S04.E03: Fairytale

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

After Charles proposes, Diana moves into Buckingham Palace and finds her life filled with princess training, loneliness — and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Dropping on Sunday, November 15, 2020.

[dubstepford wife]

That lunch scene was insane.  "I'm all for sharing."  You certainly are.

Poor Diana.  She really was a lamb led to the slaughter.  She came off a little creepy in the first episode but at this point she knows the wedding is a bad idea.  What a lonely life, to leave such a warm household filled with friends and to be stuck into grand Buckingham Palace where the only company you have are the maids and letters from admirers.  

[swanpride]

Honestly, it was a little bit over the top for me...menage a trois? Please. Honestly, if that really happened I can't imagine the Diana would have went through with the wedding.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, swanpride said:

Honestly, it was a little bit over the top for me...menage a trois? Please. Honestly, if that really happened I can't imagine the Diana would have went through with the wedding.

She wanted to call it off. But her sister famously told her that her face is already on the tea towels so it was too late to change her mind.

[Ellaria]

Let’s contrast two scenes: the carefree evening of fun and dancing with her friends vs the frightful entrance into the circle of royals with titles, curtsies, etc. I would have run out of that room, called off the engagement, and gotten as far away from Buckingham Palace as possible. Sadly, that wasn’t an option.

What a depressing and disturbing episode! I’m going to guess that the “real” Margaret never pointed out to the rest of the family that Charles didn’t love Diana and that the wedding should be called off. Kudos, however, to fictional Margaret even though having this discussion the night before the wedding was just a bit too late.

Much of this episode was hard to watch and I imagine that it will get worse.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, I’ll say it: what?  No wedding? No showing Diana in the landau, waving after the wedding? I was looking forward to that, because yes, my American wee self stayed up and watched the wedding!!!

And while I learned years later, that was a facade, she did look happy. But no, let’s just show the dark and unhappy side, shall we?

Color me shocked that Morgan didn’t use that “scandalous” picture of Diana, in the garden, where her skirt was practically see through and the tabs made hay of being able to see her underwear.

Like others, I don’t understand this show’s Charles continued slouching/hunching posture as if he’s the hunchback of Notre Dame.

[dubbel zout]

Emma Corrin simpered throughout the whole engagement press conference scene, which was a bit much.

Oh, Charles. Introducing your 19-year-old fiancée to your long-time mistress? 

The bulimia scenes were intense. Poor Diana.

Margaret's expression during the wedding rehearsal was hilarious, like, "Uh-oh, I know where this is going, and it's not good." And of course Philip swans in and mansplains relationships to everyone.

I kind of admire that there was no show of the wedding. It was probably just too expensive/time-consuming/logistically impossible to re-create. And it's not as if you can't watch it on YouTube.

As always, the costume department nailed the clothes. I like how we saw some of Diana's iconic outfits, like the black sheep sweater, even though they weren't at the RL events she actually wore them at.

On a recent Graham Norton Show, Emma Corrin said that during the dancing scene she was actually dancing to Cher's "Believe," and after throwing herself into it, she had to do it all over again because she was mouthing along with the lyrics!

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I kind of admire that there was no show of the wedding. It was probably just too expensive/time-consuming/logistically impossible to re-create. And it's not as if you can't watch it on YouTube.

Blah, blah, blah, 😃😉 Same can be said about the other milestones that were shown, also available on YouTube.

Okay, shutting up now.

[swanpride]

Honestly, I think they mostly wanted to save the money to recreate the ugly dress. Hence they always show it from angles that you can only see part of it.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, swanpride said:

Honestly, it was a little bit over the top for me...menage a trois? Please. Honestly, if that really happened I can't imagine the Diana would have went through with the wedding.

Who knows what they really talked about but Camilla and Diana having lunch at ménage a trois really happened

[swanpride]

Really? Sometimes life is too strange for fiction…..I mean, I was pretty sure that something like the lunch happened, but the name of the Restaurant sounds so strange to me.

[Roseanna]

2 hours ago, Ellaria Sand said:

What a depressing and disturbing episode! I’m going to guess that the “real” Margaret never pointed out to the rest of the family that Charles didn’t love Diana and that the wedding should be called off. Kudos, however, to fictional Margaret even though having this discussion the night before the wedding was just a bit too late.

Too late indeed. If Charles couldn't even court Diana longer without ruining her reputation, there was no way he would break the engagement without getting the hate of half of Brits. In theory, Diana could have, but as her sisters pointed out irl: it's too late, you face is on towels (meaning wedding sovenirs).  

