Top things Prince William and Kate can't do for their royal wedding

Cinque Terre Wedding - destination wedding company italy

I'm not going to lie. I'm a fan of the royals; I love the history, tradition and pomp. I'm also a sucker for the Cinderella story and while Kate is not a poor Cinderella with a wicked stepmum (in fact, it seems she's the total opposite with her picture perfect nuclear family and parents who hit the big time due to her mother's flair for making kids party bags - must have been the coolest mother on the elementary block) she's been referred to as a "commoner" from a humble hard working class background who has met her prince and will now be a princess (wonder if her family has started making Prince William and Princess Kate party bags already?).

Ahhh ... so while watching all the coverage on the preparation for the wedding, including apparently having three designer wedding dresses ready to go, I started thinking wow, as a princess she can have anything she wants for her wedding; the dream wedding: horse carriage, tiara and golden slippers... the whole fairytale.

But then I got to thinking about all the things she couldn't have because she will be a princess and as a royal is restricted to the traditions and customs of the royal house. As a result, I came up with the following top modern wedding trends that Prince William and Kate can't do for their wedding:

1. Have a destination wedding

Almost 18 per cent of weddings in the USA today are destination weddings or "weddingmoons" as they are sometimes referred to in Australia. While we know the Prince and Kate are both fans of Kenya, where he popped the big question, for a destination wedding perhaps they would have chosen a spot like Italy were many of today's rich and famous tie the knot. Just in the last few years there have been the likes of Tom and Katie,Mena Suvari and Simone Sestito and Rooney and Coleen. 

Personally I like Rooney and Coleen's spot the best on the Italian Riviera. It's like Tuscany on the sea. Check out the Cinque Terre Wedding website for a wedding that's even beyond a prince and princess' dream.

2. Surprise guests with a wacky wedding entrance or first dance.

It seems it's becoming more and more popular to treat guests to a surprise through performing a wedding entrance or first dance with a twist. The best example of this is no doubt JK wedding entrance dance that's received a mind boggling 64,896,415 youtube hits. If you are wondering what it would be like to see the royals doing something similar you're in luck. T-mobile has just launched a commercial with royal look-alikes wedding entrance based on JK's moves.

3. Have an inter-faith wedding

In 2010, the Washington Post reported that according to the General Social Survey, 25 percent of U.S. households were mixed-faith in 2006. This reflects a lot of inter-faith marriages.

However, as the Royals are the official head of the Church of England, and as the possible future Queen of England, Kate is required to be of this faith. Apparently, while Kate is of the Church of England she had not received her confirmation. On discovery of this fact, a private ceremony was promptly arranged just months ago.

4. Have a small and intimate wedding

According to UKBride the average number of guests at a wedding is between 50 - 100. Sky news reports that a mere 2,000 people have been invited to Prince William and Kate's ceremony. That's set to be one big fascinator jungle.

5. Invite who they want

St James's Palace has announced that more than half of the guests in attendance at the ceremony will be the couple's family and friends. While putting Prince William and Kate up as contenders for the Guinness Book of Records, "most number of family and friends" (imagine the Christmas present list!), this also means there will still be a good few in attendance including celebrities, leading politicians, heads of state and royalty from across the world that the couple don't consider "friends". Ow, well no doubt, having over 1,000 family members and friends in attendance will be enough to hide from the few non-friends.

What is an internationista?

Internationista world.

An internationista is a state of cultural identity experienced by persons of multicultural backgrounds combined with experience living in multiple countries. 



The term "internationista" relates to females in this state while males could be referred to as an "internationisto", with the collective term being an "internationist".



The internationista attempts to explore a state of cultural identity that runs deeper than the "global citizen", which tends to focus on the "other" (eg an understanding and respect for universal states of equality etc and diverse cultural norms. Instead the Internationista is an introverted look at the individual citizen who is of the world in biology, culture and physical location.



The internationista is also not about cosmopolitanism the idea that all human ethnic groups belong to the one single global village with shared moral norms. It asserts instead that a minority of humans are not a part of any village and therefore transcend shared moral norms. 

Internationistas are also not nomads or gypsies as they don't move with a community from one place to another. They move alone or at times with a partner or family.



They are also not expatriates: to be of one place and live in another for a period of time. To be an ex-pat one must identify with one cultural identity that one is extracted from. The internationista does not identify with one cultural identity.



Internationista is perhaps most linked to globalisation though globalisation tends to focus more on the macro systems of economics, environment and socio-cultural and how they impact on certain markets, locations, cultures etc than the individual. Eg: globalisation can explore the "californication" of the world through western media. Whereas the Internationista explores the effect of globalisation on the individual eg: eating vegemite on toast in Australia, watching Beverly Hills 90210 on tele and listening to your nonno yell in Italian playing poker in the backroom under the tartan crest of your Scottish father's clan.

It is because the Internationista is none of these cultural ideologies that it is.



Some signs of an internationista:

1. You have trouble answering the question "Where are you from?"

2. You were born outside of the country you were brought up in and have lived in several countries for extended periods of time since.



3. You were born outside of the country you were brought up in, your parents were born in different countries from you, each other and the country you were brought up in and you have lived in several countries for extended periods of time since.



4. You don't know which country to support in the World Cup or Olympics or you are entitled to support two or more countries in the World Cup or Olympics and are therefore a pain to have around during these competitions.

5. You have paid tax in more than three countries.

Are you an internationista?



Best advertisement on Italian TV - mobile phone company celebrates Leonardo De Vinci's birthday



TIM mobile advertisement with Leonardo di Vinci

 Over the past few months Italian mobile phone company TIM has been running a De Vinci inspired advertising campaign complete with a Mona Lisa sketch.

I love the juxtaposition of the old with the new and the way it makes our most modern gadget somehow seem culturally rich, artistic, historic and romantic, and above all in this case, ever so italian.


The best by far was shown the other night celebrating Leonardo De Vinci's birthday on April 15 which includes a dancing De Vinci.  - a must see. What a way to promote a product, national pride and art history education!

No fly zone

No fly zone.

Is my bedroom in war’s flight path?

Shhhhhhhhheeeeeeooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…

Did a jet fighter just blow past my bedroom window carried by the dark breath of night?

Shhhhhhhhheeeeeeooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…

I was in bed, wrapped in my doona, lost within turning book pages,

Swiiishhhhh, swiiiishhhh, swisshhhh…

I read about wartime England, nineteen forty one.

The night air attacks on Libya had just begun.

Top italian hand gesture not to get wrong

Cornuto (horns): This gesture is all about direction.

Pointing downwards it is a superstitious protective gesture to ward off a curse or the evil eye as though to ban the evil into the earth. A bit like "touching wood" or in Italy "touching iron."

However, pointing upwards it signifies that the male recipient, if married, is a Cornuto - his wife is having an affair. In some small villages in Italy once a year they celebrate the Cornuto Party where horns are placed on random objects and statues around the piazza and the men of the village attend a dinner all wearing horns. As a general rule actual Cornutos, those whose wives have cheated on them, don't attend.