It has been over a year now and I've learnt a lot about Tasmania as I have fallen more and more in love with it.
One thing I have discovered is that EVERYONE in Hobart has a Mary-tale. Or more than one. They went to school with her. Their brother had her Dad as a lecturer. Their ex-boyfriend now owns the house she grew up in, and gets gentle flak from all his friends about it. Not to mention the dilemma of whether, in his upcoming renovations, he destroys or salvages the piece of wall in the basement where Mary and her sisters all scratched their names into the brick. (I did not make that up and would dearly love a photo). My very boring Mary-story is that you can see the roof of that same house from my kitchen window.
There is one thing that stuns me about Mary and the marriage. Not that she met Frederick in a bar, happens every day. Not that she was his pick when there were younger models around - that happens too (good thing, or I would still be single!). Not that she has taken to royal life and protocol so well, she seems to have the brains to work it out.
No, what amazes me is no-one has a bad word to say about her. No-one. Not a "oh well she was a bit of a b**ch at school". Or "she glided through Uni a bit and didn't work very hard, probably only passed because her dad was a lecturer". Or she ran with a bad crowd there for a while, or dated a complete douche, or any of the things that would come up in a background check of an average Aussie girl. Is she truly perfect or are people here just so nice that they don't say anything bad?
Anyway, my favourite Mary-tale has to be from a bartender at what was our local. His sister was a great friend of hers at school and even went to Copenhagen for the big day. They have kept in touch, and when Mary was last in town they caught up. His niece, four years old and knowing none of the razamattazz surrounding her Mum's friend and who she was, was introduced to Mary with the family looking on. Mary crouched down to say hello and the little niece just looked at her wide eyed and said "You look like a princess". I bet that was the nicest thing she heard all day.
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