It is 1998, and to wish the happy couple the very best of British good luck, the bride's former husband, Charles Windsor, has ordered a spectacular flyover by the Royal Air Force in honor of the newlyweds, Dodi and Diana Fayed. The climax is a dazzling manoeuvre with three of the jets arching in the formation of the Prince of Wales's Feathers, the heir apparent's heraldic badge. Rose-coloured letters in smoke spelled out the motto "Ich Dien" (I serve) dating back to the time of Edward, the Black Prince.

Happy Endings Part 1
The Very Best of BritishThis generous display of goodwill has followed more than a decade of acrimony. Charles, Prince of Wales, had married Lady Diana Spencer 17 years earlier, in a "fairy-tale wedding" that was little more than a sham. On their wedding night, he had apparently called his long-time mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles, to assure her that she was still his only love. Rumors soon spread that Diana had found a lover of her own. Despite the birth of two royal sons, Charles and Diana soon shared a divorce that was as spectacular as their wedding had been.

Diana's romantic history was not over yet. Photographers spotted her lounging on the deck of a yacht belonging to Dodi Fayed, an international playboy and Hollywood producer, and it was soon the picture seen 'round the world. Dodi's "Chariots of Fire" won the Academy Award as Best Motion Picture, while featuring a Jewish hero of the 1924 Olympics.

The famous couple made further headlines by surviving a near-death crash in a Paris tunnel, where the paparazzi photographers had pursued them. Dodi held Diana's hand while the fire brigade cut them out of the crushed vehicle, and the couple was married six months later.
This article is one of a series of standadlone articles forming part of thread developed collaboratively with the romantic author Jackie Rose whose work can be viewed at the Extasy Books web site.