BBC News is, of course, covering the legalization of same sex unions in the U.K. today. Headlines on the front page of their Web site? — “Stars pack Elton ‘wedding’ party.” followed by “First in queue, Roger and Keith tie the knot after 14 years of waiting.” Clearly, BBC is playing up the human interest factor, especially the celeb factor.

Does BBC include any video coverage of same sex unions on their Web site? Why, yes they do: “Paparazzi make most of celebrity traffic jam at Sir Elton’s party ” (go to their main page and look at the lower right for “Video and Audio”; video clips usually stay up for less than 24 hours). The story begins this way:

“An extraordinary sight,” says BBC’s in-studio news reader, as we see video footage of expensive cars surrounded by photographers and videographers. “A whole load of celebrities, stuck in a traffic jam, to get into Elton John’s party…. and smiling for the cameras, for you haven’t really got much choice, have you?” Michael Caine, Liz Hurley, Ringo Starr, and more are all captured on BBC’s cameras, sitting in their Bentleys and Rolls Royces. Unfortunately, Duncan Kennedy, the BBC reporter on the scene, has no idea who he’s looking at….

“Yes, it’s Donatello Versace,” begins Mr. Kennedy as he mistakenly identifies one celeb, then corrects himself: “I’m told it’s someone else. Yes, it’s someone else. It’s a blonde lady. We’ve got that one wrong. [pause] I’ve just been told, it’s Claudia Schiffer in fact.”

The BBC news reader in the studio finds this mistake quite amusing, and says, “Duncan, we’ve all decided here that you really need to read the tabloids a little more.” Mr. Kennedy just smiles politely into the camera, clutching his earpiece. “All right, Duncan, that’s right, just pretend you can’t hear me.”

So you see, it’s all about the celebrities. (Advocates for same sex marriage in the United States might wish to take note of this.)