Thursday, August 28, 2008


The Princess

This week, no doubt, a lot of people around the world will remember this lovely lady. I shall be one of them. On the day of her wedding I, like so many others, got up in the middle of the night and sat with my tea and toast to watch the splendor unfold in real time. Newly married myself, the pageantry seemed to me the very essence of fairy tale romance. When I travelled to London for the first time, only six weeks later, the old city still wore the wedding banners and congratulatory signs in its shop windows. In those early halcyon days, no one knew or could have even conceived that her fairy tale was doomed from the beginning. So well I remember that last weekend of August eleven years ago, coming in from a late dinner with friends and standing transfixed in the face of those dreadful words marching cruelly across the television screen announcing to the world, with a horrible, terse finality, that she was gone.
Much has been written and discussed about the feelings expressed during that last painfully sad week, concerning the nature of celebrity, the authenticity of collective mourning, and the stratospheric price of fame. I’ll gladly leave all that to the pundits. No one can dismiss the fact that this was a woman who brought joy into people’s lives, through her spirit, her kindness and yes, her beauty. And as her brother so eloquently stated in his eulogy on that sunny, sorrowful September day, she was taken at her most beautiful. A bright light forever frozen in a shining, bittersweet moment in time.
In her cloudless climes and starry skies, may she rest in peace.

33 comments:

  1. Pamela, we are on the same wavelength. I am going to blog about this on the anniversary -- August 31. I had the joy of seeing the princess in person, many years ago. I blogged about it a couple of months ago. She was so very special and cruelly taken far too soon. She had much left to do in this world. Her sons had their mother taken away at such a young age....

    Thank you for remembering our princess!

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  2. She seemed like such a quiet classy lady. It was such a loss. I just read the quotes about dogs on your sidebar..I couldn't agree more...how can you ever be lonely when you have a dog.

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  3. I remember when she died. I felt so sad. How can I feel sad for someone I never knew? Thanks for remembering her for us.

    (I noticed you changed your design, and I like it a lot!)

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  4. Pamela,

    Thank you for writing this post on Princess Diana. She was an amazing woman. I think Princess Diana's outer beauty came from her inner beauty. She really was the people's Princess, wasn't she?

    It would have been something to have met her in person. However, one feels like they have. I guess she was just that special.

    Melissa

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  5. The three things that Princess Diana requested when she was buried were - photos of each of her sons, and a rosary.
    So sad for her sons not to have thier mother here. She exuded elegance and did so much good. She will never be forgotten.

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  6. I rememebr that day so well. It was my sons 15th Birthday. He stayed in bed I went to church, the priest told us and we all shuddered and tried not to cry. Why? I didn't know her. She was just a bright light in so many ways.(My son was a bit miffed about hi birthday!)

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  7. Hi Pamela
    I always remember that day too. The evening of the 30th was my daughter's 30th birthday. We had a big party, fancy dress. We arrived home in the early hours and, like you, watched in horror at the news on the tv. One week later is my birthday, 6th September, and that was the funeral.
    I remember K phoning me and saying a bit half heartedly, 'happy birthday', knowing it was going to be a miserable, sad day. I am reminded of it every year, therefore, as it coincides with our 'anniversaries'.

    I'm off to UK tomorrow,
    xxx

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  8. My friends and I had a sleep over and stayed up until 3 AM to watch that wedding! I think we were 11. And of course, I certainly remember watching the horrible news coverage of her death. She's still remembered over here in England. It must have been something in London when she was alive.

    Earlier this year, I saw a small exhibit of Diana photos--I wish I could remember where. It might have been the National Portrait Gallery. And of course her white pearl-studded gown is at the V+A.

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  9. I remember this day very wel.I always admired Diana for her courage of trying to stay "Diana."To be herself...

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  10. Pamela, I'm glad you remembered. You were young and in love yourself when she married so you did not notice that although she was young, shy and naive at 19, he was evasiv when questions of his feelings for her were raised. Through all the pomp and ceremony I feared for her. Unfortunately my fears were soon to be realized. She never received the love she deserved and so desperately needed.
    Merely a bird in a gilded cage. It was all too sad.

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  11. She really lived quite a story. As a Diana myself my other Diana friends (there were two others in the club) always kept close tabs on our English member, though I rather imagine she was quite unaware of it. Thanks for popping over and visiting the Qi Papers!

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  12. Pamela,
    Like you and countless others, I was entranced and charmed by Diana and her tragic life. She seemed the embodiment of those ancient tragedians with her life.

    She had all the requisites to have a stellar life full of love, worthwhile work, and recognition, but had the unfortunate luck to have married a hollow man who chose her as the acceptable vessel of his duty to produce heirs for the Crown.

