Magic in the Daylight

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That may not go far among Great Britain's almost 3 million unemployed, but it enhances the monarchy and sustains every monarchist in the realm. Says Robert Lacey, author of Majesty, a study of Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor: "The reason the monarchy survives in the 1980s is that, through a combination of luck and also good training, the House of Windsor has continued to produce persons who mirror the national virtues." Adds Politics Professor Richard Rose of Scotland's University of Strathclyde: "There are those who are positive about the monarchy, and those who are lukewarm. There aren't many anti people." Especially now, when the prevailing wedding fever seems to have raised the public temperature way past lukewarm. Indeed, a survey published last week in the liberal Guardian showed that a resounding 76% of those polled felt the advantages of the monarchy outweigh its costs (estimated at a yearly $25 million) and that 67% considered that the big bundle being lavished on the wedding was money well spent.

Of course, there were all those revenues from wedding-souvenir sales and the tourist trade to consider, although tourism surprisingly fell a bit short of expectations, with rooms to spare at several major London hotels. An extra $200 million for souvenirs and $440 million more in tourism were expected to augment the national coffers. But in the matter of budget and expense vs. value rendered, the Windsors, who are monarchs not only for a nation but for the international media, found themselves up against a conventional show-business maxim: It is only when you bomb out that you're a profligate; if you're a hit, nobody cares how much your show cost.

The Windsors are presiding over one of history's biggest smashes, and against all odds, one of its most enduring. Anyone who thinks for a moment that such show-business comparisons might be crass would do well to consider that, while Britain may not be the most flamboyant nation on earth, it is surely the most theatrical. The pageantry, and indeed the calibrated delirium, of the wedding celebration are the distillation not only of national spirit but of a shared dramatic soul.