August Annotations

Official Stance on Diana & Charles: Analyzing the facts and dealing with them

Family and Personal Backgrounds

Lady Diana Spencer was from one of the oldest aristocratic families in Britain. She was raised with luxury and privilege, brought up within the royal circle. The Spencers were known for their royal associations and were the epitome of a Court family: Diana’s father was an equerry to HM King George VI and the present Queen, and Diana’s great-aunt had been a Woman of the Bedchamber to the Queen Mum. Diana played with Princes Andrew and Edward when they were young, as they were all the same age. She and brother Charles even made Christmastime visits to Sandringham to see the Queen.

When Diana came of age, she took some money she had inherited and moved into her own apartment in London with some flatmates. She lived the unburdened bachelorette life in complete anonymity with her friends.

Prince Charles, on the other hand, could not lead his life however he wanted. He had to construct a life for himself within the confines of the Monarchy and in the public eye. The Prince was indeed raised in privilege, but due to his position as heir to the throne, he was responsible for more than just his own personal wants.

In order to “toughen” Charles, his father sent him to spartan boarding schools that tested one’s mental and physical stamina to the limit. Charles, who never really took to that sort of life, instead leaned towards cultured interests such as art, books, and gardening. When he was older, he came to appreciate the physical tests that came with serving in the Royal Navy: how to navigate ships, fly helicopters, and most importantly, he learned how to work in a team. He got to know many people outside of his circle of aristocracy.

Charles, as the crown prince of the people of the UK and Commonwealth, has to be informed, intelligent, and publicly aware. He has had many admirable accomplishments in projects concerning foreign affairs, the environment, and Britain’s role on the world stage. Diana wasn’t raised to think of the nation, and it was hard for her to adapt to that line of thought once married. Thus the problems started…

Love and Marriage

Many years ago, Charles fell in love with Camilla Shand. He couldn’t decide whether he should marry her as she wasn’t, as some have said, an ideal candidate for a future queen. She had a “past”, didn’t have model good looks, and was a tomboy. Charles debated his feelings of love and considered whar the public’s and establishment’s feelings would be towards her. He had been raised with the purpose of serving his country, so many important decisions like marriage had to be made with the country and monarchy in mind. Would they accept Camilla? Charles returned to the Navy and decided to think about it a bit more. While he was away, Camilla decided to marry Andrew Parker-Bowles. Deeply saddened, the Prince realized his marriage prospects would no longer include the former Miss Shand.

Charles decided to focus anew for finding an ideal woman. It was not easy. There didn’t seem to be any girls who would give up their wealthy, free lifestyle for that of a life of tradition and duty. Poor Charles; in his mind their feelings were justified. Who would want to marry him? He was a daunting prospect to the Ladies of the realm, not a desirable one.

Then he met a girl who seemed to be a great match - Sarah Spencer. She was a strong willed, outgoing girl with an impeccable pedigree. She was the daughter of Earl Spencer, the aforementioned equerry to HM King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.

They dated for a time, but then one day Sarah publicly announced that she would never marry Charles. She pointedly told the press she would never marry someone she didn’t love, “whether it was the dustman or the king of England”. The hint was dropped. Crushed, Charles moved on.

Charles felt that things were a bit hopeless. Soon that view would be turned around with a meeting in a hay field. He struck up a friendship with Sarah’s younger sister, Diana, while out at a shooting party. She had had a girlish crush on Charles’ younger brother Andrew, who was her age, and once thought she might marry him. Now Diana was starting to wonder if perhaps it was Charles who might be ‘the One’.

Even though the Spencers and Windsors had been closely tied together for many years, the heiress and the Prince were only just beginning to know each other on an adult level. They began talking, and eventually the nineteen-year-old Diana would find herself as the top candidate for Princess of Wales and future queen. She had gone hunting with him, listened to him speak of books he’d read, and fished on the River Dee. Diana had made it seem that she was really involved with all sorts of outdoor and intellectual pursuits, just like Charles. She desperately wanted him to like her, and wanted to be a fairy tale princess with a charming prince for a husband.

Diana was excited to think that she had bested her elder sister for the Prince of Wales’ affections. Her natural sense of entitlement and competitiveness gave her a rush of exhilaration at this thought. She was also giddy with the tidal wave of publicity she was receiving. She was ready to marry Charles, and when presented with a tray of rings, picked out the biggest engagement ring she could lay hands on. Diana was going to be the Princess of Wales!

Charles was over the moon that both his family and the public approved of Diana. He felt he had made a wonderful match. Soon, the facade that Diana had built up around herself would begin to crumble.

As the wedding day approached, the princess-to-be started to lose her nerve. She suddenly realized what was going to be expected of her. Courtiers and other members of the Royal Household had instructed her on various aspects of royal life and the position of Princess of Wales. They gave her books about previous Princesses of Wales, namely Alexandra and Mary, and helped Diana to set up her own office.

Daydreams were over; the work was beginning. Diana realized that her own wants had to be placed aside most of the time, in order to help represent Queen and country. She panicked. She wasn’t ready to accept that royal duties would dictate her schedule. She was also really bored by Charles and his interests, his friends, and the Monarchy itself. She couldn’t go on pretending, but she was stuck now. Invitations were sent, dresses being made, and tea towels created. Unlike the other aristocratic girls Charles dated, Diana was not aware of what a royal wife would have to do, strangely enough, and therefore did not know how to decline before getting in over her head.

