Dr. Robi Ludwig: The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Why Did We Care?
On Friday, a reported, approximately two billion people watched the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, which took place in London. Why were so many of us interested in two people getting married, enough so that many folks in the U.S. got up early to watch the wedding on television?
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CYInterview welcomes back nationally known psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig to break it down for us. She says there were two reasons why people were so into this. First, besides all the hype around the wedding, young women grow up with a “princess” love story telling them that one day they will meet Prince Charming, get married and live happily ever after.
The good doctor explained:
“When you think about it, there has been a lot of hype. Right? We’ve been hearing about the royal wedding for quite some time now. So there’s certainly built up curiosity…In a way it’s a little bit like a soap opera. I think that there’s another factor here. Girls grow up with fairytales about a princess meeting their prince and living happily ever after. So I think a part of the curiosity and watching the royal wedding certainly pulls on those fairytale fantasies, which on some level feel so real. So we get to watch this reality, in a sense, play out in front of our own eyes. We get to see a royal family and what a royal wedding is like. I think it just plays on what we’ve always grown up with, this idea of happily ever after and meeting a prince and a prince turning you into a queen. It’s a very kind of positive idea or affirmation that life can turn out the way you dreamed it could.”
Secondly, many people were big supporters and fans of Princess Diana. Being that Prince William is her son, and with many people feeling like they grew up with him, they feel like they are seeing a happy ending for the Prince after the tragic loss of his mother, at a young age.
Dr. Ludwig told us:
“The other part is, so many people really loved and felt connected to Princess Diana. If you’re of a certain age group, you remember what it was like when she was getting married. For those people who were Diana royal watchers, remember her untimely death. So I think that there’s a feeling of being connected to Prince William because we saw what he was like as a little boy. We saw him grow up in front of our very eyes. So in a way, we feel like we know him and there is a sense of happiness that things turned out well for him. It seems like everybody could see that this couple really loves each other and has a real foundation of friendship and that was quite apparent. So I think that there’s a lot of different reasons why people wanted to see this for themselves.”
You can check out Dr. Ludwig’s official website at http://www.drrobiludwig.com