Campaign group Republic has said it's not surprised about the lack of public interest in the forthcoming royal wedding.
Hardly any street parties are planned this year according to a number of recent reports. A poll out after the wedding was announced showed a majority weren't interested.
In 2011 the Kate and William wedding attracted a few thousand street parties, well down on previous royal weddings. Even a generous estimate of attendance at those parties would suggest fewer than a couple of hundred thousand people wanted to celebrate the wedding that year.
This year that number has dropped off a cliff.
Graham Smith of Republic said today:
"The fact is, when we look away from the royal bubble and see how real people feel about the monarchy, most just don’t care and aren’t interested."
"Britain has changed a lot in the few years since the William and Kate wedding, things are harder, cuts have hit more people and there’s a lot of uncertainty about our future."
"So I’m not surprised people are less interested in the self-indulgent royals who are hitting the taxpayer hard for their public parade.
"I wish the couple a happy marriage, but I also wish they would take a long hard look at how out of touch they are with the British public."
"I would also call on the media to understand that their interest in the wedding isn't shared by the majority of people in the country. A few thousand journalists camped out in Windsor is not the same thing as global public interest."
NOTES
International Republican Convention
On the day of the royal wedding, May 19th, Republic is hosting an International Republican Convention in central London.
Doors open at 1pm for a 1:30 start at:
St Bride Foundation
14 Bride Lane
EC4Y 8EQ
More details at www.republic.org.uk/convention
Hardly any street parties are planned this year according to a number of recent reports. A poll out after the wedding was announced showed a majority weren't interested.
In 2011 the Kate and William wedding attracted a few thousand street parties, well down on previous royal weddings. Even a generous estimate of attendance at those parties would suggest fewer than a couple of hundred thousand people wanted to celebrate the wedding that year.
This year that number has dropped off a cliff.
Graham Smith of Republic said today:
"The fact is, when we look away from the royal bubble and see how real people feel about the monarchy, most just don’t care and aren’t interested."
"Britain has changed a lot in the few years since the William and Kate wedding, things are harder, cuts have hit more people and there’s a lot of uncertainty about our future."
"So I’m not surprised people are less interested in the self-indulgent royals who are hitting the taxpayer hard for their public parade.
"I wish the couple a happy marriage, but I also wish they would take a long hard look at how out of touch they are with the British public."
"I would also call on the media to understand that their interest in the wedding isn't shared by the majority of people in the country. A few thousand journalists camped out in Windsor is not the same thing as global public interest."
NOTES
International Republican Convention
On the day of the royal wedding, May 19th, Republic is hosting an International Republican Convention in central London.
Doors open at 1pm for a 1:30 start at:
St Bride Foundation
14 Bride Lane
EC4Y 8EQ
More details at www.republic.org.uk/convention
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