Throughout the United States, from the East Coast where the Royal Wedding aired live, at 4 a.m., to the West Coast, where it was shown live at 1 a.m., celebrations and home-spun receptions were held in honor of Prince William of Wales marriage to Miss Catherine Middleton.
Despite the U.S.' long independence from its days as a British Colony (236 years, in fact), many Americans still got and continue to get, well, giddy over the prospect of an actual Prince getting married.
But American's fascination with this particular tall, toothy, friendly, follicle-challenged guy may just stem from our equally fervent fervor with his late mother, Princess Diana.
It's All Relative
Lady Diana Spencer was a 19-year-old kindergarten aide, the daughter of an Earl and Charles' 7th cousin, once removed. In actuality, they were related through several other lines, both legitimate and not, but the closest relation is that 7th cousin, once removed. The common ancestor in that line was William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (d. 1755).
Even more closely related are the current queen, Elizabeth, and her husband, Prince Phillip. The long-reining Queen Victoria (who married her first cousin, Prince Albert) was great-great grandmother to both: the queen through her father's line, and Phillip through his mothers; Phillip's great-grandmother and Elizabeth's great-grandfather were brother and sister, making Elizabeth and Phillip third-cousins through that line. Through a separate line, they are second
cousins, once removed. Elizabeth's great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra (who was married to Edward VII) was sister to Prince Phillip's grandfather (who was son of King Christian IX and who became King of Greece).
For the record, Prince William and Kate Middleton are 12th cousins, once removed, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail. Their common ancestor, Sir Thomas Leighton, ruler of Guernsey, was a roundly accepted as a bloody despot (he's William's 12th generation and Kate's – on her dad's side -- 11th generation grandfather). Leighton's wife, Elizabeth Knollys was Queen Elizabeth's cousin, and a relative of Henry the VIII's wife, Ann Boleyn.
But Back to Diana Spencer
By now, there's little of Princess Diana's tragic life the public doesn't know about. She led a sheltered, privileged life, and, if any of multitude of biographies are to be believed, a very lonely childhood. Her aristocratic parents divorced when she was seven (and her youngest sibling Charles, four). She attended finishing school, was done with her education by 16. Allegedly, she had a poster of Charles above her bed (we suspect she was probably the only one) and was, apparently, the only person who didn't realize she was being set-up, offered at the altar of the monarchy, when she accepted Charles proposal. Diana was an ideal royal bride: young, beautiful, not Roman Catholic, super English, and, critical at the time, was virtually "past"-less. When she walked down the aisle 29 July 1981, she won the hearts of everyone except one: Prince Charles. It was only the 13th time he had even seen Diana. Charles only deeply connected with one person and even though it took decades (2005), his fairytale came true: he married Camilla Parker-Bowles (the only person who seems utterly blissful with him and thinks he's brilliant).
Why It Will Work
Not to be so overtly Pollyana-ish, but the odds of William's and Kate's marriage working is a good deal stronger than that of his parents. They've known each other a decade, actually lived together, broke up and got back together. But while William's side of their common ancestor (the aforementioned Leighton) rose in nobility, Kate Middleton's went slowly, way down in the other direction. It wasn't until 1995, that her mother's brilliant brainchild business, Party Pieces, catapulted the family into the money and the mansion they live in now. They each have more than a little of "the dream" and it might work. After all, despite their familial relation -- that started with a 13-year-old Elizabeth crushing on her 18-year-old cousin – the Queen and Prince Phillip didn't know each all that well, and their relationship has lasted 65 years.