British Royal Weddings of the 20th Century

Britain's Prince William and his bride, the former Kate Middleton, are often touted as bringing a modern look and attitude to the monarchy, starting with how they conducted their relationship and the purported plans for their future. All of these programs were produced before their April 29, 2011, wedding. Both Planning a Royal Wedding and Wedding of a Lifetime take advantage of interviews with people who are likely to know something about not only the couple but also how royal events are planned and executed, even though what they have to say about this particular event is speculation. With insider opinions from friends on the young couple's interests and preferences, viewers will come to know and appreciate the pair. In Planning, actors portray Kate and Will as the documentary suggests how the wedding might come together—the dress, flowers, cake, reception, etc. Wedding comprises six separate programs, each one focusing in detail on aspects of the wedding plans, with some overlap from program to program among the interviewees and the video clips. Probably the most interesting part of this set of programs is the last, which speculates on how and where the couple will live and conduct their lives after their marriage. Lifetime's William & Kate is a made-for-television drama "inspired by true events" focusing on the couple's evolving friendship and romance at Scotland's St. Andrews University. It's fine as TV fare, but anyone who really wants to know about Will and Kate would do better with one of the other programs reviewed.British Royal Weddings eschews Kate and William altogether. It opens with the 1922 Westminster Abbey wedding of HRH Princess Mary and proceeds through the decades until 1999 and the marriage of Prince Edward. The early coverage is conveyed through black-and-white silent news footage, rather quaint but effectively capturing the time period. Given the outcome of some of the 20th-century's royal pairings, there is a certain disconnect between the spectacle of the wedding and what we now know about the subsequent disintegration of some of the relationships, most notably Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.