The wedding dress, besides being refined and stunning, carried a special feature for the Princess. Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Princess Eugenie, deliberately had her wedding dress designed with a low back in order to reveal her scar from a surgery she underwent. The princess had suffered from spine scoliosis at the age of twelve, and the scar has remained on her back ever since.
Scoliosis is a condition where the backbone curves to one side, causing asymmetrical appearances of the body. Other signs of scoliosis are the ribcage standing out, one shoulder being higher than the other, and one side of the hip being pushed out. Scoliosis may also lead to back and chest pain or even lung and heart defects in severe cases. When the curve is, a surgery is conducted to correct it. The symptom often appears during the age of teens, with girls being more likely. Often, the causes are unknown.
I myself was told that my spine was curved at the age of twelve. When I first looked at my X-ray photos, it was devastating and shocking. From the day I was diagnosed with scoliosis, I had to put on corset braces around my body every night to prevent the spine from curving even more. Fortunately, as I stopped growing taller, so did my spine and I did not have to undergo any surgery. However, once the spine is curved, it is irreversible. My body has remained slightly lopsided. Though my mother says it is barely noticeable, as a girl always being pressurized by the perfect body images, I still felt uncomfortable wearing clothes that would reveal my crooked body line.
So, when I saw Princess Eugenie’s scar, I was astonished. Every bride would want to look flawless without a single scratch at their wedding—especially a royal wedding with the entire world watching you. However, Princess Eugenie was not one of them. She used this wedding on the world stage to encourage young people like me suffering from scoliosis to stand up and be confident of who you are. Her amazingly proud look proved that all girls can shine not matter what.
So what if our bodies are not perfect? So what about looking lopsided? So what if you have scars? They are all a part of our bodies and they will always be. Not “imperfect”, but “I’m perfect”. Princess Eugenie—and her wedding dress—helped me realize that.