Royal Behavior 1
“Etiquette is, in short, knowing what to do at the right time
and knowing what to say at the right time,”
William Borthwick
The Royal Wedding is ON!
You may be of an age where you remember, first hand, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana back on June 21st, 1982. I remember it well—not because I cared at all about that wedding—but because I was engaged to be married to Miss. Lory Carlton on August 14, 1982. So me and the Prince were in a bit of a contest of sorts—who could outdo the other one with the wedding.
It really wasn’t much of a contest; he had the full weight of his Kingdom behind him. Shiny horse-drawn carriages, soldiers all spit-shined and polished, an entourage that defined the word. He had protocol folk who made sure everyone knew the rules of Royalty. Me—I had a ravenously beautiful Texas woman who saw something in me and was willing to take a risk, and four tall buddies that stood with me to make the date stand tall. My royalty rules were “Don’t write anything rude on the bottom of my shoes that folks can read when we kneel at the alter to pray!” My best man, David Pugh, was in charge of making sure I was on time and had my zipper up and my nose clean. It has been the best thing under the sun to be married to and in love with Lory all these years.
Do you wonder what the “Rules of a Royal Wedding” are?
In an article from March 23rd Meera Selva detailed some of the protocol rules for the upcoming Royal Wedding:
1. Don’t be late, arrive no later than 20 minutes before the ceremony start time
(the Queen should be the last person in Abbey before the wedding party)
2. Wear an outfit that blends in; women don’t wear white and soldiers wear your dress uniform
3. Leave your mobile phone in the car
4. After the ceremony at the Abbey a few guests (600) are invited to the reception at BuckinghamPalace where the food and drinks are to be AMAZING. Accept the offerings politely—but don’t gobble, don’t gulp—and for goodness sakes don’t get drunk.
5. Never touch the queen or initiate conversation with the royal family
6. It is still appropriate to bow politely to the Royalty
7. Don’t write anything silly on Prince William’s shoes
I think of Samuel’s actions just after he anointed Saul as the King of Israel:
Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom [defining the position of the king in relation to God and to the people], and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. I Sam. 10:25 Amp
You see—Israel had never had a King before. This was the FIRST in a line of Royalty over the nation of Israel and they had no “rules.”
Consider this as well:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. I Peter 2:9 Amp
So—my noodle is considering this final verse:
Three things are too much for even the earth to bear, yes, four things shake it’s foundations—when the janitor becomes the boss…Proverbs 30:21a Message
My heart’s question these days is:
“Father—I don’t know how to act like Royalty. I am Your chosen guy—I’m a King’s son! But I feel like the janitor who has won the lottery of grace and I’m mishandling the crown You gave me.”
Over the next couple of BLAAGs I’m going to speak to Royal behavior as a King’s kid. Your thoughts are more than welcome because the smartest person in this conversation is all of us together.
Hanging up my janitor’s smock,
Phil