However, Margaret also spoke of the same mistake that the family has done. But it was not the family who refused to accept Mrs Simpson as Queen, it was fully the government's business. And by marrying Diana Charles did the opposite Edward VIII (and Philip didn't force him irl, only said that he must propose or end the affair).

[Saxo]

Was the rat crossing the living room at the feet of the Queen Mother at about 1'00" intended?

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

However, Margaret also spoke of the same mistake that the family has done. But it was not the family who refused to accept Mrs Simpson as Queen, it was fully the government's business. And by marrying Diana Charles did the opposite Edward VIII (and Philip didn't force him irl, only said that he must propose or end the affair).

I’m pretty sure she was talking about her relationship with Peter Townsend. Fictional Margaret put all the blame for that on Elizabeth. 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Guest

[Ellaria]

14 minutes ago, Dani said:

I’m pretty sure she was talking about her relationship with Peter Townsend. Fictional Margaret out all the blame for that on Elizabeth. 

I agree. I think that Margaret was talking first and foremost about her romance with Townsend. 

[tvrox]

1 minute ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I agree. I think that Margaret was talking first and foremost about her romance with Townsend. 

That was my impression too. 

Poor Diana. Charles could not have shown less affection or feelings towards her. 

So glad to see two Call the Midwife alumni (grandmother and Camilla)! 

[toodywoody]

They really didn't know shit about each other. Rushed into marriage to do the right thing and Diana just a young girl who didn't know shit about anything because she was so young and didn't have any life time experience. She was a lamb to slaughter.

[Quilt Fairy]

Did anyone else notice that in the opening scene where they show the family waiting by the phone to hear the news, in the Queen Mother's room a mouse runs across the room in the foreground?   I'm assuming that was intentional.  It made me think of the scene in Victoria when rats poured out of the walls.  

[tljgator]

11 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone else notice that in the opening scene where they show the family waiting by the phone to hear the news, in the Queen Mother's room a mouse runs across the room in the foreground?

Yep, lol. I presumed it was subtle commentary on the decay of the family/institution/etc. (and the notion that it may seem grand to live in a "castle," but there's not always the funds for all the upkeep that's truly necessary for these types of places and it's not all it's imagined to be).

[WatchrTina]

Okay I've just started watching this episode -- when they are all waiting for the phone to ring -- and I swear I saw a mouse run across the carpet in Princess Margaret's house.

EDIT:  Nevermind.  I see others spotted it first.

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by WatchrTina

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, tljgator said:

Yep, lol. I presumed it was subtle commentary on the decay of the family/institution/etc. (and the notion that it may seem grand to live in a "castle," but there's not always the funds for all the upkeep that's truly necessary for these types of places and it's not all it's imagined to be).

Yeah, that place is huge and old.  I'm sure the yearly exterminator bill alone would be enough to bankrupt a small country.   

[formerlyfreedom]

Just a reminder - we are seeing mentions of offspring that aren’t even alive at this point in the timeline. This will get your post hidden for violating the future history directive posted in red in each episode topic. Please save those comments for the appropriate topics. Thank you for your cooperation!

[peridot]

I understand why Charles proposed, but why did Diana say yes?

[txhorns79]

6 minutes ago, peridot said:

I understand why Charles proposed, but why did Diana say yes?

She was very young and naive.  I also presume there was probably pressure on her from her family, if only because Charles would have been a huge "get" and it would bring them prestige.

[WatchrTina]

18 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

She was very young and naive. 

It was speculated that her fondness for romance novels didn't do her any favors either.  She'd never had a serious boyfriend before Charles and he was AN ACTUAL, REAL-LIFE PRINCE!  So, based on the happily-ever-after endings of those novels OF COURSE she said yes. Charles was nice to her during their courtship.  And -- supposedly -- he did intend to give the marriage his all (and give up Camilla) but ultimately they had NOTHING in common and were temperamentally unsuited for one another -- a fact that did not become clear during their 13-date courtship when both were on their best behavior.  It also seems clear that she never realized just how constrained her life would be in that royal bubble.  We see that realization coming upon her during this episode, when she is trapped inside the palace due to the crush of the attention from people outside the palace walls, while being woefully ignored by the people inside the palace walls.

I don't know how realistic this episode is -- I take the scenes of Diana left all alone in the palace with a grain of salt -- but I presume Charles' prolonged absence during their engagement must be a historical fact.

