The Windsors still fascinate - Royals only power is in celebrity

The constitutional arrangements of the UK ought to please or trouble only the British; nobody in Ireland questions the architecture of government our neighbours choose, just as they keep their opinions to themselves when looking over the wall at our design.

What cannot be ignored, though, is the level of worldwide interest the Windsors — uniquely among Western Europe’s remaining monarchies — command. Saturday’s royal wedding was watched on television by millions internationally. That’s not bad for an event that had nothing to do with sport and everything to do with a family — and an institution — that has not a shred, in the real world, of political power or significance.