Recently I was confronted by the disturbing news that Prince Andrew was relinquishing his title as Earl of the Garter. This ominous news led me to a search on the Order of the Garter.
At my nephew's wedding, I was thrown a garter and caught it. Apparently, it meant that I would soon marry. It didn't happen, although the garter itself has an exalted position on my living room tchotchkes table. How proud I am to possess this object and how horrible it must be to have to leave the sacred order that goes back to the fourteenth century.
Traditionally a garter was needed to keep a stocking or sock attached properly to the leg, in effect to keep the object from drooping. Modern clothing includes cuffs that keep the stocking or sock upright on the leg, leaving the use of a garter to be unnecessary.
Being stripped of one's garterhood seems maudlin. Sarah is no longer the Duchess of York. The tragedies that befall the British monarchy.
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