I don't get all this hype about the royal wedding?

[Jordy]

Frankly it doesn't matter that she had three wedding dresses because we didn't pay for them, The Royal Family and the Middletons did. Your lack of knowledge on the issue (which you even admit) yet your determination to continue arguing is getting somewhat tiresome.

From what I've seen, all republican arguments are easily squashed. The thought of a President is unthinkable.

[AgnesIO]

They were actualy all paid double since they were technically working on a public holiday. You think that making 3 wedding dresses (two that wont even be used) that cost such an amount of money is understandable? That amazes me, but if that is truly your opinion then that's fair enough i suppose. The prom comparison isn't a very good one as nobody attending a wedding dresses anywhere near the same as a bride. Also the fact is that now she is going to have the same wedding dress as 50,000 other people, as you say, anyway.

Yes, but she would have been the first to wear the dress, rather than the last. The fact the taxpayer didn't pay for the dresses, what the **** is your problem with it?

Also, many of the so called "security" (which includes police?) Would have STILL BEEN WORKING! Just because it is a bank holiday, doesn't mean the police just stop working.

[-:Undertaker:-]

If you are so concerned about the costs of public holidays for the United Kingdom then make a start on your own Saint Patrick's Day, Eoin.

[Red]

Well I suppose your never going to understand because your not British? I'm kinda getting sick of reading negative comments on fb etc. from nationalists about the wedding. Its beyond pathetic. Its the future Kings wedding... of course its going to be lavish and people would of been disappointed anyway if it was a minimal affair! You weren't funding it so you have nothing to worry about =]

[GommeInc]

Well I suppose your never going to understand because your not British? I'm kinda getting sick of reading negative comments on fb etc. from nationalists about the wedding. Its beyond pathetic. Its the future Kings wedding... of course its going to be lavish and people would of been disappointed anyway if it was a minimal affair! You weren't funding it so you have nothing to worry about =]

I like the arguments nationalists/republicans keep vomiting and regurgitating ad. nauseum about the cost of having a Royal Family. They're pretty weak arguments most of the time, but I guess they like the idea of living in a country about as bland and uninteresting as a blank, white wall. It's even worse when they say "if the Royal Family ceased to exist, we would still have our traditions and culture" when it's the Royal Family and the country as a whole that created such a culture filled with rich traditions.

It wasn't even that "lavish" as far as weddings go. Infact, it was pretty bog-standard.

[sweet]

I don't get the hype about it either. It was so annoying yesterday - it was all over my television and I think there was only a handful of boring channels that weren't broadcasting it. I like to sit and watch the news in the morning so it was really frustrating when the only thing on it was the wedding. It's only a wedding. Weddings are supposed to be intimate and for family and friends, even if your royal or not, that's the way they should be. It was too over-obsessed with. I didn't even like her dress much. Sure, I liked the lace (I've always loved long-sleeved lacey stuff) but that dress was just horrible to me. The neckline was disgusting. It would have looked better if it was simpler.

And @Kirst, I'm British and even I don't understand it.

[Hecktix]

Firstly as i said before, the royal family get their money from the taxpayer anyway do they not? So the taxpayer and the royal family paying are the same thing pretty much.

My main question is not being answered, same with most people on this thread. Reasonable royal wedding, understandable. Overly extravagant royal wedding, not understandable. Do you find that paying so much for things, that could have cost a lot less, normal and morally right? Multiple hugely expensive dresses in case one gets leaked?

Just to add to that, both economy watch and the CBI have indeed said a 1 billion pound boost to the economy due to the wedding, as somebody earlier pointed out. However , they have also said that that it cost the UK economy 5 Billion in lost production. That's not taking into account overtime/ people going on short breaks. Believe it or not your royal wedding was actualy good for Ireland. We had many people from the UK coming over to Dublin for the day and spending here. The amount of people going from the UK to Ireland actualy surpassed the amount of people going from Ireland to the wedding. Which greatly surprised me, since i myself know a good few people who travelled to London for it.

You keep saying, "The royal family paying for it is the same thing as the taxpayer paying for it as they get their money from the taxpayer". You say that as if the Royal Family recieve benefits and do nothing else, lol. The Royal Family are one of the richest families in the world, I am sure they could survive for a very long time with little or no income from the taxpayer at all, and as Undertaker rightly pointed out, the Royal Family make much more for this country's economy than they take in tax. As far as I'm aware and my knowledge is quite scarce on this topic, most of the tax the Royal Family recieve is spent on security for the Royal Family (as it was here in this wedding), and I cannot complain about, as it's protecting one of the most valuable assets this country has.

I don't get the hype about it either. It was so annoying yesterday - it was all over my television and I think there was only a handful of boring channels that weren't broadcasting it. I like to sit and watch the news in the morning so it was really frustrating when the only thing on it was the wedding. It's only a wedding. Weddings are supposed to be intimate and for family and friends, even if your royal or not, that's the way they should be. It was too over-obsessed with. I didn't even like her dress much. Sure, I liked the lace (I've always loved long-sleeved lacey stuff) but that dress was just horrible to me. The neckline was disgusting. It would have looked better if it was simpler.

And @Kirst, I'm British and even I don't understand it.

Did you not get the whole sense of good mood everywhere you went? I went out in town last night and it was way more lively than most Friday nights and Friday nights are already pretty lively. People were trailing union flags behind them and wearing silly hats, all the clubs had drinks offers on - it was generally just a feel good day across the country from what I could tell. Days like this are just what the country needs in terms of morale.

