people only got excited about things which were genuinely interesting. That Royal marriage was of interest because it involved the future King of the country. Open any tabloid newspaper today and I guarantee there will be a picture and lengthy article about some minor celeb's drunken night out. These things are not important at all IMO.

Its a very nice pic though Petermax. Better than some of the grainy shots I've seen in newspapers.

[Julie2owlsdene]

A nice picture, one to be treasured I think. A happy day for her, pity the media had to hound her so much in life, and still it carries on!!!!

[Moonraker]

A nice picture, one to be treasured I think.

Yes, a nice pic - but do we need to see it three times?

[Julie2owlsdene]

Yes, a nice pic - but do we need to see it three times?

I counted 4 Nigel. Back to school for you I think.

[Petermax]

Yes, a nice pic - but do we need to see it three times?

Yes, I quite agree. I went to a lot of trouble re-sizing the photo and keeping the file size down so as not to slow the page loading times and look what happens!

I still maintain that the past as it was back in the early 80s is a foreign country, so much has changed. The incredible scenes following the death of The Princess of Wales were surreal and at times very disturbing, a world away from the joyful tearfulness that I witnessed in Romsey sixteen years earlier.

[Boodi]

Sorry about the picture. It was not my intention to include it in my post. When I clicked on "quote" it came up automatically....or to rephrase that, I was not aware that the picture was included until I actually submitted my message, and I assume that is what probably happened with the other three posts as well.

Petermax, have things really changed all that much since 1981? When I think about it, the main changes are in the area of technology....we had no computers/e-mail/Internet/mobile phones/DVDs/CD Roms etc in 1981, air travel was considerably more expensive while petrol and oil products were a great deal cheaper than they are today. I have obviously become older (and whisper it, fatter!!), a bit wiser (I hope!) and more cynical, but I consider that has more to do with me than with society in general. While we have seen a break down of "traditional values" (such as those promoted, indeed more or less taken for granted, by Enid in her books) and the differences between European countries in terms of food and culture have decreased (we have all become very cosmopolitan and 'multi-culti'....which to my mind is a bit boring), these trends were, at least in my opinion, already visible in 1981 and even before. It is an interesting question and I look forward to hearing your views.

[lizarfau]

Like Boodie, I wasn't aware that the picture had reposted in the 'quote' box until my message had actually posted.

Lucky Star - I think the hype around the Royal Wedding was just like the hype around todays 'slebs'. People weren't interested because it involved the future King of England - they were crazy about Diana.

[Moonraker]

Yes, a nice pic - but do we need to see it three times?

I counted 4 Nigel. Back to school for you I think.