Royal style & gossip: from christening gowns to tennis lawns

[QueenOfTheAndals]

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And I think we all can agree that it's much more fun if we stick to critiquing the clothes rather than the women!

I think it was Kanga - Dale Tyron @QueenOfTheAndals although supposedly they were just ‘good friends’.

@QueenOfTheAndals Charles was also having an affair with Dale "Kanga" Tryon. I don't know of any others.

Whoops, cross post.

Does anyone else think that in that photo (Bansheezus Sun 07-Jul-19 21:37:41) Diana looks very artificial ? To me she looks out of it /drugged !
And my own view on Kate's dress at the christening is a miss .The waist looks too high and it does nothing for her figure . Don't mind the headband and shoes .

Also as my aunt always used to say - you hope love will follow but it may not happen & you just have to hope for discretion. (ie that the husband won’t flaunt his affairs). Luckily things are a bit different now. Last proper arranged marriage in my family was about 14/15 years ago.

I really must stop talking about my family as could be very outing.

I knew about Charles and Kanga but I thought that relationship predated his marriage? Gosh so he wasn't even "faithful" to Camilla!

Not that outing @GotToGoMyOwnWay, arranged introductions are still quite common in some cultures! I know a few people who met their spouses through their parents or a matchmaker. They wouldn't have been made to marry them if they didn't like them though!

Makes you wonder who Charles is having an affair with now.

Oh don't, I've only just eaten breakfast @Rhubarbisevil...

It was not an arranged marriage in the sense you describe, @GotToGoMyOwnWay. Arranged royal marriages are a thing of the very distant past. Thankfully we no longer treat women as chattels to be included as part of a property transaction.

Diana believed he had feelings for her. She certainly had feelings for him. She knew about Camilla but it's unlikely she understood the nature of their relationship at the time of her marriage, or at least until the point of no return.

What I do think is that Diana was more naive than most girls her age as she'd led a very sheltered life.

There was a documentary about Kanga Tryon not too long ago, on C5. It's worth a watch if you can find it on Demand.

I think we were all more naive in those days Queen. They were very different times.

Couldn’t agree more @Myimaginarycathasfleas

I’m glad my dcs will not have to go through with arranged marriages. Matchmakers I can get but no forced marriage!

I think Western understanding of arranged marriage is much better these days. At one time they would all have been assumed to be "forced", in the sense of no consent from the bride. Didn't Nadiya Hussain of Bake Off fame have an arranged marriage?

Diana read a lot of Barbara Cartland novels - don’t marry a 19 year old step granddaughter of Barbara Cartland and expect her not to have a huge shock at the realities of marriage!

"I think we were all more naive in those days, Queen. They were very different times."
Absolutely, Myimaginarycathasfleas!
There is so much more scrutiny of the behaviour and motivation of people in the public eye than there was when I was growing up.

peridito
I can see what you are saying re Diana in that picture.
I just thought the photographer had told Diana to put in a dreamy expression and used some kind of filter.
I really disliked her hair style - too "bouffant" at the time. She also had a short but semi permed look later which I also disliked.
Photos taken years later by Patrick Demarchelier with her hair cropped look amazing

Its funny how, apart from politicians, there aren't really that many women in the public eye with short hair anymore. Charlene of Monaco is the only royal who comes to mind.

I think that’s an age thing surely? There aren’t many woman over 50 in the public eye apart from politicians.

Not that I’m suggesting women should cut their hair as they age but eyesight tells me many do.

Yes but the expectations of an arranged marriage where it is wholly commonplace within that culture are not the same as what was going on here. It's not commonplace. You and your family have a frame of reference for what it means to be in an arranged marriage.

She was 19 he was a prince you can see how she would get swept away by it all.

A bit like Meghan maybe. The dream v reality of being a princess.

Diana just looks miserable and like she wishes she was somewhere else in that photo to me. Poor woman.
I don't think there is any real evidence Charles had an affair with Kanga whilst with Camilla. I think that's just speculation.
My understanding is that he didn't get a chance to ask Camilla to marry him. He was away and she married Andrew in his absence. Not sure why she did that, but he was a very eligible bachelor at the time.
Charles married Diana because he needed a virgin with a blameless reputation and she fitted the bill. He found her congenial but certainly didn't love her. I think she thought he loved her but she had never had a boyfriend and was very naive. She probably thought she loved him but she hardly knew him and actually spent very little time in his company before the wedding. I think she got cold feet in the lead up but felt she was trapped and couldn't back out. Her own mother was cold and unsupportive and her older sisters did not have a close relationship with her. She was just a brood mare really. It's tragic.
APB was unfaithful and a serial womaniser so Camilla went back to Charles. Charles gave his marriage a try but gave up fairly quickly. Diana then looked for lovers herself but she always wanted Charles to love her and for the marriage to work.

She was from a very aristocratic family her ‘culture’ was very very similar to his. There’s no comparison with Meghan.

@hopeishere - if she hadn’t known about Camilla beforehand I’d agree but she did. May not have known the extent but she knew enough to talk to her sisters & they persuaded her to go through with the marriage. Her family I believe were just as culpable as the royal family. She was a breeding machine for the royals but her family must have seen some advantage for them imo.

Hopefully we get some royal frocks at Wimbledon today

I think she assumed the marriage would make things “official” ie he’d stop being a playboy. Also she was incredibly pretty and young, from an old family - maybe she assumed she could win him over. And she being the mother of his children... Almost feel it’s a case of marry the girl and make her accept the situation later, as she slowly realises the reality and that she’s already locked in (maybe protecting her kids, and up against everyone’s expectations). Basically all a bit Dr Foster, but posh and having to pretend you’re happy.

Interesting to think of Charlene! She didn’t seem very happy at the wedding, but what do I know.

GotToGoMyOwnWay SO interesting to hear your thoughts/ experiences. Really not so different to past generations here, my own family included.