On April 18, when Lifetime aired Part 1 of its six-part real-life series, simply titled ‘William and Kate,’ the only thing I tried to avoid more than studying for finals was the royal wedding. As a cynical critic to all things fairy-tale, no one was surprised that I wasn’t caught up in the royal wedding frenzy. It wasn’t until I found myself 45 minutes into a rerun of the ’20/20′ Prince William and Kate Middleton special that I realized I had caught the royal wedding bug.

Truth be told, when William and Middleton announced their engagement in November 2010, I wasn’t even aware William was dating anyone. In fact, I only learned of their engagement because it happened to make great Thanksgiving dinner conversation. So when my friends told me they were waking up at 4 a.m. to watch the royal wedding, I didn’t get it.

I’m usually a sucker for television specials and themed TV marathons, but the royal wedding mayhem was outrageous. Lifetime quickly executed a made-for-TV movie using $3 million to ‘examine William and Kate’s romance, Kate’s comparison to Princess Diana, the wedding gown, the food for the wedding, a rundown of the wedding day and a glimpse into William and Kate’s potential future together.’ 

Unimpressed critics said accuracy was not a priority in the Lifetime version of Middleton and William’s eight-year relationship, proving the royal wedding is a way for everyone and anyone to cash out on the royalties.

Even TLC’s week of royal wedding programming featuring ‘archived and exclusive footage of the royal family, interviews with members of the royal family and those who have been part of notable royal events across the decades’ didn’t sway me. The princess-themed episodes of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and ‘Cake Boss’ weren’t a big deal.

On Friday morning, Twitter served as a place of frustration. All of Twitter’s Top 10 trending topics mentioned the wedding, and according to dailymail.co.uk, the wedding was mentioned at least 67 times a second. Whether someone hated the wedding or loved it, it was being tweeted. I wondered why we couldn’t just stop talking about it all together.

Since the Lifetime special first aired, it had been a long 12 days of royal wedding resistance. So when I finally caved in and watched the ’20/20′ special, I figured that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Actually I most likely fell victim to the mania because there was nothing else on TV and Barbara Walters’ narration can convince me that anything is important. Nonetheless, I was sold.

Middleton’s dress was beautiful, the kiss was classy and that bored, frowning flower girl was hilarious. All in all, William and Middleton’s ceremony made me look forward to my mom’s upcoming wedding. It will not be the 1.6 million-viewer live-streaming Web sensation of the royal wedding, but it will be just as beautiful. The royal wedding helped remind me of the tradition of weddings, whether it be the ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey or at The Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, where my mom’s will take place. Like any royal wedding, my mom’s wedding will have its own element of cheesiness in the form of The Mirage’s fake volcano explosion timed perfectly with the kiss — at least it’s not a six-hour Lifetime special.

Amanda Abbott is a junior geography and information management and technology major. She can be reached at aeabbott@syr.edu.

Published on May 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm