This fortnight our foreign correspondent is an Erasmus student in Heidelberg, a city in south-west Germany, who has been watching the royal wedding.
When I realised I would be spending the royal wedding in Germany, a patriot was born.
Never one to normally extol the virtues of the monarchy, my previous views were thrown out of the window at the prospect of being a Brit abroad on this most British of days.
Despite initial fears of being branded a royalist, I spoke to a few Germans who were in favour of a big white wedding. I was surprised to find my fellow compatriots were just as keen as me for a knees-up.
The media were mixed; left-liberal magazine Stern romped through the history of the monarchy whilst the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel seemed to imply it was a circus. But nothing would deter me from my date with Wills and Kate.
After an investigation into several wedding viewing destinations, taking into account length of broadcast and refreshments, we settled on the Piccadilly English Shop in Heidelberg; purveyor of all things British.
Having secured some excellent seats (definitely better than some in Westminster Abbey), we braced ourselves for the wedding of the century and took advantage of the English-style buffet and Pimms on offer.
Our excitement reached fever pitch when crews from several German television channels arrived to simultaneously broadcast the wedding and stream live online.
The interest in William and Kate’s nuptials was clear to see as the TV crews documented our reactions to the wedding. The back of my head even made it onto state television – I’m the one in the spotty dress.
Surprisingly, the Britons were outnumbered by the Germans two to one, who were more attentive to proceedings.
So, I was shushed several times by an overzealous Anglophile who insisted on closing his eyes during the hymns and glaring at anyone who dared to speak over the German commentary.
Perhaps given the royal family’s historic connection to Germany, people here have a legitimate reason to celebrate. But it’s more likely that the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have captured the hearts of people from all over the world.
The Britons weren’t sneered at for their monarchist behaviour and the Germans weren’t berated for clinging onto their royal connections. Instead, people from two countries came together for a joyful celebration of a long-anticipated wedding.
Despite some insistence on my part that Wills had clearly got his Catherines mixed up, Prince William and Catherine Middleton were declared man and wife. We toasted the happy couple and cried when they sealed the deal with not one but two kisses.
In the end it all boils down to this – whether the bride and groom are your best friends or the future King and Queen, all you can do is say ‘congratulations’ and wish them the best for their future together.