So we’ve seen the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. How was the Royal Wedding
celebrated – by expats and locals alike – around the world?
In Afghanistan, British troops celebrated with bunting on the front line.
In Australia, foods associated with the ‘Mother Country’ flew off supermarket shelves, with the biggest sellers being Maynards wine gums and Colman’s classic mint sauce. Even Aussie republicans appear to have been inspired to hold parties and wear tiaras.
In China, a couple recently had a knock-off Royal Wedding, complete with horse-drawn carriage and archway of swords. And cashing in perhaps on the wedding fervour, McDonald’s in Hong Kong started offering wedding party packages.
India is apparently transfixed, with online matchmaking service Shaadi.com conducting a poll that shows people think Indian celebrity Katrina Kaif is the best match for Prince William.
In Jamaica, where Queen Elizabeth is the monarch, the Jamaican Observer wonders what happened to republicanism amid the ‘wedden’ fever.
In the US, the British Ambassador says the UK and America are a “marriage of true minds”, and publishes a love sonnet the embassy’s political counsellor has penned to commemorate this special relationship. A church in New York City offers its pews for Royal watchers.
On Al Jazeera, ‘Margaret Tatcher’ appears to advise Kate Middleton that ‘you can’t change a man’ (from 18:40 of YouTube video).
In cyberspace, Google makes a Royal Wedding Doodle and gives a view of the procession in Google Earth.
In outer space, astronauts on the International Space Station send a zero-gravity message to the Royal couple.
On global markets, Forbes recommends five Royal Wedding stocks, four of which are ‘high-end European-based fashion stocks’.
In the former British Empire, the ex-colonies had a special interest in watching the event, an angle adopted by many newspapers around the world.
British expats are among the most likely to take Royal Wedding bets, reports the Telegraph.
And, among the thousands of parties being held worldwide, British expats celebrated in Taiwan, Canada, Qatar, the Emirates, New Zealand, Bulgaria and Switzerland, where in Zurich there was a party in a railway viaduct.
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