Before Charles and Diana there was Anne and Mark. The Royal Wedding of 1973 was a low-key affair, one that failed to capture the nation's hearts in similar fashion to the 1981 event. Yet in this episode of TILL DEATH the earlier event provides the justification for Alf to bring out the bunting, the flags and arrange a street- party. The fact that most of the paraphernalia is in a dilapidated state doesn't bother him: the Union Jack says "England for the Cup" (a reference to the World Cup triumph of 1966), which provides the pretext for a diatribe on why England lost to Poland for the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. Elsie (Dandy Nichola) tries to brighten up a manger scene with toilet paper, but succeeds in making it look worse. The street party is a torpid affair, enlivened only by Sid Mail's (Roy Kinnear's) bad back, and Elsie's wonderful efforts to bang out a tune on an old piano.
In short, this is a typically scabrous look at the by-now tarnished tradition of Royal celebrations. Alf tries to keep a patriotic front, but in a Britain scarred by strikes, the three-day week, and gradual social unrest, the privileged world of the Royal Family is perceived as heavily out-of-touch. Rita (Una Stubbs) has great fun parodying the accent of the Queen and Princes Anne, much to Alf's indignation. No one, it seems, really wants to celebrate the nation any more; all they want to do is to try and continue their lives as best they can. This is summed up in the final image of this episode, as Alf is left alone on a deserted street to finish his glass of stout on a cold evening, the festivities having come to an anticlimactic end.