His Royal Highness

I guess it was kind of cool to have my first "interaction" with royalty today, even if it was was from the top balcony of the Sheldonian (pictured below). I don't know what I would have needed to do to get a white ticket that would have secured me a seat in the middle level (complete with backrest and cushion), but after thinking, "This won't be so bad." and "Man, I am glad I lucked out and got to sit on the front row where I can rest my head on the railing" for thirty minutes (the thirty minutes BEFORE Charles even arrived), I soon realized that wood can only feel so good for so long. But the good news is....

That at least no one took a picture of me during the talk. (The caption for this photo was something along the lines of, "Not everyone at the Sheldonian found the talk as interesting as Prince Charles.") But you should know, that I could have been any one of these individuals. Particularly the guy with his head in his arms in the front row. But, that would have been a result of discomfort more than boredom, because, let's be realistic, my experience was anything but boring...

A girl one seat to my left passed out about 15 minutes into the talk. A friend's well-intentioned tries to rouse her only served to crack her head into the ledge she had been awkwardly resting on. Unfortunately, not even the head trauma aroused her, which led to some degree of panic amongst the tightly packed grid-locked spectators. As a nearby listener was taking her pulse, she finally responded to the water that had been splashed on her face and regained consciousness. Then we jostled around to make room for her to nap periodically for the rest of the talk. After all, there was no way to get her out without making a huge scene (as if the incessant ringing of cell phones including one of a spectator sitting DIRECTLY NEXT TO the prince hadn't been spectacle enough). About 20 minutes later, I wondered if onlookers had figured out a way to lock their knees (you know, the famous pre-concert instruction "Don't lock your knees" which I am convinced led to more curious passer-outers than it ever prevented.) when I heard the crack of another skull a few spaces to my left. But rest assured, this guy had just fallen asleep.

To cap it all off, after the Vice-Chancellor informed the Prince of "how glad we were to have him return to Oxford after 17 years", a woman's phone over my right shoulder "QUACK"ed. I mean, what is this, 1989? Do we need to have an instructional session on cell phone etiquette?

Hey, but at least it was eventful. I am sure the talk was interesting too, if I hadn't been so distracted. Maybe I'll get online and read the text of it later.....