Remembering when Princess Diana came to town…

My Mum remembers vividly the day Princess Diana stepped off the plane and into Brisbane.  She was lucky enough to be one of the escorts for the Prince and Princess as they walked down the Brisbane City Mall with a large entourage.    The city was abuzz about the fact that the Princess chose not to wear pantyhose on that day in the Queensland heat in 1983.  Unheard of it was back then for pantyhose not to be worn by a dignitary.  Ladies wore hats, and even contemplated gloves for such formal occasions and certainly pantyhose… always pantyhose.  My mum had a milliner who selected a special “pillbox” hat, just for the occasion that matched her dress perfectly and I remember with awe as she coloured her shoes especially in electric blue to match.  She was meeting the Princess, the real Princess of Wales.  She gave me, just a young 7 year old a bunch of flowers from the garden squeezed tight in wet tissue and foil to take to the parade, and we stood on the side of the mall with our Grandparents in awe to watch this amazing woman come to our city.

How the world has changed since then.  I fact, I wonder how many of you plan to take your grandchildren to the mall to glimpse our latest Princess and her Princes when they visit in coming weeks?

The Dutchess of Cambridge arrived in New Zealand today and whilst I am personally very impressed with her outfit; harking back to the classics of the sixties, to me it seems the magic of a royal visit might be a little bit lost.  Or maybe it is just lost when I compare it with my childhood.  Royal visits of the eighties were magical.

My Grandmother wound the excitement up for weeks prior, helping us consider and select an outfit for ourselves that might have been fit to meet a Princess should she deign to walk over to us as we stood behind the barricade.  And she did, taking the flowers and smiling and waving that the crowds and crowds of families and children that came to meet this amazing Princess. She touched us all, and made us feel like she mattered.

The city was full to the brim with royal souvenirs, and every child in my school had a royal spoon or mug with Charles and Diana to show at show and tell.  We waved little union jack flags as they walked through the city.  Again, royals had a special kind of magic.  Their faces adorned or twenty cent pieces and fifty cent pieces just because they had arrived, and they were all over the postage stamps.

And whilst I feel that magic, a little, for Kate, I wont take my children to the mall to visit her and nor will their grandparents I have no doubt.  Could this be because royals have lost their magic, and their sense of allure to the everyday person?

I want to show you the beauty of the royals as they visited Australia.  In each moment, it is clear that the woman in the royal pair is a significant drawcard.  That everyone is watching in awe at her every move.  And we were.  Without the everyday drone of 24 hour TV news cycles, the royals were allowed to be special.

I am rather hoping that on this tour, the Dutchess of Cambridge can reignite the romance of the royals for me, but the memories of the past certain stand truer than my feelings today…

Did you attend the royal parades when they visited your city in the 80s or before?  Have you ever met a real life royal?  Do you agree with me today?