To think that Charles and Camila are actually an example of genuine love

[Noddyandbiggerears]

Yes of course I feel sorry for Diana. Yes I think being a royal has a huge impact. But they let young and are now still together and seemingly happy in their 70’s, despite a lot of shunning, negative press, etc.

Well, Charles cheated, Diana cheated, neither of them exactly stuck to the marriage vows.

Whatever.

I judge Diana for so publicly having an affair with Will Carling and being a part of the breakup of his marriage. By that token she was no different to Camila really was she?

"A couple doesn't have to live together all the time to have a good or happy marriage, no, but I do think part of what makes it difficult and admirable for an average couple to stay together for their whole adult lives is that they don't often have the option (or desire, tbf) to live separately while married."

Totally agree with this.

Cohabitation is one of the fastest ways to kill a relationship IMHO.

Having your own separate spaces with a shared place to meet in the middle is the perfect solution.

@TommyKnocker

I think it would be interesting to see what public opinion would be if Camilla was considered by most to be 'prettier'.Depressingly I think you would find a lot more support for the couple. Especially if Diana had not been considered so attractive.

I wonder if it's not the other way around though...that a big reason that he's been able to rehabilitate her is it isn't that he went for someone more gorgeous and glamorous, that somehow he love story is 'truer' if she's 'plainer.' The underdog sort of psychology of it.

Which is also hideously misogynistic is its own way....

@AlternativePerspective why does everyone forget that? It was absolutely awful and she was so unrepentant. Also I’m pretty sure that she had affairs with several men who were married not just him.

@PrincessNutNut

How many marriages break up horribly but the people move on, you'd be mad to still be pining after all those years.

Their affair was of course not right, but the marriage was miserable, Diana also cheated (and I don't judge her harshly for it either, given the situation she was in) and it all happened back when people were dancing to Agadoo and thought mullets were cool. All the living relatives have made peace with it now, the kids are pushing 40 and married with kids of their own...are we really going to see this whole complicated, sad and now really quite old story as, "BUT THEY CHEATED"?

I really didn't think so many people would have such a simplistic view of it even now, but they have. This is why Camilla can't be styled Queen. Even Princess Consort is pushing it but I think they can get away with that.

The marriage was miserable precisely because PC married a young woman he didn’t love and carried on shagging the one he did. How could it ever have been happy?

I don’t think there’s any question Diana would have cheated if the marriage had been a happy one.

Charles was in a relationship with someone else, so Diana either stayed lonely and effectively single or found another relationship of her own elsewhere.

They probably are an example of true love, but it's a shame they had to drag a third party into that and wreck her life along the way.

I do laugh at posters saying they are devoted to each other.

How on earth do we know this? We don't. They might barely tolerate each other for all we know.
But FWIW I think the marriage suits them, after all that happened they can't split up anyway, even if they wanted to, so it's just what they wanted and waited for is as far as I would go.

How that will work when C is King though is another matter, Camilla might not be able to have such a private life, I bet she's dreading it.

I don't think Dianna would have cheated if she had arrived at her marriage without another woman already inside it.

I think the comparison between Diana's and Camillas looks is really interesting.

I think there is a certain breed of man who will always pick the most attractive woman regardless of anything else...men like this literally cannot understand why if you have a choice of two women, you'd go for the least attractive one. Hence they cannot understand the Charles/Camilla thing.

For women, it removes their power. If your husband chooses a woman less attractive than you, then you lose one aspect of your power...you can't dress up, put on more make up, have your hair done...you already won that race but it wasn't enough... Not talking so much about Diana's feelings here but explaining why other women used Camillas looks as a metaphorical stick to beat her with.

I don’t think there’s any question Diana would have cheated if the marriage had been a happy one.

I don't think either of them would have cheated if they'd been in love and happy. They weren't.

I don't judge Diana harshly for her affairs. As you say, she was miserable. Who wouldn't be?

