Archbishop Cranmer surpassed himself today with a gracious and thoughtful piece about the Royal Wedding, to the point of being quoted on Sky TV.

Thus:

The occasion brings to mind that on 28th May 1533, His Grace declared the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to be good and valid. As a consequence, both His Majesty and His Grace were abruptly excommunicated by the Pope.

The Church of England then split from Rome more for political than theological reasons, and through centuries of controversy, social upheaval and cultural change, we are where we are today: another royal wedding in Westminster Abbey in accordance with the distinctly Anglican Book of Common Prayer and the asymmetrical fusion of Scripture with reason and tradition…

We do not care much for our drab politicians and we care even less for our pompous prelates. But our Monarch is loved, admired and respected the world over: the institution is worthy of our support and loyalty.

One perceives in Prince William an understanding of and commitment to his duty, but it is increasingly apparent that he also possesses something of the common, modernising and even rebellious touch of his mother: he is immanent and tangible, if a little unknowable…

His Grace exhorts his readers and communicants to revel in the pomp and majesty and celebrate joyously all day long, because this ceremony represents stability and continuity in an age of insecurity and uncertainty: it is an act of faith in a world of doubt; it is hope in despair…

Insofar as I have any coherent thoughts on the Monarchy in our country, that sums them up.

Plenty of clever people come up with all sorts of reasons why we would be better off with our head of state elected and all sorts of royal (and social and class) flim-flam cast aside once and for all – it’s not democratic or modern.

Yet the Monarchy sends a signal that cleverness is important but not enough – tradition and loyalty to some ideals which define a way of looking at and doing things over and beyond politics also count. Evolution, not revolution.

And when we look at the startling mass murder which followed the French and Russian and German and Chinese toppling of their respective royal families, all in the very name of ‘reason’, we can have pause for thought about what counts for stability, decency and even fairness in the long run.  

For a different view, here is a wail from German journalist Marco Evers, baffled and annoyed by the whole thing:

Great Britain is a strange country. It has no written constitution but a rigid class system. The lawyers wear wigs in court and there are no citizens, just subjects. By law, all swans, all whales and all sturgeons are the property of the Queen, but there’s no British national football team.

And if the Queen wishes to award an honor to one of her subjects, he can proudly call himself "Officer" or even "Commander of the Order of the British Empire." What on earth do these titles actually refer to? Much in this realm seems at least as antiquated as the London Underground…

The whole world is waiting to admire Kate’s wedding dress. The designer will be inundated with work after this. But the wearer of the dress faces a future that shouldn’t really be desirable for an intelligent woman in the 21st century. Kate will have only three tasks from now on: serving her husband, looking good and bearing children, preferably boys. Apart from that, all she has to do is shut up. 

It’s like in the 1950s — only much worse because she will have to continue curtseying to the Queen and other higher-ranking members of the family she has married in to.

The whole thing feels even worse than just an aberration of history. It’s a joke.

Achtung! All this British eccentricity – it’s really annoying that hundreds of millions of people round the world like it so much. And how dare someone who was not born at the top of the ‘rigid class system’ now marry into that top tier, with a radiant smile on her face! A joke indeed – at least as defined by that legendary German sense of humour.

My own invitation to the Wedding was lost in the post. But it was a pleasure to see on TV two people who have made an impact in my own life.

First, Crown Prince Aleksandar of Serbia, who as any fule kno was born in a suite in Claridge’s Hotel in London which was deemed by the British government to be Yugoslav territory for the occasion (or something like that – the point was that he had to be born on ‘Yugoslav territory’ to keep the right to the Serbian throne).

Second, the Bishop of London Richard Chartres, who as well as being close to HRH The Prince of Wales christened Crawford Major at St Stephen’s Church in Rochester Row in London back in 1991 – a strong intellectual (conservative) voice in the Church of England. Read this nicely turned interview with him from 1996.

* * * * *

The noisy ranks of post-modernist nihilists hate the idea that anyone should believe in anything. Belief and national identity are both a ‘construct’ needing radical deconstruction.

I’d be prepared to consider that seriously if I thought for a moment that the people spouting this verbiage had given real thought to what makes societies work and grow over decades and centuries, and therefore to what might replace tradition and continuity once they’re wrecked on collectivist demand.

Most people in most countries can not define what makes them proud of their country, other than though giving a list of patriotic symbols and historic triumphs (if any). General de Gaulle had his ‘certain idea’ of France:

Toute ma vie, je me suis fait une certaine idée de la France.

If we can’t articulate the deep reasons for national pride and national shared purpose – perhaps precisely because they aren’t in any real sense rational but rather something organic, part of each people’s cultural DNA – we can at least feel shared pride and purpose on specific occasions which somehow symbolise that pride and purpose.

As millions of us did today at the marvellous spectacle and joyful discipline in central London, all centred on two smart young people who are well on their way to representing us all, for richer for poorer, in the long uncertain decades to come.

Hurrah.