Emma Watson arrived in Trafalgar Square. Photo: Associated Press.
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It’s been a weird and wonderful couple of days. Thursday I was standing in the rain in Trafalgar Square marvelling at the mad fanaticism of the literally thousands of fans who had camped out there for days hoping for a glimpse of the Harry Potter stars as they walked the red carpet from the National Gallery to the Odeon Leicester Square for the premiere of the last film of the eight-movie series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
Later that night drink flowed freely at a lavish party thrown by Warner Bros. at the Old Billingsgate hall on the banks of the Thames. (Sign of the changing times—it used to be a fish market when I lived in London)
Then, tired and hungover I flew back to Los Angeles on Friday in time to marvel at the restrained, but no less mad, adoration of a handful of Royal devotees who stood quietly at the end of the road hoping for a glimpse of William and Kate–the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to give them their correct titles—who were at a reception at the home of the British Consul-General, Dame Barbara Haye.
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the U.S TV crews who scoured the King’s Head and other British pubs trying to find someone who could say something interesting and/or informative about the Royal visit.
What they don’t realise is that Brits are far more interested in Harry Potter and football than they are in princes and princesses.