Princess Diana Celebrated at National Constitution Center

In elementary school, I chose Princess Diana's wedding for my fifth grade slide show topic. To see the glass carriage and the twenty-foot train, Americans had to wake up at 4 AM and tune in to any major network. As a young girl, I was obsessed with the story of her wedding, so I dutifully cut out magazine photos, made slides, and wrote the script for my slide show. The slides were all muddied and the show was pretty much a disaster, but I still love the memory of poring over photos, choosing the perfect ones to share with my audience. Almost two decades later, I heard the news of her car accident while at my then boyfriend, now husband's house. We fell asleep only to be awoken a few hours later to have my future father-in-law tell us the sad news that Diana had died.

Now her brother is working ardently to preserve her legacy. On Wednesday he introduced the press to the National Constitution Center's new exhibit Diana: A Celebration. The exhibit is well-done, just big enough to not overwhelm, but at the same time gives the audience a nice sampling of her life. One of the more moving rooms contains her childhood effects: ballerina slippers, teddy bears, and school uniforms. A sweet home video runs continuously. Of course the wedding dress is the cornerstone of the exhibit; it takes up an entire room. To see the gown certainly takes one's breath away. But to me the highlight of the show is seeing artifacts from her humanitarian works. Her brother called her a "glamorous humanitarian." This is what I remember most about her—not the glamor, but the way she used her position of power to bring attention to the plight of so many suffering people. Sure, her gowns were lovely, but to see her safety mask and working gear is the legacy of most interest. That the gown and her safety gear are so close to each other in the exhibit nicely demonstrates her versatility in a world that still misses a figure like her.

The exhibit runs through December 31st and is well worth the visit. Several events surround it, including a lecture by The Daily Beast's Tina Brown. Whether you are more interested in the "glamorous" or the "humanitarian" element of Diana, you will find what you are looking for at the Constitution Center's exhibit.