I have no idea why I am sharing this, but here goes.
Back in 1981, I was a starry-eyed newlywed with a baby girl.
I was nothing like every other nineteen year old girl on the planet.
Except in one particular way... I was a bit 'taken' by a princess.
You see, I had 'The Lady Diana Cut'.
For those of you, dear readers, who may be a bit too young to have that register, let me enlighten you....
Long before Jennifer Aniston converted every woman in the world to wearing her hip, swing-y 'Rachel' shag haircut, sweet 'Shy Di', Lady Diana Spencer, charmed us all with a sidesweep of heavy bangs and a pixie cut, and we went in droves to have the style copied. Women everywhere sailed through the doors of salons asking for 'The Lady Di'.
My stick-straight hair would have been a perfect match for the demure style - IF the sixty year old hairdresser hadn't botched the job by giving me a PERM at the same time. ergh. Anyway, two months after I got the cut, the perm finally grew out and my hair looked reasonably like the most famous bride in the world's hair did. (I was still blonde then.) And every time I went to the grocer or the drugstore or to work at Hickory Farms or to get Jeni's photos done at Sears, someone in the small Idaho town where we were stuck would smile and say 'Oh, you must really like Lady Diana....' like I was a sad sorry girl who wanted to be a princess. (Some days I really really did. Being a mom at 19 was hard.)
Yes, actually, I did like Lady Diana Spencer. I thought she was a marvelous model of modern feminine style (see-through skirt not withstanding), a seemingly kind person especially for an almost real-life princess, and a breath of fresh air in the monarchy.
Diana's wedding to Prince Charles was 'the Wedding of the Century' (sorry, Luke & Laura....) and it seemed EVERYONE everywhere was enthralled with it. I got up at three o'clock in the morning to watch the wedding live, on a black & white TV, because that was the only one we had. I cried at how beautiful she was. I always cry at weddings.
I also thought that she was living a fairy tale life....
we all did.
Sadly, we all discovered years later that it was no fairy tale, but a story rather reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm that sweet Diana lived behind closed doors and away from the prying eyes of the press. Even though she evolved both in style and purpose, became a wonderful mother, and eventually learned to use the media for her own purposes, the invasive paparazzi ultimately cost her her life. And cost us a heroine.
I once again awoke at three in the morning, but this time it was to watch her funeral procession... led by her sons... and I cried. I cried for all of the moments she would miss as a mother, for all of the days that her sons would ache for her, for the grandchildren she would never meet. I watched it on a color TV, but the sad day seemed to appear in black and white. My family still doesn't understand why this affected me so much... but if you are a mom and a woman of my generation, I think you might get it.
The world is now abuzz with the impending nuptials of Diana's firstborn son, Prince William, heir to the British throne. Katherine Middleton has been compared to Diana on every level - quite unfairly, I believe. I love that William gave her his mother's engagement ring, and that there are some similarities between Kate and Di. But she is an altogether modern, unique woman who deserves to stand in her own spotlight. Her hair is nice... not style-driving or trend-leading or copy-worthy like Di's, but nice.
I hope, with all my heart, that Kate gets the fairy tale that Diana should have had.
I'll be there, April 29th, three AM, watching it begin.
And I'll cry. I always cry at weddings.
Images all found on international news sites via Google,
except the last one found on a private blog (as linked).
