Why Does Princess Eugenie Have That Back Scar?

Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty Images

As much as we love a royal wedding, most are highly predictable. On the list of things you can always expect: A long, white dress. A tiara. Bushels of ornate flowers. A crowd. The Queen.

On Friday, as Princess Eugenie was driven to her own royal nuptials to Jack Brooksbank, it was all business as usual. But then the bride got out of the car, and turned her back to the photographers.

There, from the top of her neck straight down her back, you could see a scar, which was clearly visible in her low-backed Peter Pilotto dress.

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This moment was no accident. In fact, Eugenie specifically requested that the dress be designed to show the scar, which is a result of a surgery she had when she was 12 years old to treat the curvature of her spine, or scoliosis.

While people were quick to note how "brave" Eugenie was for showing her scar at such an event, Eugenie stressed before her wedding that she was merely doing this as a way to stand up for others who may have gone through something similar, and redefine what beauty can look like in the process.

Brave Eugenie shows off the scars from her scoliosis operation in her low-backed Peter Pilotto dress. The princess had surgery for the spinal condition when she was 12 and underwent an eight-hour operation to correct it. pic.twitter.com/UWA4eNJW3T
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) October 12, 2018

"I had an operation when I was 12 on my back, and you'll see on Friday [at the wedding], but it's a lovely way to honor the people who looked after me and a way of standing up for young people who also go through this," she told ITV's This Morning. "I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it's really special to stand up for that."

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"I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars."

Princess Eugenie

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This summer, Eugenie, the queen's granddaughter, went so far as to share her childhood X-rays of her spine on Instagram as well.

View this post on Instagram

Today is International Scoliosis Awareness Day and I’m very proud to share my X Rays for the very first time. I also want to honour the incredible staff at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital who work tirelessly to save lives and make people better. They made me better and I am delighted to be their patron of the Redevelopment Appeal. To hear more of my story visit http://www.rnohcharity.org/the-appeal/princess-eugenie-s-story @the.rnoh.charity #TheRNOHCharity #RedevelopmentAppeal #RNOH #NHS

A post shared by Princess Eugenie (@princesseugenie) on Jun 30, 2018 at 8:53am PDT

Already on Twitter, Eugenie's scar is having an effect on the millions of people around the world who have similarly prominent scars themselves.

I didn’t realise I had anything in common with princess #Eugenie , but this is wonderful. I exposed my #scoliosis scar in my wedding dress, but never thought it beautiful - until now. It’s part of me & I’m lucky to be able to tell the tale! Thank you #NHS https://t.co/jYzK4wMkLj
— Emma (@EmmaL_D) October 12, 2018

As someone with the same scar (who also didn't try to hide it at her wedding), I am so glad Princess Eugenie did this! https://t.co/UgWso446Bs
— Kristen Soltis Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) October 12, 2018

As someone with severe scarring on my back and a spinal fusion from T4-T10, I was incredibly emotional to see Princess Eugenie proudly showing her scar today. Congratulations to them both on their wedding day. https://t.co/83shaHW80L
— Dr. Eimear Pedersen (Downey) (@DowneyPedersen) October 12, 2018

I literally don't give a shit about Princess Eugenie getting married but she's had the same surgery as me to fix her scoliosis & wore a backless wedding dress and it sounds so silly but I think it's so brave & it makes me want to war more backless things despite this horrid scar
— ♡ Maddie ♡ (@maddiejaydee) October 12, 2018

Princess Eugenie's wedding dress showed off her scoliosis scar and I am feeling nothing less than EMPOWERED
— Al♡ (@Al_ligat0r) October 12, 2018

Princess Eugenie really is so inspiring to other sufferers having an open back wedding dress to show off her scoliosis scar! Makes me especially proud of who I am #RoyalWedding2
— megan (@megan_sawojka) October 12, 2018

Although scars are still commonly seen as imperfections, people like Eugenie and celebrities like Padma Lakshmi proudly putting them on display disrupts that narrative, and shows the world that they're not something that defines you, and certainly not something that you have to hide.

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