Although there is a sprinkling of negative comments on some news websites in places like the Gulf, the homesickness factor seems to be winning out over republican sentiments in the hearts of many expatriates.
Interest in the royal wedding also seems to be strong in places like Gibraltar, where patriotic fervour runs high even when photogenic royals aren’t about to tie the knot.
The home page of the Gibraltar government’s website, for example, currently features a photograph of Prince William and his fiancé, which links to a press release about Gibraltar chief minister Peter Caruana’s scheduled departure today, along with his wife, to attend the wedding – on behalf, it notes, of “the people of Gibraltar”.
It adds that a financial donation of an undisclosed amount had been made to a charity chosen by the couple, which is also not named, “by way of wedding gift from the people” of Gibraltar.
The website of the United Arab Emirates-based Gulf News, meanwhile, ran a story a few days ago headed: “British expats in UAE buzzing with royal wedding fever”, noting that “some British expatriates in the UAE see [the] event as [a] bright spot in tough economic times”.
Evidently not all the website’s readers have caught the bug, though, to judge by some of the eleven comments that were posted (“Enough of all this media hype” is how one such comment began).
Earlier this month, the same website also published a list of places in the UAE in which to celebrate the wedding with other like-minded people, if one “didn’t score an invite” to the actual event.
These included the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club, where a 12-hour royal wedding garden party – “including an all-you-can-eat buffet of British culinary classics and house beverages”, a polo match, and an evening of dancing – could be had for 450 dirhams (£73.60, $122.50) per person.
In Jersey, residents will be able to watch the wedding, for free, on a large screen in Liberation Square in St Helier, the island’s capital, where local cafes were described as offering special deals.
The BBC’s website lists 17 other Jersey venues for watching the event on television or otherwise joining in the celebration. Typical of these is the Royal Yacht’s "live coverage" – presumably via television – "with a three-course wedding breakfast at one of the hotel’s restaurants.
In New York City, a website, www.royalweddingnyc.com, lists a number of activities for those determined to join in the celebration, although for New Yorkers as for expats in other far-flung lands there will be a time difference to consider as well as the problem of Friday being a normal workday for most.
London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, meanwhile, is launching a competition for "the best photo of a Royal Wedding party outside of the UK" via its Telegraph Expat section. First prize is an Olympus dignital camera. The deadline for submissions is 31 May.
