Sarah Jane Gaselee
Princess Diana's bridesmaid's
touching wedding memories , Exclusive pictures
Ok Issue 229, September 8, 2000
Sarah-Jane Gaselee
fondly remembers the woman she used to call her big sister.
Sarah-Jane
Gaselee has a special reason to remember August 31, 1997, the
day she lost the woman she called her big sister Diana, Their
friendship began long before the world had heard of the tall,
chubby-cheeked teenager, Lady Diana Spencer. 'Everyone knows she
had a special relationship with children, but there was less than
ten years between us, so we got on really well, "Sarah -Jane
explains.
Her father, Nick Gaselee,
is a renowned horseman who trained the 1992 Grand National winner,
Party Politics. He started his career as a leading amateur jockey
with the late Peter Cazelet, the Queen Mother's National Hunt
trainer. So, in November 1979, When Prince Charles decided to
risk his royal nick as a jump jockey , it was to Nick Gaselee
that he turned to for instruction..
The Prince used to spend the
night at the Gaselees' home before getting up early to exercise
his brown gelding Allibar, on the Downs. To his delight, in their
very first race together, Allibar romped home in a very credible
second place. When Charles began romancing Diana, he used to bring
her over from Highgrove to watch him ride. Afterwards, the couple
would return to the Gaselees' warm farmhouse kitchen for a massive
breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages and tomatoes.
The Gaselees' ten-year old
daughter, Sarah-Jane soon became a firm favorite with Diana. "I
have only one brother, James (now a Major in the Life Guards)
so, Diana was the big sister I never had, ' recalls 29 (now 36)
year old Sarah-Jane as she sits in the cozy kitchen, which is
lined with photographs of great moments in the family's racing
history. "Before they got engaged, we used to smuggle Diana
out of our place under a rug in the back of the Land Rover when
the press found out about her visits."
Sarah-Jane's memories of Charles
and Diana tucking in to breakfast with the stable lads and the
Gaselee family are still fresh. They laughed a lot and were very
happy, she recalls. "It was a very special time for them
both."
So, it wasn't surprising when
the couple made plans for their July wedding that they asked Sarah-Jane
to be a bridesmaid. 'Diana used to send me letters when I was
at boarding school. I think she understood me very well, because
she had also disliked leaving home to go to school." Sarah-Jane
says. "After the engagement, I used to ring her up at Buckingham
Palace for advice. We went on shopping trips and we met at fittings
for my bridesmaid's dress at David and Elizabeth Emanuel's salon.
"I got to know all
the other bridesmaids and page boys and we had a lot of fun, although
I don't see any of them now. I remember going down to see Diana
at Highgrove, and she showed me all over the house. We went into
the kitchen and she said, "Here's the cupboard where the
biscuits are kept. If you ever fell hungry, help yourself."
"In her bathroom she had a lot of enameled bracelets and
each time I visited she would give me one. I was so thrilled to
have some grown-up jewelry."
Sarah- Jane had no inkling
of how lucky she was to take part in the wedding of the century.
"I had been a bridesmaid four times before and I just took
in in my stride. I didn't realize how important it was, she laughs.
I wasn't nervous at all. I just strolled down the isle of St..
Paul's looking at everyone.
Although the wedding was a
worldwide television spectacular, broadcast via satellite and
watched by 200 million people, to Sarah-Jane it was just another
big party. "I remember the photo session with Lord Lichfield
best. At the end of it, we all collapsed on the floor giggling
and that was one of the most famous pictures taken of that day."
When Sarah-Jane was 16, she
left boarding school and went off to France to learn French. Although
Diana stayed in touch by letter, they did not see each other quite
as often. " She was very busy working on her AIDS campaign,
while I was entering a whole new world and discovering who I was
too." As Charles and Diana began to drift apart, Sarah-Jane
was not aware of any problems. " I certainly didn't notice
that anything was wrong, but perhaps I was too young, " she
says.
It was a tremendous shock
when Sarah-Jane came back to her London flat early one Sunday
morning in 1997 and heard on the radio that Princess Diana had
been involved in an accident. "At first, it was reported
that she was only injured but a few hours later, I heard that
she had died. I got on the telephone to my mother straight away
and I just couldn't believe it. None of us could. All the next
day, I just sat watching television.
"My parents were devastated,
They had spent a lot of time at Balmoral as guests of Charles
and Diana and they were terribly upset. My mother had been very
supportive of Diana in the early years as she adjusted to royal
life and was very fond of her. I hadn't seen her for a while,
but had received a letter from her the year before. And I bumped
into her once on a shopping trip in Harvey Nichols which was great
fun."
Sarah-Jane, her mother and
father all received invitation to Diana's funeral. "It was
a harrowing experience. We were sitting near Elton John when he
sang Goodbye England's Rose and I'm afraid, I cried through most
of the service," she explains. "I was on the end of
a row and , as the coffin came past me, I saw those white roses
with the card saying "Mummy" and I started sobbing all
over again. Then, I looked at William and Harry and felt so ashamed.They
were so brave that I felt I just couldn't break down."
She was a very special person,
who did a lot to help so many people and I will never forget what
she did to help me.
The bridesmaid:
Never-before-told tales of her enduring friendship with Diana.
July 31, 2001
Twenty years may have passed but Sarah Jane Gaselee,
31 (now 36) vividly remembers the moment Princess Diana asked
her to be a bridesmaid. She was giving me a piggyback ride while
we were watching Prince Charles getting ready for a National Hunt
race," recalls Sarah-Jane, then 11, daughter of Nick Gaselee,
who was training the Prince as a jump jockey.
"I was a bit depressed because I had to go
back to boarding school and Diana knew I hate it. Suddenly she
smiled and said. 'You know I'm getting married soon. How would
you like to be one of my bridesmaids?'"
Sarah Jane let out a yelp, hugged Diana and said
"Yes, Yes, Yes! I'd love to!" Grinning, they walked
over to the Prince and told him the news. Looking up at him, Sarah-Jane
asked: "Will I be on TV?" Charles laughed and said "Yes,
I think there is a very good chance that you might be."
It was the understatement of the year. A few months
later, Sarah-Jane took part in a TV spectacular which attracted
an audience of up to 750 million around the globe. She and the
six other attendants were drawn through the streets of London
on a dazzling sea of fluttering flags, smiling faces and waving
hands.
Sarah-Jane and Diana had a special friendship. Prince
Charles was already a regular at the Gaselees' when he began driving
from Highgrove before dawn with a young lady called Diana Spencer,
who watched him on the gallops. By mid-morning, they would be
back with all the stable lads tucking into a big breakfast in
the family's warm farmhouse kitchen.
"I knew all about their big romance long before
the press did," said Sarah-Jane. " We used to smuggle
Diana in and out under a rug in the back of the Land-Rover. We
got on really well right from the start. I looked on her as a
big sister I never had."
In the run-up to the wedding, Sarah-Jane says, "We
went for lots of dress fittings. There was a lot of waiting around
so Diana grabbed me and said, "Let's pop out and go shopping."
"We dashed up Bond Street and into a jeans store. The paparazzi
spotted us and we ended up handing in a cubicle, giggling like
crazy. Diana thought it was great fun. Being chased by photographers
was quite new to her and she enjoyed every moment. She managed
to buy a pair of jeans before rushing back to Emanuels."
At the rehearsal, says Sarah-Jane: "It was
all so relaxed, we never did go right through the whole ceremony.
Charles and Diana didn't seem at all bothered, they were laughing
together most of the time. When it was finally over, they held
hands as they skipped down the isle. They looked so happy.
Around 7:30 am on the big day. Sarah-Jane's mother
dropped her off at Clarence House, "We were upstairs in a
room next to where Diana was getting ready, "she remembers.
"She popped in to say hello. She was unflustered, not at
all nervous, happy and relaxed. She was watching the crowds outside
and the preparations on television.
At the cathedral, the children waited for the bride
to arrive. "I remember peeking out of the door and seeing
Michael Foot reading a newspaper which quite shocked me,"
Sarah-Jane says. "Sarah Armstrong-Jones was chief bridesmaid.
She was lovely and acted like a mother hen ushering us into our
places. Then she and India Hicks helped Diana out of her carriage
and smoothed the creases in her dress.
"I wasn't a bit nervous as we set off down
the isle. I don't think the magnificence of the occasion had sunk
in ." Her lasting memory is of the wonderful music which
soared up to the dome of St. Paul's. "Then Diana muddled
her lines and promised to marry Prince Philip instead! We tired
not to smile.
"As the bride and groom went to sign the registry,
we stayed in our places on red velvet stools. We were terribly
well behaved. No one yawned, no one poked a tongue out as Prince
William did at Fergie's wedding. It was amazing how good we were,
especially as Clementine as only five.
"Then we walked back down the isle and , as
we reached the door, the full impact hit me for the first time.
The roar was deafening and the bells rang nonstop, echoed by others
around the city. It seemed the whole world was cheering. It was
overwhelming."
"We were packed into caches: I was behind the
bride and groom. The coach was rocking from side to side but we
loved it: it was like being at a funfair. The interior was covered
in velvet and the seats were so comfortable, we had a wonderful
time."
"The bridal group then lined up in the Throne
room for photographs. Lord Lichfield had put a chart on the wall.
We had to find our numbers then stand on the spot marked on the
floor. I looked and looked but my name wasn't there. Everyone
was in position but I was on the sidelines, on the verge of tears,
until someone found a place for me. That's why I'm no smiling
much."
But Sarah-Jane relished the once-in-a-lifetime chance
to gaze down from the Palace Balcony at the thousands of cheering
well-wishers below and listening to their chants of "We want
Charlie" We want Di."
Afterwards, in the Ball Supper Room, we children
weren't interested in the Supreme de Volaille Princesse de Galles,
but were thrilled that it came with chips. Strawberries and cream
followed, which we liked even more.
Afterwards, chatting with some of the other girls,
I noticed Princess Michael of Kent, who walked over to look at
our dresses. Suddenly, I heard a very huffy voice, "I'm a
princess too, you know. I stood up shaking, dropped a wobbly curtsy,
thinking, "Oh my God! I've been rude. 'But she walked off
without another word."
At the end of the night, Sarah-Jane was driven home
by her parents. "It was such an anticlimax to drive through
London in an ordinary car."
But she was cheered by the gift she and all the
other attendants received," an enameled box bearing the date
of the wedding and the couples' initials. "Later, we also
received a rose from the bride's bouquet in clear acrylic , to
use as a paperweight."
Sadly, Sarah Jane's treasured mementoes were destroyed
in a fire in 1995, with hundreds of letters, cards, a gold enameled
bracelet and other gifts from Diana.
"We wrote almost weekly, " Sarah-Jane
says. "It was such a thrill" at school the post was
laid out on a table to collect. All the other girls could see
the Palace stamp and Diana's initials on the bottom left-hand
corner.
"Sometimes I'd phone and pour my heart out
about how much I loathed school. She said she'd hated leaving
home too. I remember she wrote, I hope there are no more tears
now and she sent me a teddy bear."
"But I knew she wasn't very happy, either:
she found the Princes' friends difficult. They were part of a
clique and she felt lonely and left out."
In 1992, after Andrew Morton's book, Diana, Her
True Story came out, Sarah-Jane wrote offering support. Diana
wrote back that, at times, she felt unable to carry on with her
work but forced herself because there was so much pain and suffering
in the world."
When Diana died, Sarah-Jane and her parents were
invited to her funeral. "I sat sobbing as Elton John sang.
Then I saw William and Harry being so brave and felt ashamed."
"29 July will always bring back memories."From
then on I was known as the royal bridesmaid but it has been a
double edged sword. People who didn't like royalty talked about
my part in the wedding as if it was a crime. And others were so
incredibly nice to me, I suspected they were just sucking up.
That July day changed my life."
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