I wonder if Kate Middleton's parents know, as the media recently reported, that they are "kicking in" some cash towards the royal wedding this spring. I would have liked to have been a British fly on the wall when they, lounging in their jammies, sipping tea and watching the morning news, learned of this development. Crumpets, undoubtedly, were tossed about.

Perhaps they weren't aware that the Queen of England needed financial assistance but, hey, the economy has hit us all. Perhaps she will have to pry a jewel off that crazy Cinderella carriage she rides in once a year, waving imperiously through its' recently installed bullet proof glass.

The emphasis, apparently, is to try to achieve some sort of normalcy for the nuptials. Good luck with that. Prince William, is reportedly behind a plan to distribute one hundred or so "golden tickets" which will enable regular people to attend. He also, according to the CBS morning news, is thinking of including a number of Britain's homeless to join the invited guests (kings, queens, presidents, etc) for the event. Oops--normalcy just flew out the window. Let's all do the royal wave as it disappears over the horizon.

Everything else aside (and "everything" encompasses an awful lot in this case), inviting the homeless alone, immediately catapults these plans into the realm of the surreal. My compassion and desire to help the homeless is quite sincere but I would not be putting them on the guest list of a family wedding and, I daresay, this applies to most of you as well. 

Of course, normalcy is relative. What's normal for me is not for the royal family (big surprise). If you want to include "commoners" with a lottery, go for it. The closest my family gets to royalty at a family wedding is if the DJ spins a record by Queen Latifah. Maybe this is why the Middletons will have to chip in---to pay for the vetting process and security detail now needed for the "normalcy" factor. 

I don't think the public wants you to scale back, Royal Family--that's why they keep you around. They seem to love the spectacle, the tradition, those crazy hats with their sprays of ostrich feathers. They want something to marvel at and buy collectible souvenirs to commemorate--fussy little porcelain teacups, perhaps, emblazoned with the image of the happy couple to set on the shelf next to the one they bought when the nasal Charles wed his ill-fated Cinderella thirty years ago.

I look forward to following this extravaganza on the telly. It will provide distraction for me in a world where the nightly news doesn't provide much light-hearted fare. It will also be fun to add my two cents to the babble now and again. Rest assured, America..."Susan Says..." is on the job.