I should probably apologize to President Obama and the people of the United States in general. I know Americans have a reputation of being pushy and loud, and I did nothing to quell that opinion. I was just being myself and getting into the spirit and fun of the occasion. While the people of England in general were friendly and fun, the royals took a little getting used to, While William and Kate are relaxed and approachable, Queen Elizabeth was rather stodgy. I was not put off by the fact the Queen was a royal, but more that she rarely even cracked a smile. I won’t even get into the fact that she looked like a giant lemon at the wedding. I will stop at that - if I say any more than that I might be seen as “catty” (hah!)
I arrived in London a couple of days early so that I could spend some time sightseeing with my CoolCatz and HotDogz Club buddies. We were meeting up bright and early and making a mad dash to try and see as many of the sights of London as possible. Georgie is great at finding interesting places to visit, so she was our tour director. We started out on one of those double decker buses which was really cool! We did a quick visit to Big Ben, the Tower of London and of course, Kensington Palace. While at Kensington we stopped by a nice pool to rest for a bit. I tried to control myself, but before I knew it I was yelling “Geronimo” at the top of my lungs and leaping into the pool with the most perfect cannonball you have ever seen.
Icy stood at the ready with a life preserver in case I became in need of some assistance. But I was okay and the water wasn’t too deep or icky so Icy put down the preserver and jumped in the pool. We then commenced having a splashing fight. As soon as the rest of the gang heard the splashing, they headed to the pool as well. We weren’t that far into our cannonball competition, when we were told to leave the palace grounds. If you ever wondered how to get thrown out of Kensington Palace, you know now – doing cannonballs while having a splashing fight!
We continued on with our sightseeing. One of my favorite moments was when Icy, Matthew, Georgie and I all donned a fuzzy English guard hat and tried to make the guard laugh. Being a guard must be a tough job. The guards are not allowed to move a muscle – and they must endure feline tourists trying to get them to laugh.
After admitting defeat, we saluted the guard and trotted off. We girls decided to spend some time doing a little shopping. I noticed that the high society shops had a wide selection of these hats that were basically frisbees with decorations on top. I wanted to be up with the local fashion, so I purchased a beautiful frisbee with a big pink flower on it. It would match my dress exactly!
Not wanting to wear ourselves out for the big day, we called it an early night so we could get our beauty rest. I hung my dress in the closet and sat my hat carefully on the dresser so it would not get squished. You know my feelings about squished hats!
The wedding wasn’t until late morning so our little group met for a big breakfast – eggs, bacon, fried bread – but no coffee!! Heaven knows a group of cats all hepped up on caffeine is the last thing one needs at a wedding.
After breakfast we retired for a refreshing nap, and then it was time to get ready to go to the church. The other gals all came to my room to get dressed. That way we could help each other with zippers and hats. I was having trouble with my frisbee hat and Georgie suggested a bobby pin to help hold it in place. Ingenious!!
We arrived at Westminster Abbey nice and early so we could watch the celebrities arrive. Rather than go inside to our seats, we decided to enjoy the unusually pleasant weather and stand just outside the doors. We each wanted to be the first to spot someone famous – I was the first to see Elton John. I am a huge Elton John fan so I became absolutely giddy when he smiled and waved to me. Aaaaaaaaah!
Evidently William and Kate had told Sir Elton about me and he knew my name. Aaaaaaah! He stopped and chatted. He welcomed me to England and offered to save me a seat in the church near him Well…okay. I would be sitting with Sir Elton John -aaaaaaaah!
Our little group stayed outside for a while and then we were told we had to take our seats. As we walked and walked I realized I should have asked Elton exactly where he was planning on sitting. My friends grabbed seats wherever they could find them, but I was counting on Elton making good on his promise. I finally saw him and scurried over. The floor was slippery and I slid right into him and grabbed his tie to help stop myself. I’m sure he had taken great pains to look perfect, so I spent the next couple of minutes trying to fix his tie. I think I put him back together nicely!
True to his word, Elton had saved me a seat but it wasn’t right next to him. It was next to the military dude sitting next to him. I ended up just out of the camera shot of Elton that was shown on television. Mom and Dad would have been so excited to see me on TV!
Soon it was time for the ceremony to begin. William and his brother appeared from a room at the front of the church and stood at the altar. Then the music started and Kate and her Dad walked very slowly down the very long aisle. Since the church was so big and segmented, it took a while before she even appeared! She smiled when he saw me and her sister motioned for me to join her up on the altar. Kate and Williams love animals and since they had men, women and children participating, the only thing missing was an animal. I was quite flattered that they chose me and not one of the Queen’s Corgis.
I settled up on the altar next to Kate’s sister. Again, I was just outside the camera shot as it was tightly focused on the happy couple. When was I going to make my international television debut?!?!?!?
