Victoria’s balls

I used to be unbothered by royalty. Couldn’t be buggered if the royal family lived well off my taxes. Now I feel that all that might change next summer. Why? Because Sweden’s crown princess Victoria is getting married and the court is gearing up to a self-congratulatory royalty fest with all the other European blue-bloods.
And then again maybe not. If Victoria has any balls, she will stand up to the court and demand some sort of 21st-century people’s fest to show that she is capable of being a modern princess and future queen. I’m thinking a huge open-air party in Haga Park. Everybody’s invited, the champagne is on the house, Sweden’s best artists are performing and, most important, Victoria and Daniel sit on the grass like regular people in blue jeans and drink beer out of cans. We would love them until the day they die.
If, however, they let stuffy court protocol turn their wedding into the usual stiff, pompous, exclusive affair on the taxpayer’s bill, I for one will go republican.