As the royal wedding draws closer, my Anglomania is reaching an all-time high. I mean, I've always been fascinated with all things British (Alexander McQueen, "The Queen," Hugh Grant and obviously Harry Potter). My interest in the royal wedding is just a natural step in my desire to know more about Great Britain.
However, while watching re-runs of "How I Met Your Mother" on Lifetime, a commercial came on screen that made me question the lengths people will go to in order to capitalize off poor royal-watchers like myself. The commercial was for "William & Kate," a movie starring second-rate actors acting out largely fictional scenes in the courtship of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It's comical that producers are willing to rush a movie to television screens across the country even if that means the story they are telling is false and the quality of the product is very low.
The makers of the Lifetime movie are not alone. Numerous other companies have produced William and Kate paraphernalia in the hopes of turning a profit because of all the hype surrounding the wedding.
When the pair announced their engagement, Kate Middleton was wearing a royal blue Issa wrap dress to match her sapphire and diamond engagement ring. The dress, though years old, was recreated and flew off shelves within days. The ring was knocked off by any number of jewelry companies including QVC.
According to People Magazine, a German company has created teabags to commemorate the royal wedding that are cleverly named "KaTEA & William." They sell for $8.00 a piece and are a ridiculous way to indulge in the thrill of royal wedding mania.
There will also be a Kate Middleton doll created by celebrity doll-maker (I am still baffled that that's a real profession), The Franklin Mint. The dolls will be hand painted and only 5000 will be sold.
Castle Rock Brewery has developed a new brew called "Kiss Me Kate" that hopes to be the beer on everyone's lips as they toast the happy couple.
Of course these examples are not the only ones of products created around the image of the royal couple. There are any number of people hoping their trinkets will play a role in the celebration of the wedding of the century.
The more interesting part about this, however, is that the majority of these companies are not even British. I am beginning to realize that I am not alone in my Anglomania, but my real question is why is everyone else as engaged as I am? Why are German companies creating a tea for the British wedding and why is an American television station filming an entire movie about the love story behind William and Kate? England cast a wide shadow on the rest of the world in centuries past and it's interesting to see that that shadow persists in some sense, if merely in the attention paid to the wedding of William and Kate Middleton.
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Courtney Cox at ccox3@nd.edu
