Camilla & Charles: How has your opinion changed since the wedding?

[rmay286]

I think you're right that they have a happy marriage, and you can infer that from their public behaviour, but I still think people have to remember that a judgment can only go so far based on what you publicly see of people. Sometimes I think that unpleasant stories about Charles and Camilla's married life, and/or individual behaviour, are going to come out after both of them pass away (hopefully many decades from now) and the same people who said "see, Diana's public image was just a facade and totally inaccurate" are going to say "I don't believe a word of it because Charles and Camilla looked happy in public." The full story about people never comes out until their lives are over, and never even then.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by rmay286

I don't know why everyone is having so much trouble understanding this. It makes sense to me. Appearing in public is the "job" of members of the royal family. In private life, most people don't accompany their spouses on their jobs. Royal spouses are expected to.

We know a fair bit about the public lives of Charles and Camilla as "working partners" in their royal duties. We know very little about their private life at home as husband and wife. Yes, they are also husband and wife in public, but in public we only see a small aspect of their lives. If my mom and dad worked together in public, they wouldn't act identically to the way they act at home. Public behaviour is never a full and fair representation of private behaviour.

I suppose it is phrases such as 'obligated'. I am 'expected' to turn up for certain events, I am not obligated. As a wife I go to support my husband, something that most wives would do. Sorry is the wife that is not prepared to show support for her husband, IMO. That isn't to say that you cannot have independent activities and causes. Hubby would be rather out of place at some of my causes, but he supports me 1000% and frequently asks if I would like him to 'help out or attend'.

[jcbcode99]

I also support my husband by attending functions or events that are probably not suited to my own likes and interests--but I go because it not only is expected but it is also the proper thing to do. Likewise, he attends functions and events with me because he is expected to do so as well. THat is part of the marriage committment.

[Russophile]

The NFL network is on at our house 24-7.
PITY ME!!!!!



Actually, I like it. There's a lot that Mr. Russo and I have in common and that's one of the essential factors of a good marriage. With Camilla and Charles, she has a lot of things as well that she shares with him. It's not like she lied to him about loving the outdoors and fishing and playing polo, she genuinely likes it.

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Originally Posted by rmay286

I think you're right that they have a happy marriage, and you can infer that from their public behaviour, but I still think people have to remember that a judgment can only go so far based on what you publicly see of people. Sometimes I think that unpleasant stories about Charles and Camilla's married life, and/or individual behaviour, are going to come out after both of them pass away (hopefully many decades from now) and the same people who said "see, Diana's public image was just a facade and totally inaccurate" are going to say "I don't believe a word of it because Charles and Camilla looked happy in public." The full story about people never comes out until their lives are over, and never even then.

No kidding....take my own family! To outsiders we looked like the perfect family. Beautiful Mom, Dad with a prestige job, attractive bright children, lovely brick colonial house in the suburbs. My teachers were always holding me up as some marvel of successful middle class upbringing. In truth, our family was as chaotic and dysfunctional as it gets... I look at photos of us now and I shake my head in disbelief. We could have been in a TV commercial...we were so beautiful and "normal".

Another good example is JFK and Jackie Kennedy. I am not old enough to remember that Presidency but looking at photos, they appeared to be a gorgeous idealized American family. Beautiful couple with beautiful children who lived in beautiful homes and took perfect vacations and hung around glamourous people. Learning about their incredibly complex and difficult relationship(see "America's Queen" by Sarah Bradford for those of you who insist on a quoted source) was really a revelation.

The late Princess of Wales's tragedy is that she never learned how to hide her feelings and didnt seem to want to try. She was that rare type of aristocrat who let it all hang it and while that was appealing to the masses
and part of her huge appeal, it didn't go over well at all within the Royal family and her social circle...it just was not done that way.

So I am saying that the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall might in fact be quite content together...considering all the pain that was involved in finally getting them together I hope they are. But we cannot know for sure simply by how they appear in public. It's not that simple.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaDreamin

So I am saying that the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall might in fact be quite content together...considering all the pain that was involved in finally getting them together I hope they are. But we cannot know for sure simply by how they appear in public. It's not that simple.

