A perfect royal wedding that was watched around the world

It is, as the birthdays column on the opposite page reminds us, the birthday of Mary Robinson, who was president of Ireland in the 1990s.
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Mrs Robinson is a person of great erudition, class and charm and was the Republic’s first female head of state. She was one of the very few politicians on either side of the Irish Sea to resign over the 1985 Anglo Irish agreement (in her case from the Labour Party) in protest at the fact that unionists were not consulted.

While that gesture endeared her greatly to many people north of the border, there are multiple other reasons why Mrs Robinson was a president that any nation would be proud of.

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But all states that have an elected head of state find that they have to decide the role of that position. Is it like Ireland, apolitical, or like America, highly political?

Nations with constitutional monarchies in which the king or queen has no real power are now few in number, the United Kingdom being the most prominent of those that remain.

The aforementioned dilemma is then resolved: the monarch has a largely ceremonial function, and a strictly impartial one, but it is a position of great importance nonetheless.

This was very apparent on Saturday, during the royal wedding between Harry and Meghan. The weather was perfect, the crowds were large, and the couple looked wonderful.

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In a poignant touch, Prince Charles stepped in for the absence of the bride’s father, and accompanied the new duchess on the last part of her procession down the aisle.

There must be many nations that wish they still had their own royal families. The British one has pulled off quite a feat, remaining traditional and at the same time always adapting.

On this occasion, multicultural themes infused the marriage ceremony, in recognition of Meghan’s African American ancestry and Harry’s time overseas, including work in Lesotho.

It was an extraordinary day that is said to have captured the attention of more than a billion people worldwide.