Holidays and Fairytales
Bunting waved lazily from the
pier.
We met Mickie Mouse on the
prom,
shook paws, posed for a photo.
By mid-week we were
sea-struck,
hoarded shells, listened for
its song.
We laced our ankles in foam, built
castles fit for royalty, added flags
like those over Buckingham Palace
that Wednesday in July: London
crowded, colour T.V. in our
hotel,
cold buffet and champagne for lunch.
I watched the screen as Lady Diana
stepped from a glass horse-drawn coach,
wore the Spencer tiara and beaded
crinoline of ivory taffeta silk
unpicked
and restitched four times.
(She’d grown thinner and thinner,
media-feted and pursued.)
But she sparkled inside St.
Paul’s,
took the weight of her
father’s arm
up the
long aisle to the high altar,
smiled at her Prince, muffed
his name and exchanged vows.
Here
is the stuff, Archbishop Runcie
declared of which fairy tales are made.
The Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana -- Felix Topolski
Charles, Prince of Wales -- next in line to the British throne married Diana Spencer on 29 July 1981. Like a Disney princess, she arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral in a glass coach, a tiara, and an enormous 25-ft taffeta train on her gown. She had lost over 5 pounds prior to the wedding, and the dress designers had created 5 different dress bodies to accommodate her shrinking silhouette. They also designed bridal slippers with 540 sequins and 130 pearls in a heart-shaped design. She wore the Spencer Tiara -- constructed with diamonds shaped into tulips and stars surrounded by attractive scrolls; the final version was created in the 1930s, but it was crafted from pieces that had belonged to Frances Manby, the last Viscountess of Montagu (late 18th century) and a wedding present given to her grandmother in 1919; it had previously been worn at the weddings of her sisters and then by her sister-in-law in 1989. As 750 million people watched the ceremony on TV, and 2,650 in person, she called her husband to be "Philip Charles" instead of "Charles Philip." Despite his public comments, archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury, who officiated at the wedding, thought the newlyweds were ill-suited and that their marriage would not last. After the couple divorced in 1996, Diana said she felt like “a lamb to the slaughter” and called her wedding day “the worst day of my life.”
ReplyDeleteWeston-super-Mare is a seaside resort 18 mi (29 km) southwest of Bristol, England. Mickey Mouse has long been a tourist attraction there, leading art provocateur Banksy to establish Dismaland, a temporary pop-up art exhibition in the form of an apocalyptic theme park, in the town in 2015. According to its official brochure, "This is the place for you -- a chaotic new world where you can escape from mindless escapism.... a bemusement park.... This event contains adult themes, distressing imagery, extended use of strobe lighting, smoke effects and swearing. The following items are strictly prohibited: knives, spraycans, illegal drugs, and lawyers from the Walt Disney corporation."