It was a mess and as so often is the case with these sorts of stories, I don't think there are goodies and baddies, there's just a tangle of sad, damaged people who do some good things and some bad things. Should we judge people by their worst choices in their worst times?

With all things considered, I can't see any reason why Charles and Camilla shouldn't be allowed to be happy now. It doesn't mean they were always their best selves or that they didn't do anything wrong, but vengefulness from strangers decades after the fact, when their own families have made peace and acceptance with it, just doesn't seem to achieve anything.

'Too many people seem to struggle to separate real life from a drama based on historical events like The Crown. I love the Crown - but they have invented a lot, including the fact that Charles and Camilla were "together" all the way through his marriage, and hers.'

I find it surprising they are allowed to misrepresent as blatantly as they are. Yes it's a drama but in which case change all the details. Change names, have the Queen have 2 children and not 4. To have all names, events, outfits exactly the same complete with spiittng image style impersonation but then say ah it's not all true its a drama seems a bit silly. People are going to question the accuracy as much as if they gave Diana an 80s curly perm. Netflix can apparently do what they like.

I do wonder what the public perception would be if Diana was still alive. She did some pretty questionable things while they split up. Of course this may well have been as a reaction to the extreme stress of it all.

She did some pretty questionable things while they split up.

like what ??

The affair with Will Carling was pretty nasty. The alleged malicious phone calls to the house of another married man she had an affair with.
The talking publicly about her and Charles’ sex life

Yes adultery and the other women, the evidence of true love!

@Noddyandbiggerears

The affair with Will Carling was pretty nasty. The alleged malicious phone calls to the house of another married man she had an affair with. The talking publicly about her and Charles’ sex life

So you judge Diana...

but not Camilla...

interesting 🤔

@BlueThistles no - I don’t - I said I wondered what perception would be now if she’d lived. I think two very unsuited made several mistakes but for some reason one of them is more vilified for theirs than the other. And objectively - Camilla had an affair with one married man - who she married and is still with in their 70s.

It's really quite simple for me; I don't believe - and never have - that behaving badly's a recipe for lasting happiness

It's not for nothing Camilla was called "the laziest woman in England", and no doubt it suits her to enjoy the goodies and otherwise live her own life except when Charles has a tantrum and she's called on to calm him down. Not sure how it'll work when he expects her to be Queen though, but at least it won't be a long reign

[quote Noddyandbiggerears]@BlueThistles no - I don’t - I said I wondered what perception would be now if she’d lived. I think two very unsuited made several mistakes but for some reason one of them is more vilified for theirs than the other. And objectively - Camilla had an affair with one married man - who she married and is still with in their 70s.[/quote]
Because he was 30 and she was 18 when they started dating. Because he never loved her and never stopped shagging his mistress.

I take a dim view of 30 year old men who target teenagers for their own ends.

I think they're an example of genuine hypocrisy. Head of the Church of England??
Just like in a job you don't always get to do the things you love all the time, the Monarchy cannot have their cake and eat it.
They are in a position of absolute privilege and, as role models and state leaders, if they cannot fulfill those standards they should abdicate that responsibility.
I respect the Queen enormously, but Charles not one iota.

Charles will not only be king but also the head of the Church of England so I expected a higher standard of behaviour from him. I would not like to see Camilla as Queen, consort maybe but not Queen.

@Twillow to be fair - you do know why the Church of England exists right?

[quote Noddyandbiggerears]@Twillow to be fair - you do know why the Church of England exists right?[/quote]
If we’re holding Henry VIII as the general standard of behaviour I guess Diana was lucky she wasn’t beheaded.

Imagine what it would have been like if Diana had lived and they had stayed together, amicably. She would have been the most amazing Queen, going round the world making a massive difference to everything she touched.

It would have been lovely.

[quote Noddyandbiggerears]@Twillow to be fair - you do know why the Church of England exists right?[/quote]
Yes indeed - ironic isn't it! Rulers changing the law to suit their own needs....funny how the Church of England only permitted divorcees to remarry in 2002, shortly before Charles and Camilla get hitched.