Memories of the Royal Wedding

How long was the train Diana wore when she married Prince Charles? It seemed to go on forever.

That was the overriding question my cousin Fred and I had when we stayed up late one summer night in the summer of 1981.

I was thinking about that Royal Wedding recently when I saw Princess Beatrice getting married. It has been a long time since Uncle Charles got married – the first time.

Announcement

We talked a little bit about the Royal family in Social Studies class. When we heard that Prince Charles was getting married, there were a few interesting things.

Her name was Diana Spencer. She actually had a last name. I remember one day, someone asked what the Royal Family’s last name was. Doug, one of my classmates, responded it was Spencer. Our teacher informed us it was not Spencer, that was Lady Diana’s last name. In fact, the Royal Family did not have a last name. That was good enough for me at 11.

Diana was a Kindergarten teacher. That was the first time I had heard of anyone from the Royal Family having an actual job other than, you know, being royal.

In the interview about the engagement, which occurred in February of 1981 by the way, she seemed quite shy and reserved. She seemed a little bit uncomfortable, and Prince Charles seemed to do all the talking.

The photo of their engagement featured Diana wearing a blue suit. That photo seemed to be everywhere after that from plates to pictures in magazines and even matchbook covers. I found one of the matchbooks when I was at a different wedding in Calgary, lying on the ground when me and some cousins went outside to look around.

And, we all said she was the future Queen of England, because she was marrying the heir to the throne.

How things would change.

The wedding

The wedding took place during the middle of the week, July 29, 1981 to be exact. There were a couple other things I had heard leading up to it. One was that it was going to take place at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Apparently that was not the usual place for Royal Weddings, Westminster Abbey was.

The other one was that Diana’s dress was going to be spectacular.

Fred and I really got along well, especially that year, because that was the first year he came to stay out at the farm. We would talk for hours and play games well into the night.

We had heard the Royal Wedding was on, and I recall even asking my Mom if she was going to stay up to watch it. She really had no interest.

Neither did we.

But, we watched TV, then started playing games and talked and talked. There were only three channels back then in the rural cable network, and suddenly, there was build up to the broadcast of the Royal Wedding.

It was four in the morning.

Because we had heard about the wedding, we watched until Diana entered the cathedral, then went to bed.

Her dress was stunning.

The years after

The dream wedding did not turn into the fairy tale life. Cracks would appear in the marriage and, after 11 years, the couple separated in 1992. They would divorce in 1996.

Yet Diana used her time in the spotlight to do much good work, including with cancer, mental illness, AIDS patients and in the campaign for the removal of land mines.

Diana seemed to be someone who could not catch a break though. Rid of the yoke of responsibility, the pressure and the scrutiny that came from being part of the Royal Family, and the next Queen of England, Diana died in 1997 in a car accident shrouded in controversy.

It was a sad ending to the life of such a kind and giving woman.

Parting thoughts

Had I been older, I think I may have taken a greater interest in the Royal Wedding. I did when Diana’s two sons Andrew and Harry had their weddings. I watched with a bit of sadness because their mother should have been there on their big days.

Still, I do have some memories of that wedding such as the pomp and circumstance, the formality and the clothing. Ah yes, the clothing and Diana’s dress in particular, which was stunning.

By the way – the train was 25 feet long.