Charles and Camilla Thriller
CNN International is based in London, and many of their talking heads are Brits or Commonwealth citizens. Naturally, they're all a-twitter over the announcement that Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are getting married in April. I can only imagine the orgasms rippling through the British press establishment.
Imagine. Tsunami victims starving, genocide in Darfur, war in Iraq, North Korea with nuclear weapons, Iran threatening in not-quite-so-many words to unleash the mother of all battles if they are attacked (where have we heard that one before?), the EU backing down from meeting Kyoto goals, progress (or not) on peace in the Middle East...whew! And one of the biggest stories of the day is a middle-aged single father finally decided to marry his girlfriend.
Actually, I'm not that upset about the attention this announcement is getting. I like the British monarchy and the history and tradition it keeps alive. Sometimes I think we could use a king or queen to respect as head of state while we kick the hell out of the president as head of government.
Some of the hottest news seems to be that Camilla will be Duchess of Cornwall, not Princess of Wales. She'll get that title because Charles is secondarily the Duke of Cornwall, and apparently that's the most appropriate thing to do. See, Charles would be head of the Church of England, and since they've both been divorced, they can't really be married in the tradition of that church, but the Archbishop of Canterbury says it's OK, so they can. But after he becomes king, she still can't be queen. She'll be the Princess Consort, apparently because she's been doing a lot of consorting with the king. Go figure.
I think there are two really cool aspects to this. First, Charles had to ask his mom if it was OK to get married. I like that. Second, Willie and Harry will now have a stepmom. Next time Harry shows up dressed like a Nazi, maybe his stepmom will give his ears a good boxing.
The elephant in the room, of course, is the memory of Princess Diana. Charles was carrying on with Camilla throughout their marriage, and as Diana once publicly said there were three people in the marriage, and it got too crowded. Diana has been mentioned several times on CNN today, but it was done obliquely and very carefully. I guess life goes on.
Anyway, this story is a pleasant break from all the depressing news it replaced.
Imagine. Tsunami victims starving, genocide in Darfur, war in Iraq, North Korea with nuclear weapons, Iran threatening in not-quite-so-many words to unleash the mother of all battles if they are attacked (where have we heard that one before?), the EU backing down from meeting Kyoto goals, progress (or not) on peace in the Middle East...whew! And one of the biggest stories of the day is a middle-aged single father finally decided to marry his girlfriend.
Actually, I'm not that upset about the attention this announcement is getting. I like the British monarchy and the history and tradition it keeps alive. Sometimes I think we could use a king or queen to respect as head of state while we kick the hell out of the president as head of government.
Some of the hottest news seems to be that Camilla will be Duchess of Cornwall, not Princess of Wales. She'll get that title because Charles is secondarily the Duke of Cornwall, and apparently that's the most appropriate thing to do. See, Charles would be head of the Church of England, and since they've both been divorced, they can't really be married in the tradition of that church, but the Archbishop of Canterbury says it's OK, so they can. But after he becomes king, she still can't be queen. She'll be the Princess Consort, apparently because she's been doing a lot of consorting with the king. Go figure.
I think there are two really cool aspects to this. First, Charles had to ask his mom if it was OK to get married. I like that. Second, Willie and Harry will now have a stepmom. Next time Harry shows up dressed like a Nazi, maybe his stepmom will give his ears a good boxing.
The elephant in the room, of course, is the memory of Princess Diana. Charles was carrying on with Camilla throughout their marriage, and as Diana once publicly said there were three people in the marriage, and it got too crowded. Diana has been mentioned several times on CNN today, but it was done obliquely and very carefully. I guess life goes on.
Anyway, this story is a pleasant break from all the depressing news it replaced.
4 Comments:
I think there are two really cool aspects to this. First, Charles had to ask his mom if it was OK to get married. I like that. Second, Willie and Harry will now have a stepmom. Yeah, I'm sure the boys are f***ing thrilled, Tom. LOL
LOL Scott! My thoughts exactly. "Oh goodie, the tart dad used to break Mummy's heart is movin' in. Bitch."
That was one relationship I just never got... and I couldn't care less if Charles is happy. Poor Di is probably rolling in her grave. At the very least, I hope she haunts them rotten.
You can easily make the argument Charles waited for Harry to go off to school (this year) before announcing the nuptials. W & H won't be making too many trips home in the future.
Well, Wills and Harry are reportedly very much in favor of the marriage, if not downright ecstatic. Right. Like, what was the family going to say?
Esther's quote is probably closer to the truth, I'd guess.
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