Friday Find: Elizabeth at 90

I had this post scheduled for today before I even realized that it's the fifth anniversary of The Royal Wedding. (Should Royal Wedding be capitalized? Well, it is in my house.)

I remember distinctly where I was when I heard that Prince William was engaged to his commoner college girlfriend, Kate Middleton. I was in a hotel business center in Jamaica with a bunch of friends. We were there for our friends' wedding, and we were having a blast. I don't know what everyone else was doing on those computers, but I was trying to order a bunch of stuff on Lands' End Canvas (RIP) before the coupon I had expired (I have no explanation, other than a love of bargains). The news or TVs or something showed that blue dress and that perfect blowout and that sapphire ring and those two beaming faces, and I was hooked. My love for the royals was born.

(I also specifically remember where I was when Diana died, and while I understood it was a big deal, I wasn't really that interested in the royals and I carried on eating my Chinese food and watching a movie with my friends and thinking about my upcoming sophomore year of high school.)

Anyway, there's a really lovely documentary produced by the BBC to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday. It gives a history of her life, and we get to watch members of the royal family watch old home movies, some of which they've never seen. It's so touching and a very unique look into the private life of the royal family that we rarely ever see. Clips that particularly stuck out to me were the young queen with young Prince Charles and Princess Anne; the way their grandchildren spoke about the queen and Prince Philip; Harry and Wills ribbing each other and delighting over how footage of their 2-year-old father so clearly recalls George.

I was lucky enough to be able to watch the documentary on YouTube, and that was the link I'd planned on posting today. Unfortunately, it was pulled for copyright infringement (Oops, sorry, BBC), and I cannot seem to find anywhere online that we can view it in the States. If you're in the UK, you can try this link. Otherwise, maybe just keep searching for the full-length version while you enjoy clips like this and this.

I also found this other documentary, and this one, that seem fun, although I haven't watched either in full yet.

Additionally, as a 5th-anniversary bonus, Heather & Jessica of FugGirls fame have put together this delightful retrospective, and while you're down the rabbit hole, check out this truly fascinating piece on Kate's wedding dress. I can't get over some of the work that went into it; including, but not limited to, the seamstresses making the lace being required to wash their hands every 30 minutes while they worked on the lace (!).

Cheer up, Harry. It'll be your time soon.

PS - Just. This.