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"I'm here for Diana. A lot of people are here for Diana." So said a pretty blonde woman, probably aged about 50 or so, close by Buckingham Palace yesterday.
Next to her was a portable CD player. From it came the sounds of old time music hall, the street party soundtrack of the wartime generation. But nobody was doing the Lambeth Walk. Those days, it seems are gone. There were no Pearly Queens.
Yet there were lots of Union Flags. Many were carried by Britons whose parents and grandparents came to the UK after our current Queen ascended to the throne.
It was hard not to be struck that it took a royal wedding - not a Home Office initiative - to produce this act of social cohesion. Put bluntly, the royal wedding did more to decontaminate the Union Flag than many a Government dictat.
Why? A Sikh man I talked with at Canada Gate put it well when he said it was a chance to prove his Britishness. He carried an enormous Union flag on a gilded staff.
This elongates the thread which began with the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was popular with those who did not always feel welcome. She cradled African babies before it became fashionable for celebrities to try and look caring.
So it was yesterday too.
Republicans argue that a royal wedding might attract tourists, but serves no societal purpose. That is simply not true.
The royal wedding is a prism through which we get to have a good look at ourselves. From the way certain cities hosted street parties (while others didn't), to the slightly hesitant celebrations (we don't sing so much collectively in crowds anymore) - the royal wedding was as much about the subjects learning about the country as it was about the country learning about the royals.