If I thought the sliding into Elton John incident was embarrassing, what happened next made that look like nothing! You know how I love good music and singing – well, before the ceremony commenced, the organist launched into one of the catchier hymns and the assembled masses began to sing. I was yowling loudly and jumped up on the kneeler in front of William and was just going to town. I was swaying and swinging my boa and singing louder than anyone else.
William, being the trained royal that he is, didn’t even flinch as I flounced about on his kneeler. He continued staring intently into his royal wedding program and singing quietly (he’s not much of a singer) I made Kate giggle, but her father was not amused.
When the music stopped, I turned and looked out into the crowd. They were all staring at me, quite wide-eyed. Some had their mouths hanging open – not a flattering look on anyone. I didn’t even want think about what the Queen’s reaction might be. I gently placed my boa back around my neck and quietly tippy toed back to my seat. I did spy Georgie and stopped to wave at her. She smiled and gave me a paws up. As I arrived at my seat, I was especially careful not to slide into Elton this time.
I was horrified to think that my 5 minutes of fame on television was going to be an over the top rendition of a solemn Catholic hymn, but I found out that there was a 5 minute broadcast delay and no one but the dearly assembled would ever know about the incident. Evidently, the folks in charge of the broadcast decided that my singing detracted from the perfectness of the day and cut it out. I vowed to keep a low profile for the rest of the wedding. Or at least until…I’ll get to that later.
William and Kate looked so happy and in love through the vows, and quite relieved when they made it through them without a mistake. Though William seemed to have just the tiny bit of trouble sliding Kate’s wedding ring over her knuckle!
The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. While the crowd in the Abby sat quietly through the whole thing, you could hear the crowd outside cheer after they each finished their vows. WHen it was over, William and Kate walked down the loooong aisle in the quietness of the beautiful church, but as they stepped out into the public eye for the first time as man and wife, the crowds went absolutely wild.
Now this is more like it! I started cheering, waving my arms and spinning with glee. I spun around so fast I lost my balance and flipped right into Kate’s train. Fortunately, Kate’s quick thinking sister was holding it off the ground and gave it a quick flip to pop me right out.
It was soon time to head to Buckingham Palace for the traditional balcony appearance. William and Kate were going to ride in a beautiful horse drawn carriage. As they climbed aboard, William’s hat was knocked just a bit askew. I leapt to this aid, adjusting it so he would look just perfect!
The happy couple invited me to ride in the carriage with them, but I declined. Heaven knows I would only get myself into trouble, so I found my friends and we caught a ride to the palace with Elton.
Now, before I tell you about my time on the balcony, I must address an issue that was the elephant in the room the whole day... you know what I’m going to say… I’m talking, of course, about Princess Beatrice’s absolutely, positively, hideous hat. I used to be one to say that I never met a hat I didn’t like. Well, I am here to say that, indeed, I HAVE met a hat I didn’t like. What was she thinking?!?!?!? What milliner, in good conscience, would sell such a monstrosity – especially to a princess!! I spent most of the afternoon trying not to look at her. But you know that feeling when you know you shouldn’t look, which make you want to look even more. She was like a train wreck that you knew was awful, but your just had to look. I made it a priority not to make eye contact with her or I would lose it. I think I had done enough to make myself noticed during the ceremony!
On to Buckingham Palace – a very impressive place! I was very careful not to bump into anything and I stayed close to the group so I wouldn’t get lost. I followed the royal family out onto the balcony to the roars of the adoring crowd. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. The crowd kept chanting something that I couldn’t make out, but William seemed to know what they were saying. He turned to Kate and planted a big ol’ kiss right on her lips. I’m not one for public displays of affection, so I covered my eye and turned away.
When the balcony visit was over, it was time for lunch. I had a quick bite and
then headed to gather up my friends for the next event.
It was time to add a little whimsical humor to the day! My friends and I took off our fancy duds and got to work decorating the newlyweds’ car.
It took us a while, but I think we did an excellent job! It made William and Kate laugh out loud when they came out to get in the car. They patted each one of us on the head. Jack asked Kate for a kiss and she happily obliged. That gave Georgie and Icy the courage to ask William for a kiss. After he gave them each a peck on the cheek they were all giggly and blushing.
They each gave me a hug goodbye and I wished them much love and happiness in their marriage. They jumped in the car and drove off. Ah, what a magical day.
I hope you had the chance to watch some or all of the wedding. It was quite beautiful and romantic. I think Kate will make a wonderful princess! Now, let’s hope that the pitter patter of little prince and princess feet is not far in the future!
Oh, and for those of you wondering what I ended up giving them for a wedding present:
Have a wonderful week!
Love and kitty kisses,
Josie
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