I felt like I was watching a Disney movie
“There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even oversentimentalize it. There’s power, power in love.” — Bishop Michael Curry
Fairy tales do come true, it can happen to you... The wedding of Britain’s
Prince Harry to an American girl who had many reasons to be discriminated upon by aristocrats — British, Spanish or Pinoy — smashed many glass ceilings. For he was not just any prince, but a handsome prince who was totally, unabashedly smitten by his bride.
In the Philippines, it is likely that some members of the alta
sociedad would have reservations if their niño bonito took on a divorcee and biracial bride. Nothing wrong with being both, except that there is a loud segment of the population anywhere in the world that would thumb their noses on such distinctions. (Remember, in the beginning, even Kensington Palace had to issue an appeal against racist attacks on Meghan?)
True, another American actress born in the generation of her mother, Grace Kelly, also married a prince. But Grace was a Connecticut heiress who happened to choose acting as a profession, and she was in the peak of her career.
Meghan was well known, but she isn’t a Julia Roberts.
And she belonged to no American royalty like the Kellys or the Kennedys. She came from working class parents and a pit of family squabbles and siblings whose statements are tabloid fodder. No, definitely not traditionally de buena familia. But love triumphed, and even tradition succumbed.
The pundits and the commentators and the men on the street were spoton: the union of Harry and Meghan was historic and groundbreaking. The fact that Windsor Castle, the world’s oldest inhabited castle and a bastion of British royalty, was mute witness to the celebration of a very modern union was just one of the contrasts celebrated that lovely spring day. *** But like Cinderella, or Sabrina (another Hollywood blockbuster starring Audrey Hepburn and then Julia Ormond), Meghan Markle found her Prince Charming, and in marrying into their long line of aristocrats, she did so on her own terms, even while adjusting to their centuries-old ways. So you had a black preacher “performing” on the pulpit of St. George Chapel with resonant quotes on love (“The power of love is demonstrated by the fact that we are all here. Two young people fell in love and we all showed up.”) in Windsor and an allblack choir singing Stand By Me as women in fascinators and stiff hats looked on in wry amusement. (Kulang na lang si Whoopi
Goldberg singing I Will Follow Him, a la Sister Act, remember?) Ravishing Meghan in her silk boat-collared Givenchy gown and five-meter-long veil walked down that aisle with no excuses for who she was, her father’s blunders, her siblings’ tirades, and her prince gazed at her like she was a dream that he couldn’t have enough of.
“You look amazing,” Harry told her, adding, “I am so lucky.”
During the ceremony, the commoner was the composed one while the seasoned royal seemed to be the nervous, giddy, love-struck one, at one point wiping away tears as happiness welled up inside him.
*** Observers were quick to point out that the late Princess
Diana was present in many ways — in the forget-me-nots in Meghan’s bouquet, in her sister Lady Jane Fellowes doing the reading (“The winter is past, the rain is over and gone... Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.”), to the dazzling aquamarine ring that Meghan wore to the evening reception.
Of course, Diana was present! She was the gentle but firm hand that opened the door to the change blowing into the Palace. She was not perfect, but she was empathetic. This, Harry got from her. The fallout from the stoic reaction of the Palace to Diana’s death shook the monarchy’s popularity. She showed the royals how humanity and aristocracy need not be repulsive to each other. I think Diana showed the monarchy how being populist will ensure its continuity.
On the day Prince Harry took Meghan’s hand, he took ours as well. He showed us that no matter how imperfect we all are, it is all right to dream, because dreams do come true.
Not just Meghan’s, but also Harry’s, mind you. For in having her, he may just be the lucky one.