Remembering a Princess

I don't know what it is but I've always been fascinated by Princess Diana. I remember when she married Prince Charles. VCRs weren't commonplace at the time. In fact, I'm not really sure if they were around. I do know, if they were, they were still too expensive for the average Joe to have one. As such, I didn't have one but I wanted to see the wedding so I got up at something like 3:30 am so I could watch it.

I also remember where I was and what I was doing when she died. It was so shocking. I kept thinking there had to be a mistake. She was too young and how she died was so awful. VCRs were more common then, it was unusual if you didn't have one, so I recorded the funeral rather than get up in the middle of the night to watch it. And I cried when I watched it.

I've been appalled at the people who have tried to exploit her, for their own gain, since her death. For instance, the man who, whenever he needs money, sells off more of her private story but when interviewed, refuses to answer certain questions because he wants to respect her privacy. Yeah right! You just want to save something for the next time. He should be shot. Or better yet, slowly tortured. Nothing is too horrible. But I digress.

Yesterday I went to an area museum to see the Princess Diana Exhibit . It's a traveling exhibit which happens to be on display in Houston now. The exhibit was divided into a number of different rooms, each representing an area of her life. There were pictures, video and actual memorabilia from all phases of her life. Her wedding gown was on display and video from her wedding was shown. The actual sheet music from Elton John's tribute song was on display, and played while video of her life and funeral were shown (heard a lot of sobs in that room) while it was played.

I went alone to the exhibit and I'm glad I did. I was able to spend a lot of time there without worrying about someone else being bored, tired or anything else. I read everything in every room. I watched every video in its entirety. When I reached the end, I went back almost to the beginning and came back through, just looking.

I know people are making money off of the exhibit and that may be their only reason for allowing her things to be viewed but whatever the reasons I want to say this: This exhibit honors Princess Diana and is done in a very respectful manner to her memory. To me, it was worth every penny (including the $8.00 parking fee) I paid to see it.