South Park type TV Show network Comedy Central genre Animated

Dearly beloved PopWatchers, we are gathered here today on this joyous Sunday to commemorate the one year anniversary of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Exactly one year ago, all across the far reaches of the earth, we sat awestruck in front of our TV screens on that momentous Friday morning, and watched, mouths agape, tissues clutched, at the majestic union of love and commitment. Whether or not we could have predicted the pop culture impact that would follow the royal nuptials, let’s take a look back on what pop culture hath delivered to us this past year in light of the Royal Wedding:

My Little Royal Pony?

In most recent memory, royal festivities made their way to Equestria, where My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic‘s unicorn Princess Cadance declared her love for colt Shining Armor in the presence of all the ponies in the animated land. If you’re smirking, wipe that snarky look off your face, because this, my friends, was for real: The royal ponies advertised their nuptials in a New York Times announcement, informing the general populace that ponies from “Appleloosa, Galloping Gorge, Fillydelphia and even Manehattan” would be in attendance. So take that, braysayers.

South Park gets a Canadian catastrophe

Leave it to the funny folks at South Park to deliver a whopping heaping of “Royal Pudding,” in the form of their Canadian satire of the British marriage. How to describe the Canadian version? Let’s just say the Princess scraped “off the pudding with the grace of a butterfly” and dismembered the Prince with all the elegance of a true royal.

Plastic royalty

Mattel knew that staring longingly at your TV screen wouldn’t be enough to

make you feel like you were sitting in Westminster Abbey, so they decided to bring a little bit of royalty to your living room. For a limited period of time (the tiny plastic treats are no longer for sale), devotees could score bite-size versions of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for a lofty $100. Shout out in the comments if you actually purchased the pair because I’d love to know whether they are currently standing strong on your mantel, or collecting dust in your royal wedding memorabilia drawer…along with those hideous coins.

Today show rolls out the royal carpet

Though I might be a bit biased due to my complete adoration of Matt Lauer, try watching the Today anchor emerge from the royal NBC car in his chosen Halloween attire of Prince William wedding garb, complete with a blonde wig, without breaking into an ear-to-ear grin. In his all-out costume, Lauer was flanked by a red-headed Al Roker as Prince Harry, and snippity, garish, hat-wearing Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb as Beatrice and Eugenie. The ingenious anchors integrated real-time footage from the wedding with their entrances to create some of the most memorable Halloween costumes of the season.

And the best thing the Royal Wedding gave us…

Clocking in as the greatest gift the royal wedding bestowed upon pop culture is easily the scrumptious bum of royal sister Pippa Middleton. All eyes were on Kate during the wedding, yes, but don’t say you weren’t ogling a certain Alexander McQueen-clad behind. Men gawked at her, women envied her, and a certain celebrity even copied her. Who cares that she made Barbara Walters’ Ten Most Fascinating People this year? She signed a book deal? Whatevs! As long as that author’s picture showcases her bum, consider it purchased. Sorry, Kindle, you can sit this one out.

PopWatchers, what other pop culture pomp did the Royal Wedding bequeath this year? Whether it were those ostentatious hats or that blink-and-you-missed-it kiss, what do you remember most about the Royal Wedding?

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