    His heart was elsewhere in a tawdry affair that left her the victim of humiliation. She never stood a chance entering into this arena.

    So very sad that her children were left without their wonderful and doting mother and that the world of charity and causes must do without an angel.

    I'm adding you to my blog roll. Well written and interesting and visually beautiful.

    Blessings,
    Dina
    Deepwater Journal

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  13. Thank you for this post, Pamela! I had nearly forgotten. I remember finding out on the way home after a church picnic. I wore black to church the next day! (I was a very emotional 15 year old at the time). Such a sad day. She did so much good with her life, it's a shame she wasn't able to continue her humanitarian work longer.

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  14. Pamela, I remember watching that fairy tale wedding. It’s too bad that she didn’t lead a happier life. That’s a nice likeness of Edward below.

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  15. What a beautiful tribute and post. Yes, I remember the wedding so very well. As a teenager in high school, I had such romantic dreams of the fairytale prince and beautiful princess. How sad for her that life did not hold those dreams for her; I pray she is at peace, also.

    Blessings,
    Christi

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  16. I felt the same about Diana, Pamela. She had a rare inner radiance. So sad that she was taken so young.

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  17. Hi Pamela,
    What a wonderful post and tribute to Princess Diana. She was a remarkable young woman, how sad her life was cut so short.

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  18. You are so right, the marriage was doomed from the very start, she was treated cruelly by Charles and he was wrong to have ever proposed. Of course, they say it was Camilla who chose her for him, to ensure an 'heir and a spare', and how those boys suffered losing their mum that way.

    There is bright spark in the sad story though. We would never have known Diana if she had not become a princess. We learned to love and admire her for her beauty and elegance, her kindness, the special mother and woman she was - just sad that she was taken before her time.

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  19. Pamela,
    Truly, Princess Di was the the 'Queen of Hearts' to countless people, not only in the UK, but worldwide....I believe anyone meeting her would have been warmly greeted and received.

    I, too, got up in the middle of the night to watch her wedding in all its splendor hoping that they would live happily ever after. Even now it's almost unbelievable that she is gone....but she will never be forgotten....and she will always be remembered as young and vivacious..

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  20. Hi Pamela,
    Yes I feel this will be a somber day on the 31st for many as it has been for too many years. She was such a gentle person who had such an amazing impact.
    Lisa & Alfie

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  21. Indeed. I was a great admirer of princess Di and so saddened by such a tragic death. I also remember watching the wedding with my two little girls at a friend's house as we didn't even own a TV at that stage. Don't you think Prince William is the splitting image of his mom. Especially when he ducks his head and lets his fringe fall over his face... Love Eleanor

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  22. It's hard to believe it is eleven years since Diana died. I remember vividly, waking up to somber music on the radio and knowing something had happened, dashing downstairs to put the television on to watch with utter shock and horror the unfolding tragedy.

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  23. Hi Pamela,
    This is a nice tribute to Lady Di. Thank you.
    Last week a friend was saying how sometime people with bright lights seem to depart this earth faster than the rest.

    xox
    Constance

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  24. My husband and I were staying with my parents that weekend and I still remember my mother waking us to tell the awful news...Such a tragedy...

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  25. Thank you for this beautiful post about Princess Diana. I remember as an 11-year old staying up late to watch the 'fairytale wedding' and my girlish dream of marrying Prince Andrew one day!

    I heard the tragic news of Diana's accident over the radio at work. I'll never forget that day or the massive floral memorial in our town and the sadness that pervaded the atmosphere for days. May our beautiful Diana rest in peace.

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  26. She was a very special lady and I took the time to go to Kensington Palace and lay flowers for her 11 yrs ago.

    Forever in my heart

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  27. The Peoples' Princess she was, loved by the people, mourned by the people and remembered quite simply as Lady Di.
    Susan

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  28. Such a beautifully written and moving tribute. Every year, I always take a moment to remember her life. Lovely post.

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  29. i couldn't believe it when i saw on the news her accident. she is in a better place now, i think.

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  30. I remember the moment I found out just like it was yesterday. I couldn't believe what I was hearing; I hoped so hard that it wasn't true somehow. I still wish it weren't true.

    She was an amazing person with such a big heart. Her commitment to the service of others was a shining example of her humanity.

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  31. I too remember this day very well. My children burst into our bedroom to tell us the news and we thought that they must be mistaken. Such a tragic loss. We laid flowers under our Town Hall along with many more people and signed a book of condolence in our library. Collective hysteria is what some called it - I called it genuine grief of a nation in mourning.

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