royal

Charles Pachter is a painter, designer, sculptor and historian, whose work has been shown in the AGO and McMichael gallery, among others. His iconic image of the Queen riding the moose earned him the status of Canada's Andy Warhol — a pop artist for the North

As we watch Japan continue to struggle out from under the horrific destruction of the earthquake and tsunami, and UN backed fighter planes try to protect beleaguered Libyan revolutionaries, it wouldn’t be surprising to see interest in a certain royal wedding begin to wane.

I came across a story in a London tabloid recently making the rather perverse argument that William was marrying the wrong Middleton sister. It asserted that the real catch of the Middleton girls was Kate's younger sibling, and Maid of Honour, Pippa. Not only does Pippa have the well-honed party planning skills (her website The Party Times is a must read for entertaining experts and pretenders alike), but her growing profile as a West London socialite and bar-butterfly would appear to be good boot camp for learning how to wield a champagne bottle—before smashing it across the front of a ship.

With the upcoming Wills and Kate wedding, there promises to be a whole lot of royal gawkers invading Old Blighty. If you (or your loved ones) haven't been here for a while, it's probably a good idea to brush up on the local customs and rituals—if only to avoid an international incident at the pub's royal wedding fancy dress (read: costume) party.

The English love to drink. The English love weddings. That’s why the marriage of William and Kate (a.k.a. Catherine) is the social equivalent of the perfect storm. Not only has April 29th been declared a public holiday in the UK (meaning the tens of thousands of London coppers being paid to control and protect will be making double-time), the British authorities have also announced that pubs can stay open until 1am on April 29th and 30th – giving royal revelers an extra hour to get totally trolleyed! (Note: In the UK you can add the suffix “ed” to any noun in order to connote getting very drunk.)