Princes William and Harry of Wales

Yes, Americans are attracted to tales of the royals, especially the English ones. My unscientific reasons for why we cherish this peculiar star-worship are three-fold. First, I believe it is a manifestation of “the grass is always greener in the other person’s yard.” George Washington and his mates insured that we Americans don’t have any royalty. Thus, we never suffer the burdens and only envy the benefits of this institution. That makes it attractive. Next, our little ones tend to play at being kings, queens, and knights. As many of our immigrants came from European cultures with traditions of royalty and brought with them fairy tales involving the same, royalty-worship starts from the nursery. And, if that weren’t enough, the Disney Company certainly ingrains it into our youth, doesn’t it? My third suspicion regarding our love of British royalty is the laziness of human nature. In particular, it is the language-laziness of many Americans. We speak one language and seem to get away with it pretty easily. So, news of Great Britain and its princes, queens, duchesses and so on is accessible to us because the Brits speak English.

This recent and most joyous event brings the royals to our attention. Their country and the entire world like to celebrate weddings. With the explosion of television, cable, and satellite “news” providers, there was a feeding frenzy for wedding coverage. Also, hearkening back to our pre-schoolers playing house and hearing storybook endings of marriage and “happily ever after,” we TV-addicted Americans clamored for happy news. H.R.H. Prince William filled the bill.

These two young men seem to me to be very good people. As they enter adulthood and service to their country, no scandals follow them. Furthermore, I recently read a book which describes their growth from birth through their late teens. The journey is phenomenal and it causes me to more fervently wish them all the best. This tome is Diana’s Boys: William and Harry and the Mother They Loved.

I wish I had discovered the last 20 pages first, because they would have answered the question which accompanied most of my reading. This question was “By what authority does author Christopher Andersen purport to be recounting so many private conversations and incidents in the princes’ lives?” I wanted to believe that this story is the real deal but I was incredulous that an American writer would be privy to all that he tells.

This biography contains 300 plus pages divided into 8 chapters. After the story closes, there are source notes for each third of the book which include the names of at least ten persons close to the princes who were interviewed. (Supposedly, there are more personal sources who declined to be identified.) This section also cites many periodical articles recounting episodes in the young royals’ lives. After that, the author lists a bibliography of 50+ books. The back jacket states that author Chris Andersen is a “…former contributing editor of Time and senior editor of People…” I will perhaps grant that this past work history lends credibility to his ability to investigate a story.

I truly hope that you find ways to contribute to the world using your own unique talents and gifts. May God forever smile upon you.

Copyright 2011 Maren Morgan