Remembering His Mother

   For those of you that were trapped under a rock, in a coma or out of touch with civilization last week, Prince Harry of Great Britain married former actress Meghan Markle. It was a beautiful wedding with several distinctive touches.
   Many who commented on or wrote about the wedding listed the numerous ways that the couple remembered Diana, Princess of Wales, who is as everyone knows, Harry's mother. What I'm about to write will probably aggravate Princess Diana fans everywhere. I don't mind if you disagree with me, but I do ask that you please be civil in your disagreement.
   I'm a bit puzzled by the number of things written about the ways Princess Diana was remembered during the wedding. Of course, she was going to be remembered at the wedding. She is his mother. 
   There were many things listed as ways that Princess Diana was honored. The flower arrangements in the chapel and in the bride's bouquet included Diana's favourite flowers, white garden roses and forget me nots. One of the hymns sung at the wedding had been sung at Princess Diana's funeral. They asked one of Diana's sisters to give the sole reading at the wedding. Two of the diamonds from the engagement ring came from Diana's jewelry collection.
  There were a few things listed that to me are a bit nebulous. One article said that the length of the bride's veil was a tribute. The veil was 16 feet long. Not as long as the 25-foot train that Princess Diana's gown had. One article said that the bride left the word "obey" out of her wedding vows as a nod to her late mother-in-law. I doubt that this was the case. I seriously doubt that the new Duchess of Sussex, being a feminist would have included that word in her vows. She is not the only one who omitted the word "obey". When Catherine Middleton married Prince William, she also left that word out of her vows. Another article said that the empty seat in front of the Queen was to honor Princess Diana. It turns out that it is customary to leave the seat in front of the Queen empty.
  The tone of several of these articles makes me think that people are surprised that there would be gestures of remembrance at this wedding. Why wouldn't there be? When Prince William married, there were a few gestures of remembrance at his wedding as well.
   Remembering a family member that has passed away is something that many people do. When C and I were married in 2004 there were several things that were done to remember family members that were gone. We had a vase of six roses at the front of the church. One rose for each of my grandparents, one rose for C's mother and another rose for his brother who died in a car wreck many years ago. C wore a pink rose as his boutonniere. His grandmother, who had helped to raise him, liked pink roses. We had a picture of us with our weddings guests in front of the church, just like my grandparents did when they were married.
   The royal wedding was a beautiful one and not a typical. I hope that the newlyweds enjoyed their wedding surrounded by those who love and support them. May they always carry a little of that joy with them for the rest of their lives.