Should Camilla attend the memorial service for Diana?


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Hi everyone, this is my first post! :)

Regarding Diana’s memorial… I can say I am a very loyal “Diana fan” and I was upset Camilla was going to the memorial. From my point of view it would be inappropriate, but they wouldn’t be the only ones I think shouldn’t be there (for the only reason lots of these people didn’t like Princess Diana at all). I don’t think too much of the princes inviting her because, come on, even if they didn’t want her there they couldn’t really say no. Maybe they wanted her, maybe not, I really don’t know and in my opinion it doesn’t matter. Since she’s Prince Charles’s wife and HE was going to be there, I thought she should be too, as his wife.

Even though I really don’t like her that much, I think Camilla was the victim here and I feel very sorry for her. She was in a difficult position to start with, and I agree with the poster who said they should have thought VERY carefully before any announcement was made and LISTEN to the Queen’s advice seriously – she’s the Queen after all. They way it has been done is so terrible, it shows the Royal family bowing to the press, and not only the press in general, but BAD press at the LAST minute. Who knows what they will do in the future to avoid being seen as the “bad guys”.

Having said that, in my opinion, the biggest one to blame in this whole fiasco is Charles. I don’t care what his advisers were telling him, he’s supposed to make the final decision and it seems – from several accounts – Camilla didn’t want to go from the beginning but he INSISTED. As usual, it’s always about him, if HE wants her to be there she has to be there, no matter what :bang:. Pulling out this late, and only after the Queen’s intervention just shows – again – how weak he is, as a man, as a husband, as a prince.

I cannot even imagine the monarchy after QEII is gone… it’s not going to be any good.

All this in my opinion, of course! :flowers:
 
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It would have been wise to think over a decision very very carefully in the beginning, BEFORE going public with it, considering all reactions, be it from the public or internally. After what the BRF has gone through in terms of Diana in life and death no reaction can be considered "unexpectedly" or "not to be foreseen" regarding Camilla taking part in a memorial service for Diana.

Then, when the decision is taken, STICK WITH IT!

If Camilla or Clarence House decides she goes, then she has to go, no matter what and not give in to critizism from whatever party.
If they decided she won't go, it had to be done in the beginning, with a short statement everyone would have understood or appreciated.

Another blunder from Clarence House's so called public reations department but as it happens again and again I wonder if the true reason for the newest PR desaster is Charles being totally immune to any suitable advise. He is the true loser here, because I believe the people won't really blame the Dutchess but Charles stubbornity and lack of seeing the sign of the times for this masterpiece of embarressment to the monarchy.

You have done an excellent job of grasping the essence of the controversy and clothing it in words. My compliments....:flowers:
 
If the public can be so powerful in keeping the Duchess away from a simple church service, then we should sit back and watch the Republic of Great Britain take form.

This opinionally twisted service marks not forgiveness and healing but division and pain. Diana would not want that for William nor Harry. The service was to mark "time marches on but we remember a mother and humanitarian" and "Forgiveness and grace offered....whether deserved or not".

It is very simple....It matters not whether we "like" Prince Charles or his wife, it is imperative to support the couple or William might not ever be king.
 
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sorry to say this i dont want you upset but im glad shes not going anymore. the queen doesnt show much friendship for camilla (i can understand why) and diana didnt like her (i can understand why). dianas sons forgave camilla thats fine but it doesnt mean she has to be present in dianas services. one thing is to forgive another thing is to forget.

i am very proud of queen elizabeth ii and cause of that i am going to change my avatar right now :)
 
There was just as much to forgive Diana as there is to forgive Camilla, imo.

But lest we forget Camilla and Charles both publically acknowledged "sin" and publically asked for forgiveness and blessing of their union within the boundaries of a religious blessing. If Her Majesty allowed herself to attend their service of blessing at St. George's, at what point is Camilla forgiven and recognized as Charles' current wife and stepmother to the future king and his brother by us mere mortals?

The focus is rightly upon Diana for this sad hour. Due to (a misguided, imo) a public outcry.

Diana touched us all with passion..and had a soft spot for the "rejected by society" (Bashir interview)....Well, I say Camilla has fallen into the "rejected" catagory and Diana herself would be appalled of our behavior towards her...for the sake of William and Harry.

(Although I am sure Diana is floating around with a bit of a good and wicked giggle that Camilla was so maligned by her ever so rabid devotees!!)
 
The Truth--of course I agreed with you! How could I not? And, lovely website/blog. Nice photos!
 
