Fergie
1.
The year 1986 had its share of disasters I remember.
It was the year the Challenger Space Shuttle blew up on take off .It was the year of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.... a disaster that sent a plume of nuclear pollution right across Europe.
In 1986 .. people in the UK and America were becoming more and more aware of the aids epidemic... highlighted the previous year when the actor Rock Hudson died of the wasting disease.
As usual the world was beset by anxieties and fears.... war in the Middle East... the aids epidemic.... famine in Ethiopia. But through it all ... life went on ... as per usual.
Liverpool won the F.A. Cup.... India won the Lords cricket test and Martina Navratilova won the Ladies Wimbledon title.
Maybe life was nt so bad after all.....the Queen was on her throne..... Margaret Thatcher was in No 10 ..... and God was in his Heaven.
For me..... 1986 was made especially memorable as the year of the Royal Wedding... the year when Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergusson tied the knot... watched by 100s of millions of people all around the world.
The wedding... with its glitter, its show, its pomp and ceremony, was a welcome respite from a world which seemed so full of terrorism... violence and natural disasters.
I was aged 16 at the time and living at home in Reading. I thought that Fergie.... with her long red hair and ready smile... was the perfect bride and a welcome addition to the Royal Family.
Watching on television I loved the horses, the cavalry, the coaches. I loved the way everything built up to the moment when Sarah and her proud father walked up the aisle arm in arm... ...... while Andrew, her Prince Charming, waited at the altar .... looking so noble and handsome ...... dressed in his Naval Uniform.
Westminster Abbey was the perfect setting... the Royal Family all gathered there... the Queen.. the Duke of Edinburgh... Prince Charles... Lady Diana.
The whole nation watched as Andrew and Sarah said ..." I do ..."exchanged rings ....... and became man and wife.Then the coach-ride back to the Palace.... the streets lined with thousands of well-wishers cheering the happy couple on their way.
Of course ... there were girls at school who sneered at the whole Royalty thing.... and made snide comments. But I wonder how many of them..... like me.... secretly dreamed of a Royal Wedding ! I wonder how many imagined themselves in Fergies place..... wearing that glamourous wedding dress.... riding in the Golden Coach..... being feted and admired by the whole nation.
On that happy day in July 1986 it was as if someone had waved a magic wand and turned London into a gigantic fairy-tale city.... with everyone in costume.... and everyone playing their part.
It was a glorious day.... one I will always remember !
2.
Of course in the weeks and months that followed there were endless news reports about the vivacious Fergie and her handsome Prince. There was a romantic honey-moon on board the Royal Yacht ..... there was the Royal Tour of Canada........... the press and TV just could n't get enough of this sassy Royal red-head.
The average daily fare of news bulletins is an endless catalogue of violence and disasters so a Royal story of either Diana or Fergie ... came as a welcome relief. It might be Fergie opening a garden fete, looking glamorous in a green dress... smiling at the assembled crowds..... already she was the nation's favourite Royal.
At that time "Diana mania" was on the wane.... we knew she was unhappy in her marriage and things were not quite right between her and Prince Charles. In fact Diana often appeared strained and unhappy.... while Fergie was vivacious and smiling... the life and soul of the Royal Party.
Fergie seemed like the ideal woman..... the ideal Royal wife. The whole country was in love with her , she revelled in her Royal Duties and had an easy rapport with people.She was so glamorous in the designer dresses with her long red hair, her voluptuous figure and those sexy Royal legs. The paparazzi worshiped at her feet... they put her picture in every newspaper and magazine. There could be no doubt about it.... in 1986 the country was in the grip of Fergiemania !
In August 1988 her daughter Beatrice was born, then in March 1990 a second daughter... Eugenie... was born by caesarean section.
In the months that followed it was lovely to see the photos of Fergie with her two daughters. She had been the perfect bride..... now she was the perfect loving mother ,I was so happy for her.
The British Royal Family had lived for so long in a world that was ultra-traditional....a world where things never seemed to change. Suddenly in the 1980s they found their refined and hierarchical world invaded by two glamorous and vivacious women.... Fergie and Diana.
These two young women had style and charisma and an easy rapport with the British public. The " Old Guard " at the Palace did n't know quite what to make of them.Fergie and Diana had became the darlings of the media and paparazzi, so much so that between them they were taking all the limelight away from the traditional Royals. They were making the Windsor’s... Anne ... Charles... Phillip..... even the Queen.... appear staid and boringly conventional.
To be continued......