A friend sent me a splendid story from London’s Daily Telegraph this morning. The headline alone is worth the price of admission:
“Arab ambassador discovers bride is bearded and cross-eyed behind veil”
This is definitely one of those stories that lives up to Horace’s injunction to delight as well as instruct. The moral: there’s no substitute for first-hand research. Seeing is believing. Accept no substitutes. When your fiancé’s mother offers you a picture of her daughter in lieu of allowing you to see her yourself, be skeptical, especially if there is more than one daughter in the family. According to the Telegraph, “The envoy had only met the woman a few times, during which she had hidden her face behind a niqab.” (In the market for one? Click here for online shopping options.) Alas, “After the marriage contract was signed, the ambassador attempted to kiss his bride-to-be. It was only then that he discovered her facial hair and eyes.”
The unnamed diplomat is out of pocket to the tune of one wife, since his petition to have the marriage annulled was granted by an Islamic Sharia court in the United Arab Emirates. He is also, however, out some ₤85,000, since the court denied his request to be reimbursed for the clothes, jewelry, and other gifts he had lavished on his bride-to-be.
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