Forget the fairy tale: Royal weddings then and now
Where were you when Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married?
On the morning of July 29, 1981, I witnessed spectacular pomp and solemn ceremony on a small TV in an Omaha motel room. Our vacationing family was traveling from Colorado to Minnesota. I was 10 years old.
My dad must have found an extra reserve of patience that morning. I wanted to see it all—Diana’s gown, the horse-drawn carriages, the fairy tale. Minnesota had to wait. I was swept up into the excitement and hype. For months, the engagement had been trumpeted in the news and on every magazine cover. Lady Diana’s blue sapphire ring, her beauty, her youth, her destiny as future Queen captured my imagination.
The Holiday Western Best Days Johnson Inn faded away. I was an honored guest. I was a part of history. I loved the newly-married royal couple. Happily Ever After was a promise.
Back home, I had Charles and Diana paper dolls. Their paper clothes were copies of ensembles they wore in press conferences or at high-profile functions. If I dressed Diana in the black strapless gown, Charles wore his tuxedo.
They had a paper baby, the heir to the throne. It wasn’t labelled as a boy or a girl because there was no William, yet.
Now there is a William and a Kate. They will marry on April 29, 2011.
I found the dolls, a bit mangled from improper storage, several years ago. My oldest daughter had a lot of questions about my flat little childhood friends, especially Diana. Was she really a princess? Did she live in a palace?
At the time, I struggled with what to tell my daughter. Diana was a princess who lived in palace. She had two sons and she worked hard to help others, but she was often lonely and sad. Diana and Charles were divorced.
And then the woman once known as Shy Di died.
The coverage of William and Kate’s wedding is much more subdued than it was when Charles and Diana were the happy couple in love. There are no books of paper dolls to buy at our local grocery store. They aren’t on every magazine cover. One news outlet called the impending nuptials boring.
I don’t think the lack of coverage is because William and Kate are boring people.
My thought is that the coverage is more limited this time because people have learned a lesson. Also, Jersey Shore. It’s actually a high compliment these days to be considered boring.
In my mind, I play back the lovely images of Diana smiling, waving, seated next to her Prince. Those memories stand in stark contrast to late-night news reports of a car crash in a Parisian tunnel.
The fairy tale which seemed real and possible and even attainable in 1981 is marred by a bit of cynicism.
It’s also put into perspective by wisdom. I hope with everything that William and Kate have a long, happy marriage. It isn’t easy for anyone, even those who have never been paper dolls.
As one who has been a paper doll, let me tell you it’s no fairytale.
Seriously though, how could I have missed out on those dolls?
I remember watching the royal wedding on my mother’s bed. It’s funny you say there hasn’t been a lot of build-up for their wedding because that’s all I’ve seen in the media as of late. Of course, I don’t remember the media blitz for Dianna and Charles.
I’ll probably try to watch at least a part of Kate and William’s wedding with my daughter but I can’t say she’ll be too interested. Princesses just aren’t her thing–even modern-day ones.
*ahem* http://store.doverpublications.com/0486483789.html
I was watching intently–my best friend and I LOVED them. We will be getting together again for a slumber party–no kids.
The Denver Post ran some paper dolls last week:http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_17838305
Oh, and in the paper today? Bobbleheads, knitting patterns and more:
http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_17925995
Got your fill yet?
A-ha! But there isn’t a William and Kate aisle at King Soopers! What were they thinking?
Seriously, I never saw any William and Kate memorabilia until this week, and I maintain it is much more subdued than when Charles and Diana married. The coverage was frenzied back then, the merchandise everywhere you looked.
It is good to know I can get William and Kate paper dolls to dance around when my kids aren’t looking. And I still haven’t decided if I’ll watch the wedding.
Ironically, my daughter will be staying at a hotel on the day of the wedding, but in New York City. What a strange coincidence.
You got me wracking my brain- I do not remember where I was when they were married. But I am excited about this wedding. Anything historic excites me – inauguration of Presidents, space shuttle lifting off, and so on… I cannot wait. I am Tivo’ing it though cause I cannot get up at 4am MST to see her walk down the aisle. I do love your article though- you are right. I think people these days in America and abroad are disenchanted but not just because of reality – too much forced reality TV and of course, true world events have jaded people too. This wedding to me is something positive amid all that. It couldn’t come at a better time. Fantasy though has to be kept in check with reality. I pray for a long happy marriage for them despite all they face and will continue to face.
The royal family has intrigued me ever since I met an elderly British couple while on vacation as a child. We corresponded for a brief time and they sent me a book on Queen Elizabeth’s coronation that I still have. I did get up early to watch Charles and Di wed while I was home for summer break from college. She was just a month older than me so I felt a connection of sorts. I plan to watch this wedding as well with my daughter, but will set my DVR instead of my alarm clock!
I agree – it is a high compliment to be considered boring. I wish them nothing of what his parents endured… his parents were sad from the start… beautifully sad.
I did watch that wedding with breathlessness. My sister was 7 years older than I was and fascinated by it all… we got up at 4 am to watch every second. Oddly, our mom was in the hospital with a bug bite on her head that they thought was a brain tumor. I didn’t know at the time, I was only 10, but my sister knew… that’s why we got lost in the wedding… a beautiful distraction.
One of my older cousins was REALLY into the Royals and The Wedding. I have hazy memories of watching it with her. I was too young to really get into it, but she was ENTHRALLED. My baby brother was born exactly one month before WIlliam was born. I grew up admiring Diana. I remember where I was the moment I got the news that she’d been killed and I cried.
Well William and Kate have a travel Packages for purchase. This a huge PR opportunity, as if they need it.
I’m excited to see the dress…other than that I could give a small crap. It’s just another wedding, but I do however hope the media leaves them alone and just let’s them live and be a married couple. It has got to be tough spending your life in a fish bowl.