I've lived a bit of a charmed research life the past few weeks with plenty of political goings-on playing nicely into the hands of all my pet theories about tradition and the past and that sort of thing.

So I can see why plenty of folks have told me, since the big announcement, how neat it must be to be doing anthropological research on Britain with a royal wedding coming up. 

Meh.  I've thought. 

Now, I'm the same age as Prince William (but I don't have to deal with male pattern baldness), and I've been civilly united for just over a year, so I suppose I can pass on some tips like: don't invite your celebrant to the reception (sorry ++Rowan, best you go off home for your tea that day). 

But, as I commented in an earlier post, I find Prince William really dull.  I mean, really dull.  Now, I thought the Queen Mum was ace.  You knew she probably had mouldy old mint imperials in her handbag and a hipflask in her garter.  Even Prince Charles I have a bit of a soft spot for.  He's managed to combine his father's noted knack for going off about things with an ability to actually go off about things that aren't to do with racism, xenophobia, or hunting.  But William is kind of like a tin of own brand beans; you know it's there, but really, if you want beans you're going to pay the extra for Heinz.  (Not to be confused with Harry as a Nazi.) 

I'm not an anti-monarchist by any means.  Unlike the regular outbreaks of republicanism over here in Australia, we NZers are generally pretty content to have the old girl as our figurehead.  (I've heard it said that this Antipodean point of difference is due to the fact the NZers love Coronation Street and Australians don't.)  And, I tend to think that elected representatives are usually so good at making a mess of things that non-elected ones couldn't do any worse. 

But, it's the dullness, you see.  It makes it hard for me to muster any care.  Maybe I'll be a rubbish anthropologist if I fail to take much notice of public royal wedding parties and devotions next year ... but it strikes me that it's so predictable.  There'll be the same crowds and carry-on with William and Kate as there would be if Harry was marrying a horse. 

So for the moment I'm sticking to my nuptial nonchalance.  Though I'm going to issue a challenge for people to change my mind on this: how do you think the royal wedding might be significant for the anthropology of Britain? 

Britain Today today is brought to you by English Beat's 'Save it For Later', and a sad kitten who has eaten too many biscuits. 

From the nation that brought you colonialism comes more immigration hypocrisy, this time with the hysteria preventing artistic exchange.  Daft as a paintbrush.  On a somewhat similar topic, Anton Vowl writes intelligently on 'white' Britishness (and rumours of demise). 

Under daft as a brush, see also: Lord Young, who has resigned after suggesting that during the 'so-called recession' we've 'never had it so good'.  The most interesting comment, of course, has been over whether what he's gone and said might be true: tosh, says the Spectator, though, wait a second, says Stumbling and Mumbling.  Meanwhile, Dave Osler at Labour Uncut notes that Lord Young (and his well-off ilk) have always had it better. 

More big news came last week of course in the looming spectre of the royal wedding.  My thoughts about Prince William don't get much far beyond wondering whether he is actually the most boring man in Britain, or whether an accountant from Milton Keynes might just pip him to the title.  For sheer entertainment value I'd rather see Fergie and Andrew try it all over again (after re-uniting on I'm a Celebrity, of course).  Anyway, here's Paul Richards on the wedding, the monarchy, and the Labour party's relationship to it all. 

The Indy reviews Jesse Norman's The Big Society and suggests it might be the clearest explanation yet (but that isn't necessarily saying much!). More book reviews over at Open Kingdom, where two books about why the Tories didn't gain a majority at the election are put head-to-head. 

Since the Coalition took power, Britain has become one of the 'most data-friendly countries', according to Datablog which wonders whether government spending data can really change the world?

Here's the full text of Nick Clegg's recent political reform speech.  Worth reading, I think.  In more Clegg coverage, William Davies asks 'who is the fairest of them all?'.