Today is Prince Charles and Camilla's 4th wedding anniversary. I know - you can't believe I'm keeping track of such trivia, and you're right - it's a little weird. I just happened to read somewhere that April 8th is the day they got married.
This whole thing is interesting to me because there was a time when the thought that the two of them would actually get married was considered to signal the end of civilization as we know it, but as far as I can tell, they're just a boring old married couple. Life as we know it hasn't come to an end. Don't you wonder how British history of the last 28 years would have been different if Charles had just been allowed to marry Camilla in the first place? As I understand it, she was considered to be not virginal enough, not aristocratic enough, not pretty enough, etc., to be the Princess of Wales, but doesn't it make you wonder - pretty enough for what, exactly. Diana was pretty enough and then some, not to mention aristocratic and young enough to presumably be a virgin, and we all know how that turned out.
Standards of acceptable marriage-partner-choosing for British royals have certainly been evolving over the last 75 years or so. In 1936, King Edward the 8th was forced to abdicate the throne and live the rest of his life in Eurotrash exile because his chosen bride was not only American but had already been divorced twice. In 1955, the Queen's sister Princess Margaret was not allowed to marry the man she fell in love with because he was not only divorced but was a member of the royal household staff - in other words, a servant. It's just not done, my dear. The first wave of scandalous Windsor divorces, not to mention the delicious irony of it all, came in the late 1970s, when Margaret was allowed to divorce the man she had eventually married instead.
And now we have Charles and Camilla, happily married and quietly waiting for the day when he becomes king. When they got married four years ago it was stated that when Charles ascends the throne Camilla will be known as the "Princess Consort" instead of becoming Queen, which is what the King's wife would normally be called. Presumably this is for the same reason that she is now called the Duchess of Cornwall instead of using her legally correct title of Princess of Wales. Apparently it's believed in Britain that people with fond memories of Princess Diana couldn't cope with the hated Camilla using the same title that Diana had for 16 years. I don't know if the verbal sleight of hand is fooling anyone, but at least one socially savvy British writer is betting that eventually Camilla will in fact be declared Queen. Given everything else that has changed where Prince Charles's personal life is concerned, I'm not betting against it.
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