I am a great fan of Royalty, especially the British Monarchs. All the pomp and pageantry, the crown jewels, the stately palaces, The Queen and her tireless dedication to her Kingdom.
The frocks and tiara's are always a sumptuous visual feast. No one captured the glamour better than the late and contraversial, Princess of Wales.
Today I attended an exhibition in Tampa that displayed several of the dresses and outfits worn by Diana. A collector here had purchased them at auction, not long before Diana's untimely death. There was also an extensive collection of memorabilia, including hand written notes by the Princess.
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During the Royal visit Downunder I had the good fortune to be looked at and waved to by Diana. As the car carrying Charles, Di and baby William approach, other traffic was stopped. My mother had to pull our car over while they passed. I vividly remember Diana waving at us, we were the only car pulled over on that quiet backstreet.
While I applaud Diana's being down to earth and her charity work, I think the whole People's Princess moniker gets a little bit cheesy. She deserves great praise for her work in charity and with AIDS patients, yet as a Royal she left a lot to be desired. Perhaps she was just a product of the modern age with it's obsession on the individual, the 'What about Me' factor. Queen Elizabeth is an outstanding example of service, having dedicated her entire life to her somewhat fickle subjects.
A piece of the Royal Wedding cake.
The whole divorce thing was unsavoury, the cries for attention by revealing private matters regarding the royal marriage, and even her own love affairs, to the press was distasteful. Diana was from the Spencer family, a very old lineage, heirs to Althorp mannor with the most magnificent Library this side of ancient Alexandria. As a Spencer, Diana was a true blue blood and in this writer's opinion, should have known what the Royalty caper is all about. 'Suck it up buttercup' is the advice I would have given her.
The woman who almost bought down the Monarchy did have some lovely frocks, even if she were a bit of a dizzy cow.
I would have loved to see that exhibition. Who where the designers? I bet there was some clout? Dior, Gucci, Lagerfeld, Givenchy, names darling, names. I didn't think much of Diana, but the media created the Diana we knew. I can't understand what all the fuss was about? Anyhow we come from the Thorpe family line on mums side. You know the Thorpe estate family. Uncle John discovered this whilst in England. I think it was the illegitimate line, but who cares!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about the Thorpe line. I always thought I was meant to be to the manor born!
ReplyDeleteThe dresses were all designed by Catherine Walker. She was Diana's favourite designer and apparently a close friend.
Did you see the Wedding cake? It's a bit green, but I think I would still have a go at it. Who could resist?