It's time to move into the 21st century and move away from class structures. A lot of the discussion about the royal wedding in England — only one of probably thousands this weekend — makes much of the "commoner" marrying into a royal family. It's time to regard all people as equal and praise them for what they do rather than who they were born to.
Although common really means normal, in this use it tends to mean lower. Really, there are many commoners who rise above this implied minimum. Most Nobel Prize winners, prime ministers, medical researchers or great scientists only have titles that they earn after many years, and yet they contribute so much more.
We all come into the world the same, and it's what we do that counts. We do however wish all of the thousands of couples the best in their new lives together.
Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia