ABC News, like every other news network, is fixated on today's royal wedding. In one of the seemingly endless series of preparatory stories, Diane Sawyer and the ABC news team interviewed children in England, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Islamabad and Moscow. They asked these groups of 7- and 8-year-olds what they think it's like to be a prince or a princess.
The children had different, and often funny, conceptions of what royalty do all day: They sit on big chairs all day, they eat a lot, they don't work. (Listening to them, one can't help but notice how articulate they are, too.)
But there was one idea that consistently emerged. All of the children said that they hoped that princes and princesses were a lot like superheroes. But they weren't talking about Aquaman or the Incredible Hulk. Rather, they all shared a common hope that royalty would be good and generous, and would use their power and privilege to help homeless people, support orphanages, aid the sick and increase peaceful communication between countries.
One boy from Johannesburg expressed his dream particularly powerfully: "Sometimes they might even think, 'I'm not going to rest until this country is perfect.'"
For Sawyer, what all of these children were saying, ultimately, is that they want someone good and generous to rescue them.
Let's hope that William and Kate, and all of the world leaders and movers and shakers watching them from the pews, emerge from church this morning ready to heed their calling.
