But at the crucial moment on Wednesday night the Princess failed to break the curse - and the bottle.
But there's also the wonder--not the curse--of living in interesting times.
But the speed and flexibility of online ad buys, especially considering the increased use of ad exchanges and real-time bidding, represents a blessing and a curse for web-based advertising.
Abundant church-creation is a blessing and a curse for the house-church movement, too.
If the Boston Red Sox suffered through the Curse of the Bambino--an 86-year championship drought attributed to their sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees--call the Mets' whammy the Curse of the Straw Man.
During the recent commodities' boom, resource-rich countries have sought to escape the curse by pouring natural-resource income into sovereign-wealth funds (SWFs).
The curse of it -- at least for the one person every four years who is elected president -- is that there's no way to turn it off.
Democracy is now Indonesia's long-run blessing and short-term curse as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a year into his five-year term, struggles to trigger the economic growth that will salvage his populous country and, in the meantime, his own political skin.
Whether SolarCity has broken the so-called solar curse that has seen several solar manufacturers file for bankrupt and one high-prolife company, BrightSource Energy, pull its IPO this year, remains to be seen.
But health care may prove to be a short-term curse rather than a blessing.
The Hawks were the latest victim of the home-court curse on another ugly night at Indiana.
Besides, the curse of rising health-care costs afflicts private as well as public care, Mr Galbraith points out.
Lord Mayor Peter Abraham suggested the honour as Aardman won its fourth Academy Award for the film Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
BBC: NEWS | UK | England | Bristol/Somerset | Aardman offered freedom of city
It just happened, and Kettmann--perhaps presciently, since he wrote this book long before this year's American League Championship Series--has a hunch that John Henry's Red Sox will break the 86-year-old Curse of the Bambino sooner rather than later.
The second-term curse isn't inevitable.
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For decades, the so-called "Curse of the Bambino" haunted Red Sox Nation and was immortalised in Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy's book of the same name.
Owen had looked sharp, but his injury curse struck again as half-time approached when he pulled up as he raced for possession with Dunne in the area.
Curse is hoping for a 28-0 season, but something close to that would be great too.
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The Madden curse has even spread to runner-up cover athlete Michael Vick, who was already on the cover of Madden NFL 04.
The sponsors' curse seemed to become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
During the first three weeks after the start of the season, Team Curse came out swinging and went 7-0, undefeated in the season.
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So tight is the labour market that the economy of western Wyoming is suffering a first-world version of the resource curse.
Does that make Lewis the first two-time victim of the Madden Curse?
You weep for your i-phone app, and you curse the frac crews.
Barcelona are in pole position to make their way through to the semi-finals, but they will curse taking their foot off the gas and offering Arsenal some hope when they travel to the Nou Camp for the second leg.
But his top billing proved to be a curse as the world No. 4 crashed out 7-5 3-6 6-1 in the second round to Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
As newcomers curse the building trucks on their way to the ski-slopes, some business leaders say the entire political debate of cattle versus cul-de-sacs is missing the point.
Or it may reflect a set of cultural and financial prejudices - houses deemed to be a better investment than proper wealth-creating entrepreneurs - that has been the UK's curse.
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