Imagine being in your young 20-something years, maybe even late teens, and having everyone in your country breathing down your neck, including the Queen (which, in earlier centuries, had the potential to cut your head off if you did something remotely wrong). Then imagine knowing that today is your last day as a normal citizen, and that by this time tomorrow, you will be a Princess, a true member of the British Royal Family. I'm not entirely sure what went on Princess Diana's head the day before her
wedding, but I'm sure that as soon as she said her "I do's," she was plummeted into maturity before she had ever expected to. It still amazes me to know that Diana was just my age when she walked down the aisle, even closer to the age I am now when she gave birth to our newest wedding obsession, Prince William. What a life this woman led, only to have it cut by the "sharp knife of a short life."
Before any royal wedding is to commence under the Queen's watchful eye, the budding couple must receive consent and permission from the Queen to do so. If the Queen had known now how her son's marriage to Diana might have played out, she would have probably opted out of even touching the consent form. I'm sure that the Queen took some serious consideration before she signed this one - though I am sure that deep down, she knows that these two have what it makes to keep this marriage strong (10 years people, and just now walking down the aisle?!). Thank goodness that these two not only have the approval of the Queen, but mostly of the public itself. In 1981, people were enamored by the radiance that Diana emitted, and in the years coming, adored her as their Princess. Will Kate have this same welcoming from her country? I don't think that Kate will entirely fill the shoes of her predecessor, but she will take her own form, her new generation feel on her approach to the people who were just recently her fellow citizens and now her followers. Being that Kate has no aristocratic background, she knows what entails a "normal life" and be able to differentiate her place as a royal, and her place as a common citizen just like everyone else. I've read that she will be eased into royal life, as opposed to Diana, who was dropped into the boiling pit of the "royal public eye" as soon as she stepped out of the carriage on her wedding day. This approach will give Kate time to understand the in's and out's of royal duty, and also help her avoid the ever-so-watchful paparazzi. Kate will for sure be a rose among those thorns, and her legacy as a fairy-tale princess is just only beginning.
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