Charles and Diana

[MARG]

I think too much emphasis is put on the educational inequalities and achievements of both Charles and Diana. A degree is merely the result of a superior education not a superior intellect. Both Charles and Diana showed that neither of them were exactly slouches when "on the job".

I would cite QEII as a perfect example. She was home schooled (a trend that is returning only with parents instead of tutors), never attended a University and never achieved any educational standard, yet I think there would be very few people who would equate her as simple, uneducated, unskilled or ignorant. She has no trouble meeting the great and the good as well as her more ordinary "subjects". Her Prime Ministers have all attested to her political acumen regardless as to whether they agreed with her stance, and have appreciated her input. She hosts Heads of State, mixing and mingling (without a Whitehall flunky whispering in her ear to ensure she follows the Party line), so I would say her "education" was more than adequate. It is her intellect that makes the difference.

Having said that, I would think Diana's opinion of the reading matter was entirely personal and possibly found the topics as interesting as watching paint dry. She may have seen both the gift and it's content in a different light a few years later.

[blauerengel]

A university degree or the level of intelligence does not have much influence on the quality of a marriage. Some successfully married people have good education,some did not have so much formal schooling...
Different levels of formal education can work out very well,if we look at CP Haakon and Mette-Marit from Norway!
I am glad that CP Haakon looked beyond the surface and did not write Mette-Maritoff just because she did not have a good educational background. Personality and character are everything that matters, knowledge can be easily aqcuired when people want & need it later:-)

[Mermaid1962]

My father had a Master's Degree and my mother had Junior Matriculation (Grade 11). They were very happy.

Originally Posted by blauerengel

A university degree or the level of intelligence does not have much influence on the quality of a marriage.

[Roslyn]

Widespread higher education for women is a relatively recent trend, in Australia anyway, and in days past lack of it was not considered an indicator of lack of intelligence or as a factor which was likely to stop a marriage from being happy.

[Argie]

Originally Posted by Roslyn

Widespread higher education for women is a relatively recent trend, in Australia anyway, and in days past lack of it was not considered an indicator of lack of intelligence or as a factor which was likely to stop a marriage from being happy.

I don't think Europe falls into this trend: my grandmother, born in 1919, went to university and finished with a BA in Languages. Her only sister, born in 1911 had two degrees: Languages and Law. Both worked in their profession (teacher and lawyer), along with their degreed husbands. Both had good marriages and gave birth to 4 and respectively 2 children. Although there was not a large number of girls enrolled in universities at that time, I remember them both visiting former female colleagues from the university.

[Roslyn]

Your great-grandfather must have been an enlightened man, Argie. Your grandmother and great-aunt were lucky ladies to have such encouragement.

[Argie]

He probably was, as all his seven children went to university. He was an elementary school teacher with a giant Nietzsche mustache :)

[scooter]

I think it was going to be tough going for even a professional counsellor when the 14 year older husband is saying to the teenage wife 'I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales without a mistress'. I can't imagine any set of circumstances that a statement like that was going to be acceptable to any new wife for any reason , shrink or not. Though I do think Charles would have benefitted by being told no, not ok. Something that would be a real shock to his system .

[Lenora]

Is there a proof he really said this to his wife " I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales without a mistress"?
I doubt he really said these words, even it was going through his mind. It could be said only by a man without any feelings, brains and common sense.

[Dman]

I'm not sure Charles ever said those words but its the same line many royal historians, correspondents and authors have said those were his words to Diana.

[cinrit]

Only two people know if he really said that, and I doubt Charles would report it if he did. I think it was Diana who reported that he said it, wasn't it? But I can't remember to whom she said it.

[Mermaid1962]

Both Charles and Diana should have kept the knowledge of the problems between themselves as much as possible. It's impossible to keep staff from talking among themselves, obviously. However, there was no need to alert the entire world to their problems. There was no need for adultery. There was betrayal upon betrayal by both parties. Both of them were selfish and unable to cope with the other person's "issues." I think that both Charles and Diana were better at helping the general public than helping each other. That's the tragedy.

This. Yes.

Originally Posted by US Royal Watcher

If Diana had wanted to save the marriage, going public was the worst thing she could have done.

Also this from Dman:

"They should've kicked their lovers to the side and worked on themselves and their marriage for the sake of their family and Monarchy."

[Pranter]

Originally Posted by Lenora

Is there a proof he really said to his wife " I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales without a mistress"?
I doubt he really said these words, even it was going through his minds. It could be said only by a man without any feelings, brains and common sense.

I think it's entirely possible he said it...however if it was said it was more than likely said during an fight between he and Diana.


LaRae

[Roslyn]

Originally Posted by Pranter

I think it's entirely possible he said it...however if it was said it was more than likely said during an fight between he and Diana.

I agree. It's the sort of thing I'd say during a fight. My husband and I have said the most outrageous things to each other in the midst of a heated argument. And we know that Charles and Diana had lots of heated arguments.

[scooter]

It's been quoted in several books, all published in notoriously tight on Libel laws UK. I am traveling for the next 10 days and away from my library, but Google is your friend. I just did a search with the key words and there are PAGES of hits on this quote. Would you like to rethink your statement ?

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Osipi

This is one I'm going to ask what your source is. As far as I know, Camilla has never voiced an opinion on what was going on for public record. She was one discreet lady and for that I admire her..

The source it Tina Brown's 2007 "The Diana Chronicles". I think I mentioned the source in my post.

[Roslyn]

Originally Posted by scooter

It's been quoted in several books, all published in notoriously tight on Libel laws UK. I am traveling for the next 10 days and away from my library, but Google is your friend. I just did a search with the key words and there are PAGES of hits on this quote. Would you like to rethink your statement ?

Since my post is immediately above yours, and noting that yours was posted some hours after mine, I am going to assume that you are responding to mine and, in answer to your question say that no, I would not like to rethink my statement. I can't imagine why you might think I would want to rethink it.

[Iluvbertie]

Just because there are pages and pages repeating the quote doesn't mean it actually happened as the source is still Diana - a notable liar. She has also been dead for nearly 17 years so anyone can attribute comments to her that no one can now disprove.

Charles wasn't interested in suing the mother of his children about anything she said about him and he was and is the only one who could/can - not because they are wrong but because of the damage it would do to his sons who have always been a number 1 priority with him.

I don't see any need for Roslyn to rethink her statement either - Diana claimed that Charles made the comment but gave no context as to the circumstances and yes an argument is the probably situation.

[Ish]

Originally Posted by scooter

It's been quoted in several books, all published in notoriously tight on Libel laws UK. I am traveling for the next 10 days and away from my library, but Google is your friend. I just did a search with the key words and there are PAGES of hits on this quote. Would you like to rethink your statement ?

You can get pages of results when you do a Google search for "Hitler clone on the moon" but it doesn't mean that we have to worry about an invasion of Space Nazis.

Just because Diana accused him of saying it, doesn't mean Charles actually said it. Furthermore, assuming that Charles did say it, context is also important. According to the DM - one of the few online sources I can find that actually discusses the incident around the quote instead of just putting the quote forth (or being a random result that doesn't actually have anything to do with the quote) - the line was said during a fight, presumably about Charles getting rid of his mistress. Yes, he should be criticized for it - if for no other reason than for the historical inaccuracy behind the line - but it gets a bit tedious after awhile for every negative comment about Diana to be responded with some variation of "well, Charles cheated on her."

[Lenora]

If it was said during a fight, it's more or less understandable, because Diana could also have adressed unpleasant words to him. But if it was said in a rather calm tone, that's totally unacceptable from psychological point of view.