Edited November 16, 2020 by WatchrTina

[WatchrTina]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Okay, I’ll say it: what?  No wedding? No showing Diana in the landau, waving after the wedding?

There you go my friend.

"What" you ask?  Where did I get that photo?  I TOOK THAT PHOTO!!!  Yeah, that's right.  

I.  Was.  There.

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by WatchrTina

[Atlanta]

Ugh. I loved Diana's relationship with her besties/roomies.

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, let's try this again:

It was easy to feel for Diana in this episode. It really sunk in how over her head she was. You could tell she was hoping Charles would be less awkward and more affectionate now that they were engag and he wasn't. Big red flag, along with the "Whatever that means" crack in the interview. Plus, leaving her all alone with nothing to do? Geez, couldn't they have least let her play with the corgis? Between that, the bulimia, and Camilla kind of rubbing it in how little she knew about Charles, no wonder the hairline was a mess.

The lessons with her grandma reminded me of The Princess Diaries, except less fun.

LOL at her skating through the halls. I'd do the same thing if I was that bored.

Yeah, not showing the wedding was a letdown. We didn't even get a good view of the dress! BOO!

Edited November 16, 2020 by Spartan Girl

[BluBarbi98]

Wow! What an episode! That lunch scene was like watching a horror movie and the overall episode was beautifully tragic.

[Renee in CA]

3 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone else notice that in the opening scene where they show the family waiting by the phone to hear the news, in the Queen Mother's room a mouse runs across the room in the foreground?   I'm assuming that was intentional.  It made me think of the scene in Victoria when rats poured out of the walls.  

I rewound to be sure I had seen correctly. Laughed and laughed!

[ddawn23]

2 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

There you go my friend.

"What" you ask?  Where did I get that photo?  I TOOK THAT PHOTO!!!  Yeah, that's right.  

I.  Was.  There.

 

You waited patiently through three seasons to whip this bad boy out and I. am. here. for. it. 

[xtwheeler]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

LOL at her skating through the halls. I'd do the same thing if I was that bored.

That was actually reported at the time. "Princess bopping around the palace with her Walkman, listening to Duran Duran, & skating in the halls. Whether it was true then, I don't know, but they nailed all the details as they were reported. 

[Roseanna]

11 hours ago, Dani said:

I’m pretty sure she was talking about her relationship with Peter Townsend. Fictional Margaret put all the blame for that on Elizabeth. 

I realized that, but even then it was not "the same mistake". Edward VIII, Margaret and Charles made different choices. 

[cardigirl]

2 hours ago, Roseanna said:

I realized that, but even then it was not "the same mistake". Edward VIII, Margaret and Charles made different choices. 

None of them were allowed to marry the people they wanted to and retain their standing in the royal family. Edward VIII abdicated rather than not marry Wallis, Margaret's first choice was sent off to a post in Europe and Charles was not allowed to marry Camilla. The family, in every case. deemed that these matches were not appropriate for the Crown, and changed the course of their lives. How different would history be, if they had been allowed to go with their initial choices? 

[swanpride]

Though historically, Margaret simply lost interest in her first choice, and Edward VIII got his first choice and him abdicating was actually a good thing for the country. Which leaves Charles and Camilla. And I don't think that Charles being blocked from marrying Camilla excuses in any way him marrying Diana. It's not like he didn't have other options at all, but he went and picked a half-child, believing that he could mould to what he needed with no regard if they even shared the same interests.

[cardigirl]

12 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone else notice that in the opening scene where they show the family waiting by the phone to hear the news, in the Queen Mother's room a mouse runs across the room in the foreground?   I'm assuming that was intentional.  It made me think of the scene in Victoria when rats poured out of the walls.  

 

11 hours ago, tljgator said:

Yep, lol. I presumed it was subtle commentary on the decay of the family/institution/etc. (and the notion that it may seem grand to live in a "castle," but there's not always the funds for all the upkeep that's truly necessary for these types of places and it's not all it's imagined to be).

 

10 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

Okay I've just started watching this episode -- when they are all waiting for the phone to ring -- and I swear I saw a mouse run across the carpet in Princess Margaret's house.

EDIT:  Nevermind.  I see others spotted it first.

 

 

10 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Yeah, that place is huge and old.  I'm sure the yearly exterminator bill alone would be enough to bankrupt a small country.   

 

8 hours ago, Renee in CA said:

I rewound to be sure I had seen correctly. Laughed and laughed!