I do see your point, Jo. But I also believe that it's good for Camilla to use the Cornwall/Chester/Rothesay title instead of PoW for the reason that it sets her apart from Diana.
Just one little point, :flowers: Diana was never the Princess of Wales in Scotland, only the Duchess of Rothesay. :flowers:
 
After a day is past and i had some time to think about it, i´m still sad and disappointed, and i also feel after this decsion something has changed in my pic of the British Royals.

I will ignore this memorial service, i´m no longer interested in it. I don´t want to watch it on TV or read about it in the press.

I´m convinced that Camilla gets not enough support from the Royal Family. It´s a shame to make a victim of her. I´m dissppointed because of the weakness and inconsistance of the Royals. There are first class and second class members in their family?

I´m no longer conviced that there will be a King Charles and a Queen Camilla. The next King and Queen will be made by Kay and Co.

I´m disappointed of Charles too ( although i still love him ) because i would expect of him that he doesn´t allowed to treat his wife this way.

These Diana-fans who say that the Princess is an icon or legend, but who don´t know words like forgiveness and love, are guilty (in my mind) too of what happend now.
For the moment i´m not interested in talking to them any more. ( I don´t mean real and honest fans who never wanted this situation)

I will support Charles and Camilla on their way because i think they do so many things great, and they are still my Darling Royals.
But i hope that something like that will never happen again. I couldn´t bear it again, or then i would start to demonstrate for a British republic...
Well said milla Ca, my sentiments also. The dogs (including Monkton) are not going to leave it.....
Diana's memorial 'overshadowed by Camilla' - Telegraph
 
In the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana's death, it would have been impossible to imagine Camilla Parker Bowles attending a memorial to her erstwhile rival for Prince Charles's affections.
Yet on Monday, after Camilla unexpectedly pulled out of this week's 10th anniversary service despite an invitation from her now-husband and Diana's two sons, there was palpable regret in the British media, and acknowledgment of her dignity.

Prince Charles's wife emerges from Diana's shadow | Lifestyle | Living | Reuters

Just one point (yes another one :D) Charles never said he wanted to come back as Camillas tampon, he actually said - Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!
 
I am very glad she is not going. I think it would take away from the service.
JMHO

Sherry
 
the queen doesnt show much friendship for camilla (i can understand why)

There's absolutely no evidence to support that, indeed, the Queen seems to get on very well with her daughter-in-law. Don't think that because the lunatics are destroying the asylum pure fantasy is going to go un-noticed. And if there relationship is strained, I'm sure they'll have plenty of time to get used to each other -in exile.
 
There's absolutely no evidence to support that, indeed, the Queen seems to get on very well with her daughter-in-law.

mmm... didnt you heard the "excuse" the Queen gave for not being present in Camillas birthday ? :rolleyes:
 
Camilla is a smart woman. To please her step-sons and husband, she accepted the invitation, but I believe that from the start she dreaded going. She was very right to make the decision not to attend the memorial -- "better late than never". To have gone would have given fodder for the press for years to come.....
 
mmm... didnt you heard the "excuse" the Queen gave for not being present in Camillas birthday ?
I heard nothing from the Queen. I heard plenty from journalists, plenty from those who would love to hear the Queen bash Camilla to justify their own unfounded cruelty against the Duchess but nothing from the Queen herself.
 
I will watch the service because of William and Harry but I feel they could have also included Diana's employees the likes of Burrell, Jephson, McGrady and Mendham...It would have also been nice to have James Whitaker, Arthur Edwards and a few others who created and toiled for hours to give us the real Diana and not the sanitized, edited and maligned Windsor version.
 
After a day is gone and the bad news sagged, I´ve another view on it. I see Camilla alone in the field surrounded by nasty press and laughed at hardcore-diana-fans. And very far from her are the Royal family, her stepsons and...her husband! There is no sign from Charles! Ok, I think he is deep hurted by the situation and very angry about the attacks on Camilla. But, as caring husband I imagine another reaction. I think the statement had has to come from him, somethin like "my wife and I decided...". I´m still a great admirer of him but, a little bad feeling is staying.
 
I can understand why the Princes wished to have a memorial for their mother, but I hope in the future if they want to have another service, they do so privately. It's a shame so much controversy has been created over this and that so many people - dead or alive - have been criticized. I say that out of concern for them and others.

It truly is a shame how Camilla, Diana, and Charles are continually criticized. Diana is dead - she can't defend herself, nor will we ever know what she would think if she were alive today. Camilla and Charles have admitted their transgressions, yet they continue to be judged over and over and over, particularly Camilla. I'm concerned how others have thrown out the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do on to you. How many of us want to be persecuted and judged for mistakes we made in the past - mistakes we admitted to and asked forgiveness for? And how many of us would liked to be judged by bystanders not even part of the situation to begin with.
 
camilla caused the divorce of charles and diana, not the duke of edinburgh. if camilla hadnt cheat on andrew charlles wouldnt divorce diana.

its a matter of taste and manners i guess. if i caused a divorce i wouldnt be present in the womans memorial. its not kosher at all.

while camilla and charles infidelity was part of the reason for the divorce i doubt it was the end all and be all. both charles and diana didn't want to admit that they never should have married to begin with. diana was in love with an idea and charles let himself be pushed into a marriage that he had no interest in to begin with.
 
mmm... didnt you heard the "excuse" the Queen gave for not being present in Camillas birthday ? :rolleyes:
No, perhaps you could post a link to the statement or press release.:rolleyes:
 
In one interview The Princess of Wales said: "There were three of us in this marriage"
 
I vote NO

This memorial is for people who loved and cared for Diana, and who Diana loved and cared for. Camilla Parker Bowles fits neither category.

I think it is appalling that the Duchess of York won't be there(she was invited but feels unwelcome) and Camilla MAY??! Fergie and Diana had their ups and downs but Fergie grieved for Diana and loved her deeply. What a topsy turvy world where she is unwelcome but Camilla is!

Camilla has ended up with everything, Diana's husband, her homes, her jewelry her LIFE. She should be satisfied with that and out of respect for the Spencer family and to Diana's memory stay the hell away from that service, IMO.
 
In one interview The Princess of Wales said: "There were three of us in this marriage"
That was said by an angry woman, to bring sympathy to herself after admitting she also had an affair. She wanted to put all of the blame of the breakup on anyone but herself, a normal reaction, IMO. :rolleyes: It is the same line as 'my wife doesn't understand me'.
 
Camilla has ended up with everything, Diana's husband, her homes, her jewelry her LIFE. She should be satisfied with that and out of respect for the Spencer family and to Diana's memory stay the hell away from that service, IMO.
1. Nobody owns another person.
2. The homes were never Diana's, they were owned by the Crown Estates or the Duchy.
3. Camilla does not, afawk, have any of Dianas personal jewelry, that was left to her sons. The bits and pieces we have seen Camilla with have been loaned to her by her mother in law.
4. You seem to have missed the news, Camilla is not going to the service.
 
This memorial is for people who loved and cared for Diana, and who Diana loved and cared for. Camilla Parker Bowles fits neither category.

I think it is appalling that the Duchess of York won't be there(she was invited but feels unwelcome) and Camilla MAY??! Fergie and Diana had their ups and downs but Fergie grieved for Diana and loved her deeply. What a topsy turvy world where she is unwelcome but Camilla is!

Camilla has ended up with everything, Diana's husband, her homes, her jewelry her LIFE. She should be satisfied with that and out of respect for the Spencer family and to Diana's memory stay the hell away from that service, IMO.

Camilla has never been to the Princess' apartments in Kensington Palace.
 
Prince Charles's wife emerges from Diana's shadow | Lifestyle | Living | Reuters

Just one point (yes another one :D) Charles never said he wanted to come back as Camillas tampon, he actually said - Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!

thanks for the article, Skydragon. You know what happened, I woke up in the morning and realised one thing: Diana has died for 10 years and Camilla is still alive. All these Diana fans can be emotional for 1 week or more then life will move on. I am quite upset by the decision of pulling out the event exactly because I was touched by Prince William and Prince Harry's gestures to invite Camilla and want a new beginning. But since some Diana fans don't Camilla there and they want to keep the hostility in the past,fine, Camilla won't spoil their day and then all the attentions on Camilla won't cause her nerves in that day either. All my wish is that the day finish soon and we will surround by such emotional feelings.
 