Throughout the rest of their married life, Diana would fight Charles and the Royal Family. She wandered away from her husband and started hobnobbing with celebrities, lunching in fashionable restaurants, and spent thousands of pounds on her personal appearance: coifs, makeup, manicures, and personal trainers. Then there were Diana’s astrologers, vacations, and colonic irrigations. Charles and the Queen were not amused by her excessive spending habits, nor were they keen on her abuse of royal privilege and the media. They tried to get her to curb her spending on such flights of fancy, but Diana refused to listen. She felt that she deserved every luxury she could find, and for a while the Queen allowed her everything but the kingdom itself in order to keep her happy. Diana was, after all, the mother of the Queen’s grandsons, and the mother of the future king. Her Majesty let Diana run the gamut for a while in the early years, believing that she was still adjusting to royal life.

Funny, it looked like Diana had a pretty royal, aristocratic life already by being born a Spencer. Yet she still had to “adjust”? After a while, I think the Queen got fed up and realized that Diana was simply not going to be mature enough to handle royal life and protocol. She was heartbroken.

Charles, in the meantime, had no idea what to do with the mood swings and illnesses that Diana had and decided to turn to a friendship with Camilla Parker-Bowles in order to seek advice. He had never known anything like bulimia before. He had been sweet and caring towards Sarah Spencer when she revealed she had anorexia, but even then he still did not fully understand those types of illness. No one in his family, nor in his group of friends, had ever experienced anything like it before, so it was quite foreign to him.

At first, Charles believed Diana’s mood swings needed to be helped. He, too, decided to just let Diana do whatever she wanted until she adjusted. Princess Margaret, the Queen’s own sister, also agreed with this tactic. Bolstered by his aunt, Charles called in the best psychoanalysts and psychiatrists he could find as well. Then he realized that he could not get her to settle into the royal routine happily no matter what he did. He tried for years to work things out with Diana, especially with their children in mind. In the end, Charles eventually gave up. Diana had even started taking lovers, and so Charles decided that if she could not stand him that much, he would take up a relationship elsewhere, too. Since he could not establish a normal relationship with his wife, he re-established one with Camilla, a longtime friend and a woman his own age who shared many interests. He loved her deeply, and stuck by her.

Diana and Charles drifted further and further apart. She traveled extensively, promoting charities everywhere and giving the perfect photo opportunities to journalists. For swanky events, she dressed in in low-cut gowns. She even telephoned journalists as a “friend of the Princess” so that they would turn up at the most unexpected places, splashing her photos across the newspapers the next day. Diana tried to outdo her husband and the Queen to show them that she would not be held back by rules and traditions. She wanted things her way, and she wanted to be the star.

The Queen advised Charles and Diana to divorce. It was no good trying to keep up appearances. The public knew all too well that Diana was bored to tears by royal life and Charles. She said as much in the Panorama interview and her book. The marriage came to and end in 1996.

Knowing that the worst was behind them, Charles and Diana were actually able to mend some fences and remain on good terms. As the mother of his children, Charles knew Diana was an important part of their family life and wanted things to be as cordial and happy as possible to give William and Harry stability.

Diana started dating Dodi Fayed, son of notorious business tycoon Mohammed al-Fayed. She kept up with her charities and various commitments, and spent as much time with her sons as possible. She frequently included them in her yacht trips with Dodi and the Fayed family. Having Dodi bolstered Diana’s confidence and sense of security, and with that came her acceptance of Camilla as Charles’ companion.
Meanwhile, Charles’ and Camilla’s relationship continued to blossom. The Prince of Wales promoted his organic food “Duchy Originals”, spoke out in support of UK farmers, and devoted much of his time and energy into “The Prince’s Trust” for the youth of Britain. Things were going smoothly between the prince and princess, but horrifically everything came crashing down on the night of August 31, 1997 when Diana died in a fatal car accident in Paris.

Today, Charles is working as hard as ever, but puts in a lot of time with both of his sons. He always remembered how lonely he felt when his parents traveled extensively, so Charles makes sure that he is in constant contact with his sons. He is always there for them, especially when he had to help William and Harry adjust to life without Diana.

The boys have also accepted Camilla as a part of their father’s world. Even though their mother has passed away, they still have a life to live and time is short - no time for petty insecurities and grudges. They both realize that Camilla makes their father happy, and upon meeting her they found her to be a pleasant person. The princes were friends with her children also, and they all get along very well.

Looking back, Charles should never have married Diana, because he was expecting someone who would help him in his duties and support him. He should’ve realized that a nineteen year old might not be on the same level as a thirty year old. However, because the public and the monarchy wanted someone without a past, who was pretty and an ideal princess-figure, Diana seemed the most suitable.

Camilla will not be another Princess of Wales nor queen. Public mood dictates that there has already been one Princess of Wales for the Prince, and there shall not be another. Camilla is a central figure in Charles’ life however, and should there be a marriage, she will act in the capacity of consort regardless. We must accept her, as even Diana herself did.

©2004 MandysRoyalty.org