Why the News Media Obsession with the British Royal Family?

Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married on April 29.  Who cares?  Unfortunately, we have an American media that seems to be obsessed with reporting the royal family of Britain, and for the life of me, I really can’t understand why so much news time is going to be wasted on what in reality is such a trivial event.

I know that some people are going to read this posting and think that I’m some crabby old curmudgeon, and I admit that I am when it comes to the attention the American media pays to people who have really accomplished little in life other than being born.  Yes, in my mind on April 29, we will witness the wedding of a woman who is only famous because she has decided to marry a man who is only famous because he happened to be born to a particular family that has been declared royal by, guess who, the British government and the media.

The British royal family is actually funded through the United Kingdom’s taxing system.  The family receives roughly 37 million pounds a year, which is equivalent to $75 million dollars.  Think about it. The British taxpayers pony up $75 million a year to keep the charade of a British monarchy going despite the economic difficulties that country is facing.  Am I the only one who thinks that is insane?

There are those people who say that the British royal family is worth the money because they bring that much attention to England and engender a great deal of tourist money.  Don’t forget that those networks that will be televising the wedding are going to be paying a pretty price to do so.

Since the United States news media has always tried to convince us mere mortals that the Kennedy family was American royalty, maybe our media secretly wishes that we had a phony monarchy to support.  Of course, I always wondered why the media didn’t also declare the Bush family as American royalty.  Let’s see…..two Bush presidents and a governor vs. one Kennedy president and two senators.  Oops!  I forgot.  The Bush family has the wrong political ideology to qualify for such a media designation.

At any rate, on April 29, 2011, countless numbers of celebrity-worshipping Americans will be getting up very early in the morning to watch the television broadcast of the wedding of a man whose only major achievement in life was being born.  Have fun.  As for me, I’m sleeping in.