When I saw the mouse run across the room, I laughed too.  I just figured it showed how old that place is, and huge and that even little things slip in the details. 

[cardigirl]

5 minutes ago, swanpride said:

Though historically, Margaret simply lost interest in her first choice, and Edward VIII got his first choice and him abdicating was actually a good thing for the country. Which leaves Charles and Camilla. And I don't think that Charles being blocked from marrying Camilla excuses in any way him marrying Diana. It's not like he didn't have other options at all, but he went and picked a half-child, believing that he could mould to what he needed with no regard if they even shared the same interests.

Well, yes, with Edward and Wallis, what happened with that relationship may be why the Crown, or the family, felt they had the right or need to strongly guide Charles' choice of marriage partner. How much of what is shown in the show of the family's "push" for him to settle on Diana, remains open for debate, but he was probably under pressure to marry and start a family, and they felt that Camilla would not be good as the future Queen of England.  

[Roseanna]

16 hours ago, cardigirl said:

None of them were allowed to marry the people they wanted to and retain their standing in the royal family. Edward VIII abdicated rather than not marry Wallis, Margaret's first choice was sent off to a post in Europe and Charles was not allowed to marry Camilla. The family, in every case. deemed that these matches were not appropriate for the Crown, and changed the course of their lives. How different would history be, if they had been allowed to go with their initial choices? 

In Edward VIII and Margaret's case it was not the family that had the power to make decisions but the government. The young Charles didn't even propose to Camilla nor did his family intervene and she didn't love him but Andrew. 

As for history, it was really fortunate that Wallis wasn't Queen during the WW2 as she had no sense of duty, not to speak her connections with the German ambassador Ribbentrop. Margaret and Charles's case influenced on history, that is the fate of British people, in no way whatsoever.

16 hours ago, swanpride said:

Which leaves Charles and Camilla. And I don't think that Charles being blocked from marrying Camilla excuses in any way him marrying Diana. It's not like he didn't have other options at all, but he went and picked a half-child, believing that he could mould to what he needed with no regard if they even shared the same interests.

 

16 hours ago, cardigirl said:

Well, yes, with Edward and Wallis, what happened with that relationship may be why the Crown, or the family, felt they had the right or need to strongly guide Charles' choice of marriage partner. How much of what is shown in the show of the family's "push" for him to settle on Diana, remains open for debate, but he was probably under pressure to marry and start a family, and they felt that Camilla would not be good as the future Queen of England.  

Irl Charles was perfectly happy to live as a bachelor and Camilla had no intention to divorce from Andrew. 

Philip wrote Charles a letter, saying that he should either propose to Diana or stop seeing her, in order not ruin her reputation. His friends, including Camilla and Kanga Tryon, urged him to propose and those who warned him against, he ignored. The press adored Diana. 

Charles has been drummed to do his duty, and so he chose to act unlike Edward VIII. 

Lord Mountbatten's death was fateful as it made Charles lonelier and therefore ever closer to Camilla. It has been believed that, despite his original advice, Mountbatten would have been against marrying Diana and he was the only one whose warnings Charles would have listened to.    

Ultimately, it was Charles's choice. If he had had a different character, he would have decided not to propose because he wasn't sure.

On 11/15/2020 at 8:38 PM, WatchrTina said:

I presume Charle's prolonged absence during their engagement must be a historical fact.

He had a journey that had been planed beforehand.

But he made a journey also between his proposal and the engagement' official announcement. It was practically the last chance to them both to realize that they had nothing in common and him to tell Diana what kind of life she would lead as the Princess of Wales. But they exchanged no letters nor called each other (it was difficult at that time but surely not impossible). 

As for Princess Mary of Teck, the future Queen Mary, whose example Elizabeth put before Charles to follow, I have never heard that she was in love in Prince Eddy (Albert Victor) and in any case, he wasn't exactly Prince Charming whereas the future George's character suited well with Mary's own, so the arranged match became very happy. Instead, neither of them were good parents even according to the standards of the time. Also the former case, when Queen Alexandra's sister, the Danish Princess Dagmar, or in Russian Maria Feodorovna, was supposed to marry the Tsarevitch but after his death married his brother, the future Alexander III was happy. 

So arranged matches could succeed as well love matches could fail. But in the 80ies the arranged match was out-of date. Already in 60ies and 70ies the European royals married for love, their partners were adults and courting lasted long enough that both were sure of their choice and the partners knew and accepted their future role.        

