This creased and crinkled postcard was published in 1981 to commemorate the (ultimately doomed) wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
Today is the 37th anniversary of that spectacle, which was held on July 29, 1981. The carriage-filled, "fairy-tale" wedding was viewed by three-quarters of a billion people around Earth and launched a thousand covers of People magazine.
The fairy tale officially ended about 593 weeks later, when British Prime Minister John Major announced on December 9, 1992, that the Royal Couple was separating "amicably."
I was 10 at the time of the wedding and certainly remember having a peripheral awareness of it, but I didn't watch any more than a few TV news clips. I was probably annoyed that Major League Baseball was in the midst of a strike. I'm sure Mom followed it closely, though I don't know if she set her alarm to follow the early-morning hours of breathless TV coverage. Probably not, but I could be wrong with my recollection.
Here are some Twitter thoughts that were shared today...
Remembering 37 years ago getting up at 4am and going up to my gram’s house to drink tea and eat English muffins and watch the wedding of Charles and Diana.
— Elisa Highley (@PSUWethr) July 29, 2018
#RoyalWedding 37 years ago, July 29, morning of the wedding of Charles and Diana, my grandmother dressed me, my sister, and my cousin up as brides (lace curtain veils and gold cardboard crowns!). I borrowed the scene for my novel, THE KEEPERS. We look a little too serious, no? pic.twitter.com/8ZBT0hsTnG
— Jennifer Dupee (@JenniferDupee) July 29, 2018
For those of us old enough to remember on this day 29th July 1981 We had a National Holiday (Bank Holiday) for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral. Great to have a day off work 😁 #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/jwynWvxzpT
— Steven (@HTFCNostalgia) July 29, 2018
This postcard wasn't the best-designed piece of memorabilia that came out of the Royal Wedding. The Prince of Wales looks a little creepy and possessive with the way his arms are set on Diana's shoulders, don't you think? As we know, of course, the marriage was pretty much anything but a fairy tale. (See your People magazines.)
This card was mailed from the UK to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, with two stamps totaling 22 pence. The message on the back states:
"June 23, 1981
Dear Grandma & Potato fry,
Thought you might like this card to keep.
We had sports day last week and I won 5 races. It was lots of fun.
School ends next Friday. I will be glad for the rest. I will be going into Primary 3.
We have been having nice and warm weather. Goodbye for now.
Love Janet"
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