COINCIDENCE?

Doug (or someone) says, "I absolutely refuse to believe this is a coincidence!!!"

NOT NINJA NUN! NOT MI5!

From the Daily Mail:

The secret identities of two nuns who took pride of place next to Prince William and his new wife at the Royal Wedding have been unveiled.

They were seen by two billion people around the world, looking on demurely as William and Kate listened to prayers during the service.

But despite their unassuming appearance, rumours began to surface that one of the women was a secret 'ninja nun' intended to protect the Royal couple, after she was pictured wearing black trainers.

Speculation was rife that the taller nun, wearing Reebok Classics with her traditional habit, was on hand to pounce on any intruders.

One internet user wrote: 'I guess they were undercover agents, MI5.'

But today she has been revealed to be Sister Annaliese Brogden - a 52-year-old nun from the Community of the Sisters of the Church.

Her identity was disclosed by her bemused father Geoffrey Brogden who said she always wore trainers - no matter what the occasion.

Ninja nuns. MI5. How silly! Sr Annaliese wears exactly the brand and color trainers that I wear when I want to dress up from my white trainers - say when I'm wearing dark colored slacks, and the dirty white trainers would stand out. I don't wear the trainers on every occasion, say with skirts and dresses, but I'd like to.

The 80-year-old [father] from Needham Market, Suffolk, said: ' She has her trainers on most of the time because she finds them the most comfortable things to wear.

' She has always worn them and I am sure she thought they were the most appropriate thing to wear at the wedding.

Brava! I wish I had Sr Annaliese's moxy. Don't believe me about the trainers? See mine below.

She [Sr Annaliese] was made a chaplain at the Abbey after spending 12 years at St Paul's Church, Bristol. She has played an important role in several high-profile events.

So there!

I TAKE IT ALL BACK...

...the snark about the royal wedding. I just finished watching the entire ceremony in Westminster Abbey, uninterrupted, no fits and starts, no commentary. It was beautiful. The Anglican liturgy, the music, the sermon, the prayer composed by the royal pair, the Abbey, the deportment of the bride and groom, all of it was too lovely for words.

And, Leonardo, the Queen's dress was, too, mellow yellow in the softer lighting in the Abbey. I first saw the dress in bright sunlight on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in one of my earlier, disjointed viewings of the celebration.

In the scenes showing the trees decorating the Abbey, as the camera zoomed closer to the gorgeous Gothic stained glass window, the setting seemed to be the outdoors. The pans of the architectural elements of the Abbey and the shots from on high were breathtaking.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Photo by John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

THE ROYAL WEDDING

THE VOWS



The language of the Church of England liturgy of the marriage vows is beautiful. In the splendid surroundings of Westminster Abbey, the ceremony was, indeed, impressive. The Archbishop of Canterbury's vestments were on the splendid side, too. Lapin informs me that the maker is Watts & Co. Unfortunately, the archbishop had hat hair when he removed his mitre.

THE BALCONY KISS



Kate looked lovely. Her dress and veil, designed by Sarah Burton of British designer Andrew McQueen's fashion house, were traditional, simple (for a royal bride), and beautiful. William looked....colorful. Queen Elizabeth, whom I admire for performing her duties with grace and dignity, wore an outfit the color of which I can only describe as ghastly yellow. Ow! My eyes! Sorry about the sour note, but that was my reaction. Further sour note: Camilla's hat looked as if it were swallowing her. What is it with the mostly unattractive hats worn by the ladies?

I've not seen the entire coverage of the royal wedding, only these two videos. I'll watch Barbara Walters wrap-up on "60 Minutes" this evening at a more reasonable hour.

The best commentary on the wedding so far is Fr Christian's on-the-scene live-blogging of the event at GAFCON, which starts here.

PRIORITIES!

From TVNEWSER:

The Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is expected to be a huge television draw next month, so all news organizations are spending significant resources on covering the event.

We already reported that MSNBC was sending Martin Bashir and Chris Jansing and that BBC America would be simulcasting BBC One’s coverage, but in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, some other interesting details were uncovered.

Among them: CNN will have 400 staffers covering the wedding, including cameramen, reporters and producers.

Which, of course, makes perfect sense, because there is nothing much happening in the rest of the world.

O wait!

By comparison, the Journal compares that to the number of staffers CNN has in Japan at the moment: 50.

Image from Ivy Press.

THE ROYAL WEDDING IN STITCHES

 

The happy couple

From the Daily Mail:

If you’re needled about not being invited to the royal wedding, don’t despair – for now you can knit yourself there.

Among the wealth of tea towels, printed plates and specially forged coins, this unusual souvenir kit has emerged, featuring knitting patterns for ten ‘characters’ from William and Kate’s nuptials.

These include the bride and groom, the Queen and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. And, of course, the corgis.

 

The minister

 

The rest of them, including the corgis

Knit Your Own Royal Wedding costs £9.99. To order a copy for £8.99 (p&p free) call 0845 155 0720 or see Ivy Press.

I want exclusive rights to the pictures from those of you who decide to take up the project, okay?

Thanks to Ann for the link.