The Royal Wedding: Is The Coverage Media Overkill?

I just read that the name is suspected to derive from Middle German, meaning “branch or seedling”.

I'm really enjoying it all--the men in morning attire with their top hats, the women in lovely dresses and festive hats, and, of course, the magnificant. horses and the races. The first race winner, a horse namef Arthur Kitt, even has a moving backstory.

The Racecourse Association is confident that it can prevent fighting at venues from becoming an endemic problem after two weekends of violence at Goodwood and Ascot.

A mass brawl at Goodwood on Bank Holiday weekend was followed by similarly vicious scenes at Ascot on Saturday, albeit on a smaller scale.

With footage of both fights widely available on social media, the worry for racing is that it becomes the ‘in’ place for a scrap when it aims to be a family-friendly sport.

While at the moment they are two small camp fires the concern is that, fanned by the wind of publicity on social media, it becomes an out-of-control bushfire and begins to undo all the good done by racecourses in the past few years.

Officials have worked to make venues civilised places where you can take children and grandparents and worry about neither.

The protagonists at both incidents appeared to be fit young men in smart suits clearly well-off enough to buy the best tickets and plenty of drink. Racecourses find themselves on the horns of a dilemma; promoting themselves as safe yet well aware that the sale of alcohol is a useful income stream.

In that respect, the RCA is not coming at this issue from a standing start. It has had the Pace Yourself campaign in place for four years and, a beefed-up version, Pace Yourself Plus, has been introduced this year to tackle the issue of recreational drugs.

A new official picture of Prince George has been released as he turns five.

The eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was photographed in the garden of Clarence House.

The picture, showing the prince grinning at something - or someone - off camera, was taken after the christening of Prince Louis.

The photographer, Matt Porteous, had also taken private pictures for William and Kate at the christening of two-month-old Louis earlier this month.

Princess Eugenie has married her long-term partner Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The ninth in line to the throne was watched by her grandmother, the Queen, and Prince Philip, along with other members of her family.

Among 850 guests were celebrities such as Cara Delevingne and Robbie Williams, while 1,200 people chosen by ballot followed proceedings from the grounds.

They cheered as the newlyweds kissed twice on the chapel steps.

Guests laid out picnic blankets and quaffed champagne but had umbrellas at the ready and often had to fix their fascinators in the blustery conditions.

There were huge cheers when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived.

The service was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Mother of the bride Sarah, Duchess of York, wore a vibrant green outfit and sat alongside her eldest daughter, Eugenie's sister, Princess Beatrice.

However, the Duchess of Cornwall missed the service to attend engagements including a display of Highland dancing near the Royal Family's home at Balmoral.

Princess Eugenie, the 28-year-old daughter of Prince Andrew, kept breaking into a broad smile during the ceremony.

Her dress - with full-length train - was designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, who founded British label Peter Pilotto.

It featured a neckline folding around the shoulders to a low back at the request of the bride, who wanted to show a scar from surgery to correct scoliosis when she was 12.

She wore the Queen's Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, made by Boucheron in 1919, featuring brilliant and rose-cut diamonds, pave set in platinum, with six emeralds on either side.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, acted as pageboy and bridesmaid.

Charlotte waved enthusiastically at the crowds as they approached the chapel, though negotiating the steps in the high winds proved tricky.

Charlotte struggled to keep balance, while pageboy Louis de Givenchy - son of family friends - took a tumble.

Some of the youngsters were seen giggling and joking before walking down the aisle, appearing to imitate the royal trumpeters.

However, George held his hand over his ear as the musicians heralded Eugenie's arrival.

Eugenie's sister, Princess Beatrice, was maid of honour. Mr Brooksbank chose his brother, Thomas, as best man.

Numerous celebrities braved the weather, including singer Robbie Williams and his fellow X Factor judge Ayda Field, whose daughter Theodora, six, was a bridesmaid.

Singer Ellie Goulding, comedians Stephen Fry and Jack Whitehall and supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell were in the congregation. Cara Delevingne grabbed the attention of social media commentators with a dashing top hat and tails combination.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performed two pieces during the ceremony, which also featured members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dean of Windsor David Conner officiated.

The couple travelled by carriage from St George's Chapel into Windsor, before heading for an afternoon reception hosted by the Queen in St George's Hall at the castle.

It was estimated about 3,000 people gathered to cheer Princess Eugenie and her new husband.

Princess Eugenie has married her long-term partner Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The ninth in line to the throne was watched by her grandmother, the Queen, and Prince Philip, along with other members of her family.

A number of gift bags given to wedding guests of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank are being sold online.

Around a dozen bags are up for sale on the website eBay, with asking prices of up to £1,000.

The bags were given to the 1,200 members of the public chosen by ballot to follow proceedings from the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The bags contain items such as orders of service, fridge magnets, ponchos, shortbread and chocolate coins.

One online listing says it offers the "chance to buy your very own piece of British royal history".

Friday's wedding was also attended by 850 private guests, who were not given gift bags.

Among those 850 were celebrities such as model Cara Delevingne and singer Robbie Williams.

Gift bags were also given to the 2,640 members of the public invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding in May.

A number of those gift bags were also sold online, with many auctions fetching more than £1,000.

Guests invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle for Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding received:

A burgundy tote bag bearing the date of the wedding
An order of service
A fridge magnet
A poncho
A tube of shortbread
A can of water
A chocolate coin