The Wedding Planner: Let's show some royal wedding etiquette

(CBS) CBS News royals contributor Victoria Arbiter, reporting from London, will be giving CBSNews.com readers daily updates on plans for the April 29 royal wedding.

I have come to realize that the source of the Brits' reticence over the royal wedding is that it's simply not cool to admit that you're going to watch it.

Pictures: Prince William and Kate Middleton
Special section: The royal wedding

Having a fondness for William and Kate? Not cool. Caring about the dress designer? Not cool. Admitting that you might actually tune into the ceremony? Definitely not cool.

From the moment the royal engagement was announced, I have been ecstatic over the news. But then, I'll admit to loving Il Divo and apparently that's not cool, either. So why has the tide changed so dramatically in terms of how we approach things?

I shot a story on etiquette and good manners last week. The university students I interviewed said that they were embarrassed to have good manners. They claimed it made them look too full of themselves in front of their peers. While they admitted that they would want their own children to have good manners, they still confessed to slurping milk out of their cereal bowls, not holding the door for ladies, and forgetting their pleases and thank yous.

Last December we saw Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd frontman David Gilmour, defacing the Cenotaph, the nation's monument to the war dead, during the student protests. As the son of a millionaire and student of one of the country's most prestigious universities, he would have known better. Still, it would seem he thought it way cooler to run with the rebels and denounce his better judgment. You ask me, he just made himself look like a complete (insert rude word of choice) here.

This royal wedding is not simply about the event itself, but the future of the monarchy. The institution has been around for more than 1,000 years. We should embrace the sense of history and what it stands for. To call the monarchy irrelevant today, you may as well tear down the Coliseum in Rome and pop up a block of flats. Isn't the Coliseum irrelevant, too?

Or how about melting down the Eiffel Tower? We could get an impressive fleet of Peugeots 405s out of that lot.

Just because our history is living doesn't make it any less relevant. Last year the royal family brought in 500 million pounds in tourism revenue and at almost 85, the Queen took on over 400 public engagements. Royal patronages ensured that struggling charities were able to survive to do their good works and all this while only costing the tax payer some 62p per year. (That's about $0.99.) Most of us have more than that stuffed behind the sofa cushions.

The royal wedding will kick off what promises to be a spectacular 18 months for the United Kingdom, culminating with the 2012 Olympics next summer. The world will be watching, so my hope is that the British public will stand up and be proud. It's time to polish our shoes, throw our gum in the rubbish and collectively pull up our trousers. Our country is known the world over for being the leader in etiquette, good manners, grace, and pride, so why not rise to the occasion and show them exactly how it's done? Now that would be cool.

Until next time, royalphiles, keep calm and carry on.

Read more by The Wedding Planner:

Prince William's ex-girlfriends
Drink tea like the English do
Where's the excitement, Brits?

Keep up with Victoria Arbiter on Twitter.