Fiona McCade: At least it seems they are marrying for love

Published on Tuesday 26 April 2011 15:32

29 JULY 1981 is a memorable date for me. I celebrated the 159th anniversary of the abdication of King Charles X of France, as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Socialist Party of America.

Basically, I wanted to enjoy the festive mood, parties and cake, but no way was I going to raise my plastic tumbler of pop to those bloated aristocrats, Charles and Di.

My reluctance to toast the happy-ish couple wasn't simply because I was a juvenile republican. I may only have been a kid, but I'd heard Charles say "Whatever love means" and thought, hmm, there's something very wrong here. You didn't have to be a genius to work out that Charles was marrying Diana because he was getting on, he needed an heir, he needed to marry a virgin and Diana was prime, doe-eyed breeding stock. You don't have to read much history to know that royal weddings - certainly the weddings of heirs-to-thrones - are often cynical, politically-motivated affairs. Unfortunately for the self-confessed "thick-as-three-planks" Diana, she'd never read any history.

Fast forward 30 years and although I still won't be moved to raise a glass of anything to William and Kate, I wish them well, because they seem to be the real thing - a couple in love, who have finally ended up at the altar because that's what they want. It's not contrived, or cynical. It's nice.

If you're looking for contrived and cynical, you have to search further afield these days. Luckily, we have a perfect example of a calculated wedding coming up on 27 May, when Labour leader Ed Miliband weds his long-time partner and mother of his two children, Justine Thornton.

Ed comes from Marxist stock and with true revolutionary spontaneity, he and Justine have been living together and merrily procreating for seven years, without any outside interference. Because they weren't married, and Ed didn't bother going to register the birth of his first child, he couldn't be named as the father on the birth certificate.

This surprised him, but not enough to rectify the omission until after the second baby was born ("Two for the price of one" he said. Adorable).

If you're a career politician and you resolutely refuse to marry, or officially recognise your paternity rights, you are either a man of real conviction, or a really lazy waster. I'd assumed that Ed and Justine were simply the kind of people who didn't do marriage, and never would. And why should they? It was almost refreshing; a couple who did their own thing and didn't ask for approval.

But then along came the Labour leadership race and suddenly, Ed's relationship status became an issue. He began to show irritation that people were wondering why he didn't fancy becoming legally linked to the family he'd created."I have said that we'll get married…" he huffed and puffed, "(but] Copenhagen (climate change summit], the General Election and the leadership bid got in the way."

But when you love someone and have done for years, do you always put climate change summits and elections first? I'm curious, Mr Miliband. Do you genuinely believe in the institution of marriage, or don't you?

Never mind. It took a while, but now he's party leader, any convictions he may have had have given way to conformity. Ed obviously hopes that his new Mr Family Man image will appeal to voters. I'm not sure voters will care for someone who is so clearly prepared to put political gain before personal values.

I'm haunted by the image of Ed walking down the aisle - or rather the hotel corridor; at least he hasn't suddenly found religion as well - twiddling his red rose buttonhole and wondering how many votes his Wedding Manifesto will win him.

I never thought I'd say it, but when it comes to Middleton vs. Miliband, I'm with William and Kate.

They're a happy medium between 1981's blue-blooded, sacrificial virgin and Red Ed's votes-for-nuptials.

It's also nice to see people celebrating a union that seems based on honesty, free will and quite a bit of actual romance.

But I still won't be shelling out for one of the commemorative tea-towels.