I've been holding out expressing my opinion on this subject because I wasn't even sure what my opinion was. Still not sure. I like Diana and Camilla equally so its not like I had a side to be on. But I think that Camilla deciding not to go is probably best. Even though I think it is strange for the POW to attend a service like this without his wife by his side, seeing as how Diana would have disliked her presence there, it seems appropriate that Camilla doesn't go. Although it was very generous for the boys to invite her, even if they like her, knowing how much their mother didn't.
Since I've been reading the posts on this topic, I got to wondering how things would be between Diana and Camilla if Diana were still alive. I would hope that Diana would have moved past the hatred for Camilla, seeing as I it wasn't ever appropriate to blame everything on Camilla. I would hope that they could have been cordial to one another. Thats why I part of me thought that maybe somewhere in heaven, Diana has moved past it and would see Camilla's presence at her memorial as an act of kindness & respect, instead of disrespect. But we'll never know.
At least it will all be over in a few days and we can put this great debate behind us.
 
I applaud Camilla for doing, what I think is, the right thing. She has shown amazing dignity and discretion over many years so I am not too surprised. I think it was a kind invitation on the part of the young Princes but I also think she responded appropriately. I hope the service is meaningful to those who want to honor Diana's memory.
 
What complete nonsense this whole event has tumbled into. Weeks and weeks of insults, name-calling and back biting. Cries of indignation towards rabid Diana fans by just as equally rabid Camilla fans. In the end, no one is going to be happy. If she goes, people will be upset. If she doesn't, people will be upset. What was that about not being able to please everyone all the time?

What's at the center? Two motherless young men who were trying to give their mother an officially recognized memorial as opposed to a private one. Maybe in compensation for the loss of her official status, maybe not. Who knows. What is certain is that somewhere down the road they would have been flayed alive by members of the public if they had done nothing. It made me a little sick to read that some were actually blaming Diana for this debacle, or calling the ensuing brew ha ha her "legacy". She's dead. You might as well blame her for that travesty of a memorial fountain because she liked to jog in the park. Or blame Camilla for being put in between a rock and a hard place by her husband who would have her at his side whether she liked it or not.

What is genuinely sad? The fact that the thread regarding Camilla's attendance is twice as long as the thread concerning the memorial itself.
 
What complete nonsense this whole event has tumbled into. Weeks and weeks of insults, name-calling and back biting. Cries of indignation towards rabid Diana fans by just as equally rabid Camilla fans. In the end, no one is going to be happy. If she goes, people will be upset. If she doesn't, people will be upset. What was that about not being able to please everyone all the time?

What's at the center? Two motherless young men who were trying to give their mother an officially recognized memorial as opposed to a private one. Maybe in compensation for the loss of her official status, maybe not. Who knows. What is certain is that somewhere down the road they would have been flayed alive by members of the public if they had done nothing. It made me a little sick to read that some were actually blaming Diana for this debacle, or calling the ensuing brew ha ha her "legacy". She's dead. You might as well blame her for that travesty of a memorial fountain because she liked to jog in the park. Or blame Camilla for being put in between a rock and a hard place by her husband who would have her at his side whether she liked it or not.

What is genuinely sad? The fact that the thread regarding Camilla's attendance is twice as long as the thread concerning the memorial itself.

Excellent post, Kimebear. No one will ever pleased no matter which outcome happened, if she went, stayed home.

If Charles had married another woman...then obviously she would go to the memorial on Friday with not a whisper. But because it is Camilla....the stew pot boileth over....

This will always happen....from now on, no matter we all bicker about and whose side we take, Camilla will be damned in some sort of way, big or small, for whatever side of any issue she takes, or any event she goes or does not go to.

What happened in the past is so permanently etched in so many minds that we cannot get past it...10 years on. Who knows what will happen down the road?

But...Camilla did choose to marry the Prince of Wales, after everything that happened. She chose to become an HRH and therefore her role in life changed forever. She is now royalty, she is now a public figure, she is now expected to perform her royal duties. She is expected to give up her freedom and become one the Royals.

I think she knew what she was getting herself into...

Uneasy lies the head that (will) wear the Crown.... :flowers:

Altered change of Shakespeare quote...
 
From London's Mirror newspaper:

But the Queen's ex-Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter said the last minute announcement was a PR blunder - and insisted Camilla should never have agreed to attend.​
He added: "It could have quite simply been done right at the very beginning when the idea was first mooted - with a short statement saying she would love to support her husband, would love to support William and Harry, but felt it was inappropriate to attend.​
"It would have been done and dusted without all this shilly-shallying all the way up to the memorial service, which is literally five days away."​
Senior royal aides were insistent the Queen's role had been "advisory". One courtier said: "It was not a question of Her Majesty stopping Camilla from attending, but asking the question if it was wise. Clarence House had not thought the issue through so Buckingham Palace picked up the ball."​
 
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