Bella's questions about the British Monarcy..

Sounds like you need this: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-royal-wedding-by-nbc-news/id428099984?mt=8

Theres an iPad one as well

I do I do! We're having a long distance slumber party the nite o' the wedding, right? (I thought we could use some bubbly...)

I know the iPhone one is free... iPad... not sure

As far as who finances the whole shebang, the Monarchy has TONS of money. One of the benefits of being a Monarchy. I don't think any of it is financed with public money, although I do wonder about bodyguards and what not.

I believe he is not King because SHE is the one from the royal bloodline, he just married her. So the Monarch is a decendant of someone royal. Their spouse doesnt count.

Almost right DD. A king usually outranks a Queen, as the Queen is the royal bloodline and the highest ranking, Prince Philip cannot use the title of King. The same thing happened with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
When a male is the senior rank and becomes King, his wife is allowed to be called Queen.
This hasn't always been the case though and there are times in history when a bloodline Queen's husband has been made King or when the wife of a bloodline King has been called a Princess or simply a Lady.

Senior royals are given a sum of money by the state (called the Civil List) to help them carry out their public duties. They do however have significant land and investments, the income from this picks up the rest of the tab and fund the lesser royals. Some even have to work for a living!

The cost of wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is being split between the royal family and the state. The royals are picking up the tab for all of the direct costs of the wedding, while the State are paying for the security and policing of the event.

Wow, Tony -- thanks for the info! I had no idea about all of that! I was actually JUST wondering this morning how the monarchy gets their dough... I figured centuries of owning prime land and other investments had something to do with it -- and Buckingham Palace is probably paid off by now.

I ALSO wonder... since you get a little plaque over your store or shop if the royals patronize it... is that considered "advertising?" Do the royals get free stuff from these shops because it brings in customers if they know the royals shop there? I wonder if the recent royals have struck deals like that...

The day of the wedding has been declared a public holiday although I suspect many shops will be open at least Sunday hours.= don't expect much in the way of service from the staff during the actual ceremony.

A King's wife has been called Queen in the UK since about 1000AD. Go back about another 200 years to 800AD before the kindgoms of England were united under one crown and a King's wife was often just a Lady. How or why it changed I'm not sure.

Diana held the title of Lady before marrying Charles, as the reigning monarch's eldest son he holds the title Prince of Wales so she became the Princess of Wales and held that title until her death. (Her family home, Althorpe House, is only about 10 miles from where I live).
Technically, Charles' current wife Camilla is now the Princess of Wales, but she does not use the title out of respect for Diana. She uses the title Duchess of Cornwall which she derives from Charles' secondary (and lesser) title Duke of Cornwall.

Sorry, starting to ramble now.

Tony, please do not consider it rambling, I found it very interesting as I am sure many others did. Please consider it informational.

This is all really fascinating!

So why are Charles siblings not as big of a deal? Is it just because he is the oldest?

I would assume... but I hardly pay much attention to it. But if he is the oldest then he would get almost everything if im not mistaken.

Charles as the eldest son of the reigning monarch is first in line to the throne and (assuming nothing untoward) will be the next King of England. His siblings fall further down the line of sucession as he has children or his children have children or his children's children... you get the idea. Hence his importance to the British Monarchy and to the country as a whole.

All of his siblings (Andrew, Anne & Edward) get a fair amount of press coverage in the UK in relation to the number of public engagements (openings, closings, film premiers etc.) that they carry attend.