The question is IMHO whether you believe in fairytales or not. People who live together in close relationships have all their own problems with each other. Even in marriages who appear to be "made in heaven" it happens that both are developping their personality and find that they have to accommodate new developments, opinions, wishes and behaviour that wasn't there before. How they deal with this "growing" is, viewed from the later perspective of the historian in case of prominent couples, up to interpretation.

But - for Charles and Camilla speaks the information from the Dimbleby-book about their relationship - note that Charles agreed to all the statements in Dimbleby's book before it was published, so this is how Charles sees it, too:

From page 277:

Her (Camilla's) warmth, her lack of ambition or guile, her good humour and her gentleness endeared her to the (Royal) household.The Prince had come to regard her as his best friend, in whom, more than in any other, he could totally confide. She was, as he would later explain, his "touchstone" and his "sounding board". They were not often alone together but they talked frequently and at length on the telephone, and in the process their feelings for each other grew in strength and intensity to the point where their deep freindship could properly be described as "love".

Page 293 - description of his honeymoon with Diana:

"When he was not sailing and bathing, he sat in the sun reading from a selection of books provided for him by van der Post (a philosopher-guru of the prince at that time)." From a letter he wrote on that honeymoon:
"Diana dashes about chatting up all the sailors and the cooks in the galley etc. while I remain hermit-like on the verandah-deck, sunk with pure joy into one of Laurens van der Post's books..."

And here's a pic from his recent cruise in the Carribean with Camilla, his "touchstone":

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/200...02_468x310.jpg

Somehow I'm not afraid of what the world will find out about their marriage after their demise. If after so many years a pic like this is possible, I believe all is well with them.

[rmay286]

That is a lot of proof that they're happy together.

I wasn't thinking that people would discover Charles and Camilla had an unhappy marriage, actually--eg. I'm not anticipating stories about fights and misery behind the scenes! I had something much more subtle in mind. I wouldn't make sweeping statements about fairytales and happy endings because back in the days of Charles and Diana people did so, and they turned out to be completely wrong. I don't feel I know that much about Charles and Camilla really, and I have two such inconsistent pictures of them (eg. Camilla calling her first husband "it" yet being very loyal to Charles) that I feel I still haven't got the big picture. So I while I have absolutely no reason to doubt that they're very happy, I don't want to make too many conclusions about this relationship.

To go back on topic about how my opinion of Camilla has changed...I saw her outfit at Peter's wedding and I remembered that a few years ago I found her very unattractive. And now I think that while Camilla isn't particularly attractive, she usually looks very nice and knows how to dress perfectly for the occasion. She actually reminds me of the Queen in that characteristic.

[love_cc]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

And here's a pic from his recent cruise in the Carribean with Camilla, his "touchstone":

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/200...02_468x310.jpg

Somehow I'm not afraid of what the world will find out about their marriage after their demise. If after so many years a pic like this is possible, I believe all is well with them.

I think the photo is not a recent one. However I have no objection about the description about their relationships with stablitiy,warmth and harmony. Yes they are and they have always given me this impression when I paid interest in their news.

I don't have much reserves about their relationships except possible clashes of personalies occasionally. It is normal because even my parents have experienced these throught their marriage. The most important thing is that Prince Charles and Camilla have their strengths of affections to find solutions for those clashes and keeping their relationships going.

I only hope that we can see Camilla more in her public events.

[Madame Royale]

we were so beautiful...

And modest, too...

As for Camilla and Charles! It's enjoyable to look at photographs when you know, even without knowing them personally, that they are friends aswell as husband and wife. My parents have been married a long time and have, as is the case with any couple, gone through some hard times, but they stuck through it together and sorted what needed to be sorted which makes the happier times all the more satisfying.

As for spousal support. My parents have always supported one another and gone to any event or function the other is invited too. Naturally, the other is normally invited too, but my father has interests (the stock market, sport, gym work) my mother doesn't, and my mother has interests (shopping, gardening, shopping, jewellery, shopping) that my father doesn't much care for. Yet they support each other because showing you care is an unmistakable expression of your committment to them. At the end of the day, my parents would be lost without one another, and they know it.

They are definitly suited down to the grown, Camilla and Charles. Of that there could be no doubt!

[Skydragon]

There must be a new poll due out, I have just been asked my opinion on who I want to succeed (they clearly don't know how it works) and what I want Camilla to be called. I'm guessing you can't imagine my answers!