Prince William and Catherine Middleton get hitched in less than two weeks, and they officially are the most web-savvy royal couple to date (although past royal couples didn’t quite have a shot at that one, did they?).
They launched their website a few months ago, which sets the tone making the couple accessible—aside from the word “royal” spattered everywhere across the site, they could be the kids next door who decided to blog about the big day. I’m not sure what I was expecting—gold sparkles, family crests, ornate twirly swirlies maybe? Instead, the tone is tastefully simple and almost boring. But it allows me to pretend they are my friends, Will and Kate, so I’m okay with it.
The Twitter Feed on the website posts news from Clarence House, the news feed for the Prince, Duchess, and William and Harry. (@ClarenceHouse is actually responsible for officially announcing to the public the Royal Engagement in a 132 character tweet: “The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton – www.princeofwales.gov.uk”) Better would be a Twitter feed from Miss Kate herself with posts like, “Harry potter 7, bud light and wedding crafts, great night!” or “Guess what!! 13 days, 12 hours, and 3 minutes till Willy and I’s wedding!! AHHH exciting! xoxoxo!!” Wishful thinking for celebricurious people like me, I guess.
The Facebook page and Flickr on the website feed from the British Monarchy. (I do have to complain that the social media icons in the right sidebar are clickable, but take you to the main Flickr.com, Facebook.com, and Twitter.com websites rather than to the profiles you’re hoping to go to when you click, which is a royal mistake.)
They even released a Royal App, which “reveals the tradition, splendour and romance of the seven royal weddings and includes images of wedding dresses and jewellery, gifts exchanged between bride and groom, presents from family and friends, wedding cakes and flowers.”
But what makes me proud of my buddies Will and Kate is their decision to forgo wedding gifts, and instead start up the Royal Wedding Charitable Fund, which allows people to make donations. Love the idea, especially since the Royal Pantry still probably has a few hundred tins of pineapple leftover from Australia’s gift of 500 tins to the Queen and Prince Philip in 1947.
The YouTube goes to the Royal Channel, with interesting and highly viewed videos. None have quite as many views, though, as T-Mobile’s take on the Royal entrance. Here’s to hoping we get a real version of this next week: