I know this next story isn’t about a real museum, but I feel a kinship with the crazy collectors out there. Not that I collect, mind you, I’m just crazy. Royalist Margaret Tyler plans to camp out overnight for Prince Willie and Princess Katie’s big wedding day on April 29th, even though she’s 66 years young. Tyler’s 10,000 pieces are part of the largest private collection of royal memorabilia. One of her most interesting items is a jar of dulce de leche that contains a lock of Princess Di’s hair. And that’s not it. Her house has a “Diana Room” with a painting of the late Princess staring down at you from the ceiling. Tyler was hoping to create a “William and Catherine Room”, but the local council rejected her application to build an extension to her house. Tyler’s children are not great royalists themselves, even though her eldest son is named after Prince Andrew. And in case you’re wondering, Tyler has met the Queen three times: in Hyde Park at the opening of the Diana Memorial Fountain; in Harrow when she was unveiling a plaque (that’s the Queen’s job); and in Windsor on her 80th birthday. Even though I lived in Britain just over a year, I too saw the Queen. And what a surprise, she was making a speech and unveiling a plaque. “What do you do?” “Um…I go to places with plaques.” Princess Katie…this is your future!
If you want to learn more about royal collecting, then read this. If not, then go listen to the Queen is Dead.
