JULY 29th,
1981
Twenty-four years ago today, a prince married his bride, and
she became Diana, Princess of Wales.
The prince still lives. His princess was discarded and later
died. The prince became a king with his Queen Consort being the lady he discarded
his fairy princess for, and the kingdom replaced their affection for the royal
family with the next generation of princes and their wives.
If you’re old enough to have lived through the hullabaloo
that was the royal wedding of Charles and Diana, you might remember that, to
all but the most cynical, it evoked the fairytales we were raised on.
We still read these tales to young people. We cling inwardly
to their endings whenever we attend weddings. We who write stories, still write
endings with “ever after” allusions.
Looking back on that day in history, we know how that
fairytale ended. I wonder if we are preparing young people for real life if we
keep telling stories that never acknowledge that a wedding day is but the
opening chapter. It opens the real story of hard work and struggles yielding
one’s single state to thinking and being a couple.
It was a grand wedding. The dress, the parade, the carriage,
the waves from the balcony. But it was the first chapter, not the last.
5 comments:
Anyone who ever said that marriage is a fairy tale was not ever married.
Yes, that also. But weddings still have the aura of fairytales 👰🏻🤵🏻
That picture brought back memories. I will always believe in fairytales because they tell you that you can conquer evil, that there is a happily ever after. It's work, but it's beautiful work.
Diana was too young and naiive to realize that her marriage was doomed before it began. But I remember the minister actually calling the wedding "the stuff of fairytales" in his speech. I do enjoy happy endings to stories, but don't require them if the story is exceptionally well written.
You said you "wonder if we are preparing young people for real life" by writing happily ever after stories. You may be right, but I think kids get enough of the 'real life' in the news and in everything else that's going on in the world. I'm in favor of letting books be a place they can enjoy the fantasy of happily ever after. I personally like books with happy endings. :)
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