[ItCouldBeWorse]

15 hours ago, Ellaria Sand said:

16 hours ago, Dani said:

I’m pretty sure she was talking about her relationship with Peter Townsend. Fictional Margaret out all the blame for that on Elizabeth. 

I agree. I think that Margaret was talking first and foremost about her romance with Townsend. 

Sure, but it's not a perfect comparison anymore since Camilla is married and thus unavailable. Now Charles has to choose someone whom he doesn't love, remain unmarried, or wait for Camilla to be widowed (not clear that he would have been permitted to marry her even then.) If she couldn't marry the man she loved, Margaret had no real obligation to marry anyone, but Charles supposedly does. She had more of a choice than he does. 

14 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone else notice that in the opening scene where they show the family waiting by the phone to hear the news, in the Queen Mother's room a mouse runs across the room in the foreground?   I'm assuming that was intentional.  It made me think of the scene in Victoria when rats poured out of the walls.  

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-crown-season-4-mouse-rat-episode-3-netflix-b1723511.html

[WatchrTina]

8 hours ago, swanpride said:

I don't think that Charles being blocked from marrying Camilla excuses in any way him marrying Diana. It's not like he didn't have other options at all, but he went and picked a half-child, believing that he could mould to what he needed.

Maybe I've forgotten my history but how was Charles ever "blocked" from marrying Camilla?  My sense has always been that Prince Charles very much reveled in being Britain's "Most Eligible Bachelor" and enjoyed dating (and bedding) a series of women, including Camilla all through his 20s and early 30s. In fact, I seem to recall the show depicting him as having been ENCOURAGED (by Great Uncle Dickie Mountbatten) to go out and have all the affairs he wanted to get it out of his system.  He had no intention of settling down while in his 20s and so Camilla accepted an offer of marriage rather than wait for him to stop his dithering.  

Furthermore, she is reported to have informed him, on the day they first met, that her ancestor was mistress to one of his ancestors.  So I've always assumed Camilla got the "job" she wanted when she ended up as his mistress and that she found it thoroughly annoying that Diana made a fuss about it.  I think Camilla was raised with the understanding that kings of England are "allowed" to have mistresses while Diana grew up with a fairy-tale understanding of "twuu wuv" (to quote The Princess Bride.)

Now (contradicting myself a bit) I do agree with the after-the-fact-analysis of the impossible situation that Charles had been put in due to the expectation that he find a bride who was not only sufficiently high-born (a very small pool) but who also needed to be "fair, chaste, and fertile".  And this was in the 1970s/early80s when the birth control pill existed and Women's Liberation was well underway.  So even if Camilla HAD waited around for Charles to quit dithering, the mere fact that she'd had a sex-life prior to Charles might have ruled her out as a royal bride in the collective mind of 1980's Britain.   Diana got the job because she'd kept herself "tidy."  There were no unseemly ex-boyfriends lurking about, willing to share juicy tidbits about having "gotten there first."  What a terrible way to choose a wife, much less the next Queen of England.

Edited November 16, 2020 by WatchrTina

[swanpride]

Thing is that even if you go by what is in the show and not by historic realities, Charles and Diana is the only semi-arranged marriage we get to see. All the others are suggested to be love matches and yet all of them fail too. Which makes one wonder if this is less a question of arranged or not and more a question of the maturity of the people involved. And, in the case of the queen, how willing they are to overlook the partner cheating on them.

Or, in other words, the metatext isn't necessarily supporting the text of the show.

Edited November 16, 2020 by swanpride

[JudyObscure]

3 hours ago, Roseanna said:

As for Princess Mary of Teck, the future Queen Mary, whose example Elizabeth put before Charles to follow, I have never heard that she was in love in Prince Eddy (Albert Victor) and in any case, he wasn't exactly Prince Charming whereas the future George's character suited well with Mary's own, so the arranged match became very happy.

Even if the Queen's story about Queen Mary and her husband finding love through shared duty to country and crown, she didn't seem to realize that the same could never happen with Charles and Diana because they were two of the most self-pitying people ever.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Sure, but it's not a perfect comparison anymore since Camilla is married and thus unavailable. Now Charles has to choose someone whom he doesn't love, remain unmarried, or wait for Camilla to be widowed (not clear that he would have been permitted to marry her even then.) If she couldn't marry the man she loved, Margaret had no real obligation to marry anyone, but Charles supposedly does. She had more of a choice than he does. 

