There's no avoiding it, the royal wedding is everywhere. Stories of Prince William and Kate Middleton's big day have consumed every form of media from Internet news sites, gossip magazines, television programming to every major newspaper in the world. It's events like this that make us realize how much technology and the Internet in particular have changed our perspective of current events.

In 1981, when Prince William’s mother Diana walked down the aisle, the Internet was something that only the government and just a few major corporations used. There were no Facebook news feeds, no text messaging, no celebrity blogs and certainly no live video streams. Princess Di was as real and iconic as a Disney Princess. Watching the wedding was a little like watching figurines under glass where the princess was this marvelously untouchable icon.  Her unreachable distance from us left us in awe of the ‘people’s princess’ and constantly wanting more.

However, the year is now 2011 and the Internet is no longer a thing of the future. New technologies have given us unparalleled access to this royal couple. Kate feels a little more like a friend in the throes of a crazy wedding. Prince William seems just like a regular groom-to-be. With the omnipotent Internet on our side, we see, hear, feel and interact with everything that the royals do. This time around, we’ll be hanging out in front of computers with live streams, checking in from smart phones and tablets, and Tweeting and posting to our Facebook friends.  And if we absolutely must be at work or school on Friday, we can just DVR the wedding and watch it later.

Because of the Internet, and the almost endless list of technologies it spawned, the public’s relationship to the royal family is completely different now than it ever was.  Princess Di was coveted; Kate is familiar. The wedding of the century was exclusive; this wedding is overly accessible.  People had to line the streets of the bridal procession to get a sneak peek in 1981.  Today, we have private access to inside details.

It used to be that we felt privileged to get the “inside scoop.” Now, we feel entitled to it.