Did you catch the Derby last week? It was a great race, won by a horse with an even better story. But what really struck me this year was that, between the Royal nuptials and the Kentucky Derby, I have never seen so many stupid looking hats in the span of eight days. Many of them not only serve no practical purpose, they are actual hindrances – to movement, to getting in a car, to trying to see around them if you are unlucky enough to be behind them in the crowd. More head dress than hat, really.
In this case, it’s not just the hat.
Really, Princess Bea? Did you have to?
I actually tried not to watch any of Will & Kate’s knot-tying extravaganza but of course I couldn’t avoid it unless I completely shunned TV, newspapers and magazines, even days afterward. The most annoying talking point in my opinion was the way the media went on and on about Kate being a Commoner, saying the word as if it meant ‘raised under a bush’. News flash to all you reporters: you are commoners too, as am I, as well as all the people I know.
Besides the hats, these two events shared something else in common. Apart from the many-hued jockeys, they were predominantly white affairs (wedding dress pun not intended). And hm, dare I make a comment about the fact that royal families and backwoodsy southern states share certain breeding habits? No, I won’t. That would be naughty.
Yes, pomp, circumstance and ridiculous head gear are apparently alive and well on both sides of the Atlantic, as evidenced by the Horse Race and the Wedding. If that thought gets you down, here is a little Jimmy Fallon to cheer you up:
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