I'm Underwhelmed

No I did not get up at 4 am to watch the royal wedding.  I didn't do it in 1981 and I didn't do it today.

First things first.  The dress is pretty.  It's really pretty.  It flatters her.  It's elegant.  It's also a total knock off of Grace Kelly's dress.  And if I read one more nasty comment about Pippa also wearing white I think I'll scream.  She looked lovely.  Thank God she's not wearing mauve.  Or puce.  Bridesmaids dresses are notoriously horrible (ask me how I know).  I'm sort of glad that the future Queen of England broke with tradition and had her sister also wear white. 

Next up, the commentators keep referring to how young they are.  Let's do a reality check here kids.  They're both 29 years old.  As far as I'm concerned, that's full grown.  Diana was 20 when she married.  That's young. 

And maybe that's why I'm underwhelmed.  These two have been together for years.  This wedding was no big surprise.  They are every other couple who ever met, fell in love and married.   Diana came out of nowhere.  If you look back at some of the early photos and drew a thought bubble on her, it's very easy to imagine it saying "Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into."  In many ways, she was Cinderella.  Yes it was a beautiful story but there were major elements of fear in it. 

But, then again,  maybe that's why we were all so enchanted by Diana.   It was so random that it could have been any one of us who became a princess.  I was 16 in 1981.  Don't think it didn't cross my mind.  As we aged with her, she kept doing things that were cool and made us want to be like her.  My generation were the first teenagers who had to consider HIV/AIDS in our sexual growth.  That was a big deal!  It was terrifying.  And she dealt with it.  We also didn't experience war in the way that the generation immediately before and the one immediately after us did.  And yet, she brought our attention to land mines.

Yes, much of her early career as a princess was Disney-fied but at some point, she walked into Cinderella's castle and rather than finding a wicked step mother, she found Gloria Steinem in a mini skirt and a "Cunt Power" button and she became the woman that we all hope to be. 

I wish Will and Kate the best.  They seem like a lovely couple and it's a genuine delight to see a royal couple who seem truly in love without any of the messiness that Charles brought to the table.  I'm happy for them.   Yes my feelings are a little hurt that I wasn't invited but then again, I don't really look good in a hat.

And of course, I had this stuck in my head all day.