> Hello, I have followed the British Royal Family for most of my life.
> Prince Charles will always be my favorite prince and Lady Diana will
> always be my favorite princess. When I was in college I made a
> scrapbook about Prince Charles with photocopies of magazine articles
> about him. It starts in 1948 when he was born and ends in 1972.
> (That's where I was when I graduated, heh.) Nevertheless, it's a unique
> look at the early life of The Prince of Wales. He was actually a pretty
> cute guy back when he still had all the hair on the back of his head.
> Prince Charles and Lady Diana married when I was five years old. They
> were like second parents to me and Princes William and Harry are like
> little brothers to me. When the book Diana: Her True Story by Andrew
> Morton came out, I was very upset. I was dismayed at how unhappy poor
> Diana was: her parents' divorce, her bulimia, but most of all, Camilla.
> I remember my mom showing me Camilla's picture in a magazine and telling
> me "This is Charles' mistress". I thought it was a joke. It had to be
> a joke. There was no way it could be true. I wondered what kind of
> woman would Charles rather be with than the beautiful Diana, and thought
> she would truly have to be some kind of goddess/beauty queen/swimsuit
> model type. I just could not believe the reality. It made no sense.
> Later the Tampax tapes came out, and I was amazed that the classy and
> dignified Charles was talking about *that* subject. I couldn't help but
> laugh at the humiliation Charles must have been going through at the time.
> Charles & Diana's separation was a sad time in my life. I kept wanting
> them to get back together. Whenever I saw pictures of Charles, Diana,
> William & Harry together like at the 50th anniversary of V-E and V-J
> days, I was always so happy. I remember Prince Charles interview with
> Jonathan Dimbleby where he admitted to the affair with Camilla. He
> looked so sad and sorry. I guess after the Tampax tapes he was just
> confirming what everybody already knew anyway. He said it after their
> marriage had irretrievably broken down, which means all the stories that
> he slept with Camilla the night before his wedding, etc. is pure bunk.
> I know Diana had affairs too, which is understandable. It is still a
> mystery to me who cheated first, and I do believe it *does* matter. If
> your spouse is cheating, what are you supposed to do? Stay home alone
> in your lonely bed?
> I was excited to see Diana's Panorama interview on TV. I hardly ever
> heard Diana speak before, although I'd certainly seen plenty of
> photographs of her. Nevertheless I was unhappy that the Queen ordered
> Charles & Diana to divorce. I was also unhappy that there were people
> who did not want Charles to be King. He is the Queen's oldest son, of
> course he should be the next King. People want to punish him for "what
> he did to Diana". It just makes me dislike Camilla because she makes
> Charles unpopular and I want him to be popular and well liked.
> I was incredibly sad when Diana died and I don't think there will be a
> part of me that will ever really get over it. It was the end of an
> era. I remember Prince Charles crying after seeing Diana's body. I had
> never seen Charles cry before. You don't cry like that when somebody
> has died unless you love that person very much. Why not consider Prince
> Charles to be Diana's widower? So they were divorced only a year
> earlier, big deal. They had been married for 15 years and had two
> children together. They were the Prince & Princess of Wales. I'm sure
> he felt like he was Diana's widower deep down inside his heart.
> Do you think Charles would have dared marry Camilla if Diana was still
> alive? Sometimes I come across interesting old news articles doing
> Google searches. I found one from early 1997 that said Charles would
> have liked to have done some public appearances with Diana that year if
> their schedules would allow. If Charles & Diana continued to appear
> publicly as The Prince & Princess of Wales on occasion, it would make
> having a new wife a bit awkward and unnecessary, wouldn't it? While I
> was not pleased when I learned the news that Charles was going to marry
> Camilla, I tried to tell myself that Diana was gone and Charles would
> probably be awfully lonely without Camilla. I can't help but feel a
> tiny bit jealous though. I still have kind of a crush on Prince
> Charles, although I'm sure he would tell me "I'm much too old for you
> dear :)" or words to that effect, lol. I also think that it is very
> sweet of Charles to NOT call Camilla the Princess of Wales. I think he
> knows how much that title meant to Diana and how upset she would be if
> she knew Camilla had it. Charles knows Diana will always be his
> Princess of Wales. Camilla being the Duchess of Cornwall is a fair
> compromise.
