Maybe I am biased in that I am a lifelong republican. But then - though the ghastly Middleton family seems unaware of this - none of them bar the wife of our future King is actually a member of the Royal Family. Yet today's Mail runs a fawning 12 page pull out on "The Wedding of the Year" and the rest of the media is equally fawning.
In case you missed it, Pippa Middleton married some Hedge Fund Manager. Despite getting £40,000 of caviar donated by some Russian oligarch (i.e. a crook courting favour) and a Spitfire flypast thrown in for free, the whole gig cost an estimated £700,000.
Of course the hedgie fellow can spend his money as he wishes. But £700,000 could pay for a lot of meals for the homeless, nurses for the NHS or for other good causes. It is just a lot of money. I would expect nothing other than ostentatious displays of wealth from nouveaus like the Middletons and Mayfair hedgies. But the Royal family - which is worth a bob or two - must be aware that the Middletons are determined to be seen as part of the Windsors and - with heavily spun articles in the Mail and elsewhere - they are sort of succeeding in that goal.
Quite how her Majesty views such crass displays of wealth in a time of supposed austerity is another matter. But that is for her.
As a Republican I welcome the arrival of the whole ghastly Middleton clan greatly. To be fair, rather as in Pride & Prejudice, Kate Middleton has a certain charm and it is hard to take against her - she is Elizabeth or perhaps Jane Bennet and indeed has married very well indeed. It is the rest of the Bennets, sorry Middletons that are just so frightful.
I gather that there is a rather stupid younger Middleton brother who may well be next up the aisle. I am sure the Royal Family will be roped into that event too. As another reminder of what an illogical institution the Monarchy always has been but certainly is in 21st Century Britain, I look forward to it greatly..