TWENTY-FIVE

 

Twenty-five. As soon as the first words flashed at the bottom of the television, my friend called me. I was the Diana expert. We cried. We knew everything about her. While we didn't share her celebrity or betrayals, we were also young wives and mothers.  We were 36 and 37. How could she be gone?

Those that know these things say Diana saved the monarchy. After watching the entire country and world in grief, the Queen broke royal protocol and bowed her head as Diana's procession passed, followed by the 9th Earl of Spencer, Prince William, Prince Henry, Prince Charles and Prince Philip who had walked behind her cortege for two miles. The world stopped briefly. 

According to Newsweek, one billion people watched Princess Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey (August 31, 2022)(Archive 8-31-17 of 9-7-98). Queen Elizabeth's recent Diamond Jubilee and Celebration Party drew in over 20 million of the BBC broadcast and less for the rest watching in the world. 

Things change in twenty-five years. Ills are largely forgotten, or not. Sordid details grew fuzzy. If you believe everything you see and hear, Diana's beloved sons are not so beloved. Prince Harry has left his own country to live in California with his actress wife Meghan Markle. They now have two children, Archie and Lilibet and share a new Podcast, Archetypes.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have just moved their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis into a small, four bedroom cottage (supposedly sans staff) on the grounds of Windsor to be closer to the Queen. Hmm. Who is Granny's favorite?

And in the not-to-be-believed department but of course it will be, the Queen has officially proclaimed that when the time comes, the other woman will be called Queen Camilla.  Camilla and Charles have been married seventeen years which is two years longer than the first Royal Marriage. We know too much about both.

Twenty-five years. The world kept spinning although it did stop. With a seemingly full life ahead of her, Diana's own life is cut short in a Paris tunnel. As with any good mother, her legacy is her children. She raised them by example. Now they each seem to have genuine interests in their own endeavors and charities. Diana touched the aids patient and held the malnourished child. She walked through real minefields much like the private struggles in her own life. She will always be, in her own words, "The Queen of Hearts."

Another post, Swept Away In Remembrance 8-30-18