On July 29th, 1981 I was 10 years old. I woke up early in the morning to watch the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
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| gifts from my grandmother another Royal Watcher. |
What I remember from that morning is the shy Di arriving in the covered carriage with her dad, getting out and that was the moment I saw the dress. The dress that little girls dream about having for their wedding. The train was 25 feet long. Two brides maids Lady Sarah Armstrong- Jones (17, daughter of Princess Margaret) and India Hicks (13, goddaughter of Prince Charles, http://www.indiahicks.com/) had to smooth the train as Diana climbed the stairs into St Paul Cathedral. Well as I remember they had to fight with it as there was some wind. The bridesmaids were all children, the remaining were Catherine Cameron (6),Clementine Hambro ( 5, great granddaughter of Winston Churchill) and Sarah-Jane Gaselee (11). I remember how I loved their dresses. I didn't find it strange at the time that there was no maid of honour or any adult bridesmaids. Charles had his brothers Andrew (21) and Edward (17) join him.
As I watched the wedding I dreamed of marrying a prince. I even considered how I could meet their children if they had sons. I wanted the Cinderella story, poor girl meets prince and they live happily ever after.
I watched and remember how Diana stumbled on Charles' name saying Phillip Charles Arthur George, instead of Charles Phillip Arthur George. It made me love her even more. When the church bells started ringing I had tears in my eye. Watching the newlywed couple go through the streets in an open carriage, I will never forget. Then they were inside taking photos and other things including having a brunch with guests. I waited, watching replays of the wedding, the crowds of London, and the cameras focusing on the balcony of the palace, waiting for the couple to come out and wave at the crowds and share their first public kiss. I watched until I saw them leave on their honeymoon in a carriage that said "Just married". The queen and the wedding guests all looked happy and relaxed.
This event was the start of my fascination with the royal family, not just present day, but also in the past. I have many books about Diana including Di and Charles paper dolls. (I know you can get Kate and William dolls)
On Friday April 29th, I am getting up by 4 am (hopefully) to watch the newest royal couple start their fairy tale. I think once again I will be the only one up watching in my house, everyone else says we can PVR it. I want to watch as it happens. The one different thing is for this wedding, there is social media and we can connect instantly with others all over the world.
I am going to be joining a Royal wedding viewing party http://friendfeed.com/roya
We are all having home parties of our own and will be viewing and talking together about our morning. Some have grand plans and others like me will be watching in a house full of sleeping family members. I am happy to be sharing these moments with my friends.
Please join us, check out the other Wedding Wednesday blogs ( listed at http://www.dragynally.com/) and see what they suggest or are planning for a royal viewing party. Oh and did I mention there will be prizes???? All you have to do is join us, answer some trivia questions (hint read the blogs).
Happy Wedding Wednesday
YAY!
ReplyDeleteI had these dolls too, I LOVED them, was distraught when my brother cut them up! My mother ended up getting me another set from the UK, which helped :) Hope you don't mind I have borrowed these pics to illustrate this story on my blog!
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