18 May 2018 - The Royal Wedding
Royal wedding: 15 key questions answered
Caroline Davies and Jim Waterson (The Guardian, 18/05/2018)
What do we know about Meghan’s relatives and who’s turning up?
It’s looking light on Meghan’s side. Mother Doria Ragland, 61, appears to be the only close relative inside the chapel since her father, Thomas Markle Snr, is incapacitated due to ill health. Estranged half-siblings, Samantha Markle, 53, a former model writing a memoir entitled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, and Thomas Markle Jnr, 51, a window fitter who was arrested earlier this year for allegedly holding a gun to a girlfriend’s head in an argument, are not on the guest list. Their lack of an invite is perhaps unsurprising given they have graced acres of newsprint and hours of airtime venting bile against their sister.
The Markle family has become a big attraction in the red-top circus, successfully hijacking the news agenda in the final days. Meghan’s uncle, Michael Markle, 78, a retired US diplomat, is reportedly “upset and surprised” at his lack of an invite. Another uncle, Frederick Markle, 75, who as “Bishop Dismas” reportedly runs a small chapel as leader of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic church in America, has refused to speak to the media – to the undoubted relief of Kensington Palace.
What to expect from the Royal wedding
Dave Wheeler (BBC News, 17/05/2018)
With only days left to go, Royal Correspondent Hannah Furness and Former Royal Correspondent Gordon Raynor tell us what to expect on the big day.
The royal wedding mania paradox
Sally Kohn (CNN, 18/05/2018)
I don't understand why anyone in Britain -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- cares about the royal wedding. And yet here I am obsessively clicking on every story, paying attention to all the details and eagerly awaiting the big day.
That we worship the rich and glamorous elites while simultaneously raging against the rampant inequality that produces them is a paradox that sums up the state of our world at the moment.
You would think in an era of rising economic inequality and amid surging populist sentiment, we wouldn't care about princes and princesses, right? If anything, they might even be a source of frustration for us. After all, did you know that in addition to an estimated net worth of $88 billion, the British royal family has many of its expenses paid for by taxpayers?
Meghan to embrace British culture by carrying large inflatable cock on hen night
(The Daily Mash, 17/05/2018)
The historic evening will take place tonight, starting at a mate’s flat where Markle will down four glasses of Prosecco in half an hour before necking some vodka and putting the bottle in her handbag.
A Royal spokesperson said: “The princess-to-be will visit a Yates’s Wine Bar where she will tell them it’s her hen night and hassle the bar staff for a free round of shots.
“At this point her entourage will get out the giant inflatable penis and a learner driver sign, causing several other customers to leave due to the unbearable shrieking.