Photo by Lola Fulton
(this photo is not to be copied, printed, distributed or used in any way. It is for viewing pleasure only.)
THE DAY WE SAW PRINCESS DIANNA
By Lola Fulton-Williams 16.4.83
It was freezing in Ballarat. Seven degrees so the weather reporter said, and I would believe it. We had rugged up well, but still kept to nice clothes. We were going to meet a princess. Most of the crowd though, had come dressed in jeans and woolly jumpers with scarves around their necks, looking more like they were going to a football match, than to see Royalty.
We arrived in Ballarat at about nine-fortyfive. Parking at that time was no trouble at all, and we had no trouble in locating the mall through which Prince Charles and Princess Dianna were to walk. Already the crowd was two deep in most places, but we managed to find a place that was only one deep. Jennifer and Robyn made up the second row, and I stood behind them making a third row.
A few had taken fold up chairs with them, but for us, it was standing room only. The Royal train was not due until twelve-fifteen, so we had a gruelling two and a half hours ahead of us, and standing still at that,and in the cold. We didn't dare move, as any vacant spot was quickly filled.
I had bought two bunches of flowers the day before. They were red carnations, and white flowers whose name I do not know. I carefully made two bunches, combining the red and white flowers, wrapped them in tissue paper and tied them with ribbons. A few of the white flowers which were left over I carefully pressed, to be given to the girls later as a momento of this day.
The wait seemed incredibly long, but the crowd was good humoured with everyone being in the same boat. Robyn had a cold, and being cold also, made her very miserable. With icy cold hands, feet, and face, she asked if she could go to the car instead! As time wore on, and the cold really becoming too much for her she said, almost in tears, "You should have left me at home, Mummy. My feet are cold, my hands are cold and I don't really want to see the prince and princess. Please take me home Mummy."
By this time her precious bunch of flowers was looking quite bedraggled. It was switched from hand to hand so that the free hand could be warmed in a pocket, and also passed from her to me so both hands could be warmed at the same time. The tissue paper was torn by now, and she still had cold feet!
The path the Royals would walk down was quite long, and well barricaded off. It was not a wide path, in fact barely wide enough for the press truck to pass through. The "public" were on one side, and the other side was reserved for school children only, and the handicapped. That side was empty until about half an hour before the Royal couple arrived, except for those unknowing people who thought they had a prime spot. Many refused to leave when advised of the reservations, and found themselves being moved over to our side where by this time, the crowd was so deep they would have been lucky to see even the top of the Princesses hat.
At last, after what seemed an eternity, word filtered through the police, and was relayed to the crowds, that they had arrived. Robyns bunch of flowers was by now looking very pitiful indeed, and she threw them on the ground. They weren't good enough for a Princess, she said. I told her I'd take off the torn tissue paper, but she didn't move to pick them up.
A truck, full of T.V. cameras and photographers and reporters, preceded the Royal Couple, filming their every move. Security guards scanned the crowds incessantly. The truck moved slowly, stopping, waiting for the Royal couple to near it, then moving on another twenty yards or so.
The excitement built up in the crowd. We were almost in Royal presence. The truck stopped, with it's bonnet almost level with me. It was impossible to see passed it. Everyone was cranning their necks, eager to catch the first glimpse of the Princess. The truck started to move. I was the first in our section to see her, or should I say, see her hat. "I see her" I yelled. Robyn bent down and picked up her flowers, I started tearing away the tissue paper an a mad frenzy by now. My camera was quickly re-checked, and then she came into full view.
Her beauty was breathtaking. No T.V. or magazine could do her justice. I madly started to snap photos. The girls eagerly waiting with their flowers. The only problem was, that the princess was walking up the other side, not coming to our side at all. We were only getting side views.
All of a sudden she was nearly level, but on the wrong side. Jennifer said " She's not going to take our flowers". "Quick", I said "Under the barrier, Quick, now. Both of you. Run. Hurry." They took off.
Jennifer got there first. The bodyguard pushed her away. He pushed her so hard she almost fell to the ground. The Princess heard the scuffle, turned around and and then stopped and spoke to her. I was literally trembling with excitement by this time.
Jennifer said "These are for you".
"They are beautiful", she replied.
Robyn had arrived by this time. Princess Dianna dropped down to Robyn in her now familiar semi-kneeling approach to smaller children, and gave her a beautiful smile. Robyn had no words for the Princess, but held out her bunch of flowers. The princess took them.
"Thank you" she said, looking Robyn straight in the face as she spoke. Princess Dianna seemed oblivious to the crowds of people watching on as she spoke to my two youngest daughters.
I was so excited I could barely move. That split second that she was looking into Robyn's eyes, I could not make my finger move on the trigger of the camera.
The moment had passed as she stood up. I quickly snapped a photo of her standing, looking at my two girls, but alas, a head moved in front of the camera, and my picture is of the back of someones head.
For maybe one minute my two youngest daughters held the complete attention of the Princess of Wales. Not just as a head, or a hand holding out flowers in the crowd. It was almost a moment of pure magic.
As far as we could see they were the only children to run out to her, and she continued to carry their flowers for as far as we could see, passing all others back to her maid as she took them, which thrilled the girls. Both the girls were flushed with excitiment. Robyn said "She speaks so softly and so nicely, she said "thank you" (at which Robyn did an imitation) in such a lovely voice Mummy".
Prince Charles followed, walking up our side, shaking most extended hands, stopping to chat. Near us he commented on the cold, saying he'd had a stiff shot of whisky to warm up.
Looking at the people sitting in windows on the first floor of the buildings behind us, he commented that they must be cold. Little did he know that they were all shop workers, who had been inside their air conditioned shops all morning, only taking up positions in the windows half an hour earlier. We had been standing out in the weather, which included several showers, for hours.
All to soon it was over. The barricades which seconds before had been holding back crowds of people up to twenty deep and more, were now deserted, and the crowds dispersing, some to the dais area to hear speeches, others to make their way home again.
Me? My feet were frozen by now. Numb and yet aching, from standing so still for so long, in such cold. They pained so much when I moved my weight on them, that walking was a combination of burning agony and numbness. With one girl on either side for support, I hobbled back to the car, knowing that I would have stood two more hours in the cold for those precious seconds when I watched my Jennifer and Robyn meet the Princess, Dianna, future Queen of England.
And Deanne my eldest daughter? Well her school had an excursion, so she chose to go to the Zoo instead!