I think we are talking about different things. Being in touch with Camilla is very different than continuing a love affair during the first few years of her marriage. I know people who have been able to remain friends with their former boyfriend or girlfriend. Charles obviously loved Camilla more, but that doesn't mean he didn't love Diana. Diana may not have admitted that she wanted to be the princess of wales. But she agreed to marry him despite his lack of romance. The only consistent explanation is that she overlooked that because she wanted his status. Yes, she had a title before her marriage, but she was quite upset when she had to relinquish her HRH.
Diana didnt' have a title. She had a courtesy title, and that hardly compares to being Princess of Wales and a future queen. I think she did love Charles but it was her own image of Charles that she loved. When she got to know the real man, she found him stuffy and boring and not demonstrative enough. Of course it was a perk to become Princess of Wales, but any girlfriend of Charles' was bound to be aware of that, that if they married, she would have great wealth and social position. Some women I think didn't really want it that badly, because they knew that it would come with stress and restrictions and a lac of privacy...but I don't think that Diana thought that through.
I think that yes Charles had always been friends with Camilla and he still cared for her, and went on being friends with her.. but I think that initially he didn't intend to continue their affair. But when his marriage became unhappy, he turned to her...
We'll have to agree to disagree as it seemed to be apparent to some of their friends, family and acquaintances that the pair were not well suited for the long term.
Yes some people did think that..and some commentators noted the differences between them.. there were articles about how he was a graduate and she had had no O levels.. He was 32 and she was 19, she was a nanny and he was... etc etc
But people assumed that either they DID love each other, or that even if the differences resulted in the marriage not working out, they would stay together. Divorce was really NOT supposed to be a possibility... I think by the late 80s, it was pretty obvious that they weren't working out well together, but it was assumed that divorce simply wasn't possible and they would make the best of things.
I don't think any journalists or commenters ever thought it would come to divorce.
She did love walking in the country. That was not at all the issue. I also think if she had been happy, if she and Charles could of connected on common interests (which they really did not have) likely she would of never turned to other pursuits as she did later on.
Catherine doesn't ride, doesn't fish nor does she share Williams's like for motorcycles and that type of thing. There really are no comparisons that need to be made between them.
LaRae
but C and Diana DIDNT have many common interests apart from music. More to the point, they didn't have a common outlook. Diana was young and young for her age. Charles was old fashioned and enjoyed the company of people much older than himself. His preferred romantic partner was his own age. Charles was as Diana put it "very deep" and a thinking man... but she was not especially thoughtful and operated on instinct.. He was a hard working man with an urge to use his position to "help others and make a difference". At 20 or so, I don't think Diana had any such ideas. She had a kind heart and did charity work but she didn't really have a passion for anything except maybe children. She wasn't a thinker. She ddn't share in Charles' ideas about architechture or history.. She admired him in theory for being so "deep" and "clever" but in practice she found him going on about saving the planet dull and boring...
Will and Kate don't share all the same interests but they have enough in common and have I think a common outlook. For both of them their children and private family life comes first … but although K doesn't care much for country sports, I think she and Will enjoy other sports together.