Yes, but it’s more about the story in Margaret’s head. Her speaking up on her nephews behalf is more about her own victimhood than any real parallels between the situations. In her mind she was blocked from marrying than man she loved and ended up in a train wreck of a marriage. It’s one more way of blaming her family for her own choices. 

[marypat57]

15 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Yeah, that place is huge and old.  I'm sure the yearly exterminator bill alone would be enough to bankrupt a small country.   

That’s not the first time I’ve seen a mouse ‘in the house’.  In season 1 episode 2, when the kitchen staff is preparing the king’s breakfast.  Apparently it is after his lung surgery and after Churchill is re-elected as Prime Minister.  
 

I agree with @txhorns79 about the exterminator bill!

[poeticlicensed]

2 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

Maybe I've forgotten my history but how was Charles ever "blocked" from marrying Camilla?

His family made it clear that they were never going to accept a divorcee. Yes, he probably could have pitched a fit when younger and married Camilla before she married Andrew PB, but he wasn't in a hurry. Once she married, their fate of not being together was sealed. I think Charles (and Camilla) accepted his marriage as being one of that they had been modeled their whole lives,  that Diana and Charles would get married, have the required children and then develop her own interests and relationships and they would live like many titled folks do, they just carry on with their individual lives and see their spouses on occaission. Diana had other, albeit not reality based ideas of marriage to Charles. Hence the trainwreck. I'm also appalled that it seemed to be known that Diana had an eating disorder and no one stepped in. 

[Libby]

The way that Charles and Camila manipulated and used Diana was disgraceful. They were adults and she was a teenaged girl. They should be ashamed of themselves.

To this day, I can't stand to see Charles and Camila together and happy. I hope that karma gets them at some point.

[GHScorpiosRule]

15 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

There you go my friend.

"What" you ask?  Where did I get that photo?  I TOOK THAT PHOTO!!!  Yeah, that's right.  

I.  Was.  There.

 

How awesome! Now why do I remember Diana in her wedding dress also waving? Or was that a fever dream?

[poeticlicensed]

16 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

There you go my friend.

"What" you ask?  Where did I get that photo?  I TOOK THAT PHOTO!!!  Yeah, that's right.  

I.  Was.  There.

 

Oh man, I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch every second. And I was shopping for a wedding dress right around the time of the wedding and I remember all the stores trying to get some kind of a knock off of the Diana dresss in stock. Thanks god I didn't jump on that bandwagon, lol. But her clothes, at that time, were to die for. Some of my friends bought all the books and mags that included pics. Remember, this was pre-internet. 

[WatchrTina]

8 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

How awesome! Now why do I remember Diana in her wedding dress also waving? Or was that a fever dream?

Do you mean why do you recall her being in her wedding dress in THAT coach?  My recollection is that Charles and his best man (Andrew) rode TO the church in the open carriage while Diana and her father rode to the church in a closed coach with big glass windows (with Diana wearing her veil over her face).  But for the ride BACK from the church to Buckingham Palace, the bride and groom rode in the open carriage (Diana's veil having been adjusted off her face when she and Charles briefly disappeared from view during the ceremony to sign the required documents.)  Later, she changed into the peach going-away outfit for the ride to the train station in that same open carriage, and that's where I got the shot.  

And yes, I actually do remember all these picayune details.  Have I mentioned yet that Diana and I were born one month apart? 🙂

ETA: I thought of another detail.  When Diana rode to the church she wore a front veil that was anchored by a headband of flowers.  When the front veil was removed, the crown of flowers was also removed to reveal an underlying jeweled tiara.  This was done because unmarried women are not supposed to wear tiaras.  (I learned that from Downton Abbey.) That front-covering veil is what you see depicted in the final shot of Diana in her gown in this episode (though you can't actually see the wreath of flowers because the shot is too close-up.) ETA2: Whoops, wrong bride -- the wreath-and-tiara switch was done by Sarah Ferguson when she married Prince Andrew. (Thanks Atlanta.)

Edited November 17, 2020 by WatchrTina

[GHScorpiosRule]

28 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

But for the ride BACK from the church to Buckingham Palace, the bride and groom rode in the open carriage (Diana's veil having been adjusted off her face when she and Charles briefly disappeared from view during the ceremony to sign the required documents.)  

Yes! That's the image that is burned into my brain because she looked so happy. Now, watching this episode, to learn she wanted out, well, this is television after all, so now I don't know what to believe. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by GHScorpiosRule