A Tribute Website Inspired by Diana, Princess of Wales

A Poor Girl Visiting Princess Diana’s Wedding Dress

In 2004 I was still a newlywed. When I heard that the inaugural exhibition for the United States tour of Diana: a celebration was going to be at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in October, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go. We had just bought our first house, and we were totally broke. No Diana wedding dress for me! I was devastated.
But then my mother came to the rescue. She knew how important Diana was to me, and she gifted us $1000 for a vacation in December in Florida. That was a decent amount of money in 2004. I was so excited, I immediately bought two sets of tickets for the exhibit. When the hard copy tickets arrived in the mail (back then, everything was hard copy!) I put them on the refrigerator as a daily reminder of our upcoming adventure. I remember my husband staring at the four tickets, asking “Why do we have four tickets? There are only two of us?”, to which I gleefully replied, “Because we are going two days in a row!”
It was glorious. We drove from Norwalk, Connecticut to Fort Lauderdale in less than 16 hours and stayed at a hotel on the Atlantic Ocean. Her real wedding dress was on display, not a replica. Up close, it really isn’t the prettiest dress in the world. It is floofy and sequiny, and that long, long train which was fully extended in the glass showcase made it look like soooo much fabric. But I loved it! It’s the closest I will ever get in my lifetime to Diana, and I stared at it for 15 minutes. There was no social media in 2004, and many of the things on display had never been seen before. My patient husband trailed behind me; the first visit we spent 3 hours, and the second visit we spent two.

I couldn’t wait to get to the gift shop – I envisioned myself speeding down the aisle just knocking one of everything into my basket. Of course I bought the event poster, catalogs, postcards, and other paper good memorabilia.

There were out of T-shirts in my size, but I bought a medium. It doesn’t fit me very well anymore, but of course I still have it.

The Althorp “Commemorative Collection” was a strange mix of cheap jewelry, key chains, and chinaware with Diana’s cameo. I didn’t purchase much of that, mostly because it didn’t appeal to me. It’s interesting, because that cameo is still in use today in the Royal Palaces shops for Diana merchandise. I wonder if The Crown has to pay Lord Spencer for the privilege.

Wonderful memories of a lovely exhibition. Maybe someday the dress will go on the road again, and I’m sure I will go and see it wherever it is.

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