The Duke of Westminster – a poorly known chap – is due to get married shortly, to the woman of his choice.
They’ve visited a church in Chester – aptly named Chester Cathedral – and plan to tie the knot in June. It looks set to be a happy affair.
The only trouble of course is that it seems so irrelevant. I for one have been to numerous weddings of far greater importance than a Duke who’s worth is in the billions.
I am being sarcastic, of course.
As much as the diehards among us want to believe it’s all over (‘and it is now’, etc., etc.), it’s clearly still going ahead for society in the UK, where weddings and some funerals have passed without a hiccup of late.
It’s a good sign that there’s faith still in its institution (even if we see through the cracks). There’s purpose in all those weddings, I assume, that happen as much as in hotel’s as fuck ups in youth hostels.
There’s a general sense that here we still want to do things but with a little less impression attached to it.
I mean that in saying the Duke of Westminster is known as a reserved, retiring sort of a guy. He likes to be around people but not get up to much at the same time.
This isn’t personal knowledge per se, but it gets around what people are really like and it seems a marriage in his war chest is just another shield to hang on a wall as well. It keeps him – and his family – going fairly nicely.
It’s the way marriages are, these days, a bit of a day and a few children to boot – then the rest is life, as it is.