The Anglo Obsession and Prince Harry

Well, we're at it again. Paying attention to the Royal Family 241 years after the Declaration of Independence and after the defeat of the British in the War of 1812. You'd think by now we would have gotten those Limeys out of our collective American system. No.

Prince Harry just got engaged. You know who Prince Harry is, right? One of Princess Diana's two sons. And you remember Princess Diana, right? Wife of Prince Charles, son of Queen Elizabeth, the longest reigning monarch in the monarchy. And you do remember what happened to Princess Diana, right? Killed in a horrific auto crash after leaving her husband Prince Charlie and cavorting around with a Egyptian department store heir, Dodi Fayed, right?

If you can't remember any of this you must be perpetually tuned to NASCAR racing, or curling slow-mo replays.

The HLN morning news show that I start my day with was all abuzz with Prince Harry's just announced engagement to Meghan Markle, a 36-year-old divorced American actress. Another Royal Brit goes for an American divorcee. Seems they can't get American women out of their systems.

Prince Harry is 33 and the nephew of Prince Andrew, his father's brother who fought in the Falklands War with Argentina, who later dated an American actress, Koo Stark, who if memory serves me, was sometimes referred to as either an exotic dancer, porn star, or both, Prince Andrew was criticized for his relationship, but there were those who forgave him because anyone who fought in a war should be allowed the female companionship of his choice.

After yesterday's media buzz about the engagement, I was convinced we in the States had heard the end of it. I mean, Prince Harry is 5th in line for the throne, so quite a lot of his family members have to get on the same Russian aircraft and crash into the Urals before he ascends to the throne. The Ural crash with all those Royals aboard is considered highly unlikely.

But there this morning, on the front page of the New York Times, in a story by-lined by Sarah Lyall, the New York-born veteran reporter who has just come back from her London assignment after a decade of overseas reporting and eating bubble and squeak for Thanksgiving, is a below-the fold, four column story, complete with love-is-in-air photo of the couple in some garden in Kensington, meeting the press and showing off Mehgan's ring, apparently made from stones from Prince Harry's mum's jewelry.

The front page 'News Analysis' by Ms. Lyall jumps to an interior page with more stories and facts about the couple, including of course details about Meghan's Page 6 pedigree. It's a good one, one that will never leave the tabloid news aisle for some time to come.

Meghan Markle is certainly attractive enough, in the current style of brunette's with long straight hair. I mean, why do all these young ladies seem to look alike? Over the weekend my wife and I attended a wedding for the wedding of the youngest son of friends of ours. The bride, a youthful 22 was accompanied by so many bridesmaids that at the church as they kept pouring through the door I was convinced an entire squad of cheerleaders had vacated the halftime show at the local college and put down the pom-poms and wore matching grey dresses with matching hairstyles. I couldn't tell one from the other.

Meghan has that same shape and look as her soon-to-be sister-in-law Kate Middleton. Kate, we will remember from her wedding, gave us that lopsided piece of headgear with feathers popping out of it that has become so imitated by youthful women. You can't see a gathering of females at a Royal event or a Triple Crown race without gazing at young ladies with the "Kate" look.

The look doesn't always work for all, however, There is a New York-based thoroughbred owner, Shelia Rosenblum, head of Lady Shelia stable who sported the look at a talk on the direction of horse racing recently held in Saratoga Spring. Now Ms. Rosenblum still has the remains of a fine looking woman about her, but she is beyond the appropriate age to try and look like Kate.

So, what fashion will we get from Meghan's wedding no matter wherever it is held? It is sure to be covered here in the States no matter where it is held, in England, or California. The nuptials are planned for sometime in the spring, perhaps around the time our youngest daughter is to be married.

To be sure, I'll be at her wedding, not Meghan's.

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