[Eoin247]

I'm simply stunned that most people seem to refuse to answer my question and constantly attacks me saying that I having a problem with the royal family. That said a few people have answered what i asked.

Theres a huge problem on this forum with people not reading posts properly. I asked why everybody was so excited about it and i asked the moral question of having such an extravagant wedding during times like this. Yet I'm getting these types of replies constantly. People saying i'm "complaining"? Really lol?

Repeating myself is getting fairly tiring, so i'll make my responses short for some people. People consistently say i'm complaining when all i'm doing is questioning. I don't have anything to complain about anyway since it's not costing me anything. In fact as i said considering the large amount of people that came over here from the UK on that day, it can't be a bad thing for our economy.

Frankly it doesn't matter that she had three wedding dresses because we didn't pay for them, The Royal Family and the Middletons did. Your lack of knowledge on the issue (which you even admit) yet your determination to continue
arguing is getting somewhat tiresome.
From what I've seen, all republican arguments are easily squashed. The thought of a President is unthinkable.

You say what i'm saying is weak and i don't know what i'm talking about. Yet the only thing you have in this post is something i've replied to a few times already. If you don't like me asking why and if you are going to repeat points at me pointlessly that i've replied to, then don't look at the thread.

Yes, but she would have been the first to wear the dress, rather than the last. The fact the taxpayer didn't pay for the dresses, what the **** is your problem with it?
Also, many of the so called "security" (which includes police?) Would have STILL BEEN WORKING! Just because it is a bank holiday, doesn't mean the police just stop working.

Same problem as the above poster. Everything you are saying here i've already replied to. So i'm not going to bother saying anymore here.

If you are so concerned about the costs of public holidays for the United Kingdom then make a start on your own Saint Patrick's Day, Eoin.

A fair point. However i never said i didn't agree with having public holidays. The only reason i pointed out the cost of having an extra public holiday was because nobody seemed to take this into account when they contantly said all this tourism would bring loads into the economy.

Well I suppose your never going to understand because your not British? I'm kinda getting sick of reading negative comments on fb etc. from nationalists about the wedding. Its beyond pathetic. Its the future Kings wedding... of course its going to be lavish and people would of been disappointed anyway if it was a minimal affair! You weren't funding it so you have nothing to worry about =]

One of the only people who at least partially answered my question, and for that i thank you. That's a good point, there may be reasons that cannot be explained to me through words, as kirst says you may have to be British to understand.

I like the arguments nationalists/republicans keep vomiting and regurgitating ad. nauseum about the cost of having a Royal Family. They're pretty weak arguments most of the time, but I guess they like the idea of living in a country about as bland and uninteresting as a blank, white wall. It's even worse when they say "if the Royal Family ceased to exist, we would still have our traditions and culture" when it's the Royal Family and the country as a whole that created such a culture filled with rich traditions.
It wasn't even that "lavish" as far as weddings go. Infact, it was pretty bog-standard.

Before i start, you honestly thought that wedding was bog-standard?

I'll give an answer to this even though it's off the point from earlier. I'm not sure if you were specifically talking about England here or republics in general, so apologies in advance if i made a mistake. I live in a republic, yet you can hardly say it's "as bland and uninteresting as a blank, white wall". Our culture is well know around the world and we have a day that is celebrated world wide just to do with our culture.

You keep saying, "The royal family paying for it is the same thing as the taxpayer paying for it as they get their money from the taxpayer". You say that as if the Royal Family recieve benefits and do nothing else, lol. The Royal Family are one of the richest families in the world, I am sure they could survive for a very long time with little or no income from the taxpayer at all, and as Undertaker rightly pointed out, the Royal Family make much more for this country's economy than they take in tax. As far as I'm aware and my knowledge is quite scarce on this topic, most of the tax the Royal Family recieve is spent on security for the Royal Family (as it was here in this wedding), and I cannot complain about, as it's protecting one of the most valuable assets this country has.

Well i didn't mean it to sound like that. I only meant in the way i wrote it, not to sound like anything otherwise.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Why do we have a Royal Wedding with all the pomp? because the Royal Family represents the state of the United Kingdom and Prince William is the heir to the throne after Charles, therefore the marriage between he and Catherine (who will one day be Queen Catherine) is a rather important event which will likely result in the birth of another heir to the throne, a continuation in the Windsor dynasty.

The expense is due to British tradition and due to the fact that whenever something occurs with the heir (a celebration, a public holiday) then events are usually put on which link in with the wedding itself - hence the drive from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. We do this because we always have, the entire event is based upon over a thousand years of tradition which we wish to keep going as its part of our heritage and show Great Britain off at its best.

The costs are very minimal, if not resulting in a surplus (as the Crown Estate does) and we are rather happy with our Monarchy as opposed to a dull, boring Republic staffed full with politicians as you have in Ireland hence why we are rather happy to pay a small price in tax for this just as you do in Ireland for the politicians, but how many people around the world can name the Irish President? very few can. The pomp of the armed forces is used because it is the reason why we have military bands and so forth for large scale events such as this, usually do to with royalty as the Queen is the head of the armed forces.

Our Monarchy gives us stability and compared to other costs which many do want cut back/scrapped altogether (the astronomical price we pay for the European Union, the billions we pay into foreign aid which ends up in the Swiss bank accounts of third world dictators) this one off event is not a big financial issue as you make it out to be.

Does that answer your question?

[RyRy]

In my opinion, I don't really care about the monarchy, there's more pressing issues than what style Kate Middletons dress was gonna be and the outside world love to see a bit of old-fashioned fun. It's just one day, now it's business as usual, move along.