Times takes Royal Wedding cover crown

Naturally every newspaper has gone with the royal wedding on its front page today - there's just no getting away from it -and most have predictably gone with exactly the same image, give or take a millisecond here and there.

Each have embellished the image to a lesser or greater extent - a weak pun on The Sun versus the pristine front page of the Mail (while The Mirror weaves in the unfortunate bridesmaid who has become an overnight web sensation). But ultimately this safest of choices - exactly the same image their editorial predecessors would have gone for in happier, less competitive times for their business - shows the newspaper industry's collective preference for not straying too far from the crowd or historic precedent:   

              

The Telegraph, FT and Guardian have also toed the line, with the Guardian even using the 'sealed with a kiss' headline that it shares with the Express:

             

Which leaves The Independent and The Times fighting it out to be the best of the bunch. The Independent, as is its wont, has certainly dared to be different with its 'cut out and throw away keep' Tracey Emin scribble (still depicting that kiss). But the less said about this aberration the better:

So it falls to The Times to win, hands down, the battle of today's royal wedding front pages. It has focussed on the Austin Powers moment when William and Kate departed Buckingham Palace. Even many of those who tried to avoid the big event, have grudgingly admitted this was a nice, lighthearted touch and it certainly helped the event stand out from the more tedious pomp and ceremony of the day and tiresome discussion of the dress which could have marked any such event in any era. 

Many commentators, and the Clarence House PR machine, have laboured hard to brand the royal couple "progressive", "modern", "fun" but The Times is the only paper to have reflected any of these apparently noteable traits on its wraparound cover:  

Comments

[alice]

bloody gorgeous - that's making the most of your photographers! Very reassuring imho

[James]

I am massively bored of the Royal Wedding but given the newspapers HAD to cover it I totally agree that the Times at least went its own way and went for a pic that was more interesting, rather than simply predictable. Nice job Times.

[Chris B.]

Totally agree. Newspaper editors seem to be the antithesis of 'it ain't broke don't fix it'. Their sales are tumbling yet even the normally innovative guardian would rather benchmark itself against 'what would the Express do' than try to draw in fresh readers or challenge the status quo.

[Sarah Browne]

Sorry, disagree! Royal weddings aren't news, they're history and the kiss is the iconic historic image. Newspapers HAVE to show it.

[G clark]

It was not only a beautiful wedding but also a green wedding. I found some interesting facts:
The dress is made from vegan silk and fair trade cotton
The ring is made from Welsh gold instead of minerals from an exploration mine.....
The greenest gift came without any doubt from Boris Johnson: A tandem bicycle...
The Aston looked great but indeed no biofuel....

Here is the full article with the facts:
http://thewritefuture.typepad....

[Christof]

Wish we'd had a street party here. What's the point of being a po-faced, spoilsport, ne'er do well republican when you've got no-one to share it with.