Lady Tryon ("Kanga") and Other Female Friends of Charles


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I read in the Daily Mail yesterday that Charles had an affair with Lady Tryon in the Eighties so it sort of belittles Camilla as his one great love. And before all the, "We hate the Daily Mail", brigade begin to protest, I have read about this affair several times over the years from various sources and believe it to be true.

After he married Diana? Interesting, I hadn't heard/read anything about that (not even from the DM although I wouldn't be an avid reader of same! :))

Prior to his marriage I'm sure there were any number of liasions if not relationships - Charles was 33 after all when he married after a relatively short relationship with the teenager, then just turned 20 Lady Diana.

I do wonder what he thinks now, looking back. Diana, gone; her gift two sons and now two grandchildren. The "Other Woman" in the marriage officially taking her place and titles.
 
Unlikely to the point of impossible. even Diana at her most suspicous does not seem to have thought of Dale Tryon renewing her affair, and it was all Camilla, until she got jealous of Tiggy.
Newspapers have to fill up their pages, so this sort of "hint hint" stuff goes on all the time..just as there are stories that Diana had flings with every man she said hello to.
 
From all I've read over the years, there have been women that came into Charles' life and even though the romance failed, they remained close friends afterwards.

I most definitely would put Kanga and Camilla in the category of being close, intimate friends (non-sexual) with Charles as they were people he knew he could trust, he knew he could rely on them and they "got" him. Sometimes loving someone as a best friend is the best love one can have.

I really can't, in a clear conscious, label Charles a "bedhopper".
 
Charles seems to have had a penchant for falling for his friends' wives, though. He met Kanga and had an affair with her in the mid-1970's, cooled off by the later '70s and became re-involved with Camilla, Kanga's great rival, during his marriage. Dale liked the cachet that being the Prince's mistress and then his close friend gave her for a brief while, but I think she realised that Camilla had the upper hand by the middle of the 1980s which is why she and Diana were close for a short time. Of course Dale's later mental and physical health deteriorated and it was sad to see her still obsessed with Charles in the last years of her life, pursuing him in her wheel chair and so on. She was divorced and living in the Ritz by then.
 
I'd say that 2 affairs with married women, (anad his affair with Camilla started when she was single) hardly is a "penchant".
In the upper class world, unitl the mid 20th Century generally speaking a single girl was NOT considered avaialbe for sex. A married lady was, because she had the protection of a husband..
 
I'd say that 2 affairs with married women, (anad his affair with Camilla started when she was single) hardly is a "penchant".
In the upper class world, unitl the mid 20th Century generally speaking a single girl was NOT considered avaialbe for sex. A married lady was, because she had the protection of a husband..



Just a question; Camilla married before Charles. So she was not single when the "affair" started, as that ruins the definition of an affair in my understanding. Or have I missed something?
 
I thought that in the 70s, Charles and Camilla began dating and although I'm not sure on it, I would imagine that they had intimate times together. Camilla was also interested in Andrew Parker-Bowles and after Charles left for the Navy, they cemented their relationship and decided to marry.

Its possible that C&C were intimate while she was still single.
 
I thought that in the 70s, Charles and Camilla began dating and although I'm not sure on it, I would imagine that they had intimate times together. Camilla was also interested in Andrew Parker-Bowles and after Charles left for the Navy, they cemented their relationship and decided to marry.

Its possible that C&C were intimate while she was still single.

of course they were. its some time since I read the Dimbleby bio, but as I recall, Charles intimated that he had had 3 "affairs" with Camilla - the first in the 70s when they were both single.. then after her marriage in around 1979/80 when she had had her 2 children (traditional upper class etiquette for a woman to wait till she had had children to start an affair) and then later, when his marriage had broken down, he resumed the relationship.. (the 3rd affair).
 
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When one realizes that Camilla and Charles have been close really since they met in the 70s and even with her marriage (he's godfather to her son Tom) and his subsequent marriage, there was a bond between them that couldn't ever be broken.

Its no surprise that their marriage now seems like a match made in heaven and they're soul mates to the core.

I think for the most part, the women that Charles was involved with over time mostly remained as close friends afterwards. Charles definitely is a person that values other things in his women than just a tumble in the hay. The intimate relationship may have ended but the caring about the person remains.
 
The 'caring' didn't necessarily remain with Kanga though (which this thread is about.) It cooled very quickly in the light of her physical and more importantly mental deterioration towards the end of her life. Her following him about at garden parties etc became embarrassing, especially as it coincided with the Prince being in low water with the media at the time after Diana's death. He cut Kanga loose. They were no longer friends at the end.
 
I can understand Charles' reaction to Kanga in the last part of her life. It was the best solution to just cut her loose and sever all ties. He probably understood her illness and realized there was nothing he could do and her behavior was part and parcel of the illness.

Sometimes letting a person go is the greatest act of caring a person can do.
 
Camilla understood how to play the game. She was a loving companion, but she was discreet, didn't talk to media. She kept on good terms with her husband even after her and Andrew divorced.

Kanga and Diana shared more then mental health in common. They both didn't know how to play their roles. Diana was expected to be the proper royal wife and over look women. And Kanga should have been the discreet mistress, happy with the time she got, and maintaining her marriage as cover.

Kanga unfortunately suffered both physically and mentally for years. From what Her daughter has said, she was likely undiagnosed bipolar. Between it, and the pain from spina bifida and later cancer, she began abusing drugs and alcohol. It unfortunately led to her being loose tongued with the media.

Severe depression and paranoia she was being threatened ensued. At the time she died Charles was dealing with the backlash over Diana's death. The last thing he needed was to deal with her loose tongue.
 
I think you've nailed it when you state the Kanga and Diana were very much alike. Its been reputed that many people believe that Diana was bipolar also. At least some of her behavior pointed to it.

When someone is bipolar and they direct their focus on one particular person, that person becomes the be all and have all of their existence and its all they can focus on. We see that with Kanga and we see that with Diana. Camilla was more balanced mentally and Charles was just one aspect of her life and there were other aspects and relationships she also enjoyed.

Knowing someone close to my brother that is bipolar, I've witnessed the extreme possessiveness, the extreme focus on one person and the extreme measures a person will take to keep that person close in their pocket as the center of her world. Its not healthy and its not very easy to deal with at all.
 
I can understand Charles' reaction to Kanga in the last part of her life. It was the best solution to just cut her loose and sever all ties. He probably understood her illness and realized there was nothing he could do and her behavior was part and parcel of the illness.

Sometimes letting a person go is the greatest act of caring a person can do.

I don't know the details of this, sounds like Kanga was not a very stable person and even her own daughter spoke unkindly about her (very badly bred behaviour IMO but it indicates that her family found her hard going). but if Kanga was tryring to maintain a friendship with Chalres and he avoided her, even if her behaviour was embarrassing and he felt awkward...- I can sort of understand, but I would have hoped he'd try to tolerate her. It doesn't seem to me very kind to "cut someone loose and sever all ties".
I think that Charles is a loyal friend but he has limts and he's not always tolerant of people, because he is used to being able to avoid anyone he wants to avoid, becauase of his high social position.
 
Sometimes in situations like this, the best action to take is to sever all ties. Its very common that even one little bit of attention can fuel the unbalanced person to believe that she stands a chance and that he's "playing" for her and that ups her game.

My brother's bipolar girlfriend got very upset with him for smiling at a waitress in a restaurant that was serving them and caused a scene there. Years and years later, she still gets very angry with him about it. Unbalanced people grab onto something and never, ever let it go and the best thing to do is cut the ropes and sever ties which is what Charles did for his own peace of mind.

At least that's how I see it.
 
Was she actually diagnosed as bipolar though? or was this guesswork? I think that Charles could have tried ot be polite to the woman even if she was a problem.. she wasn't entirely responsible for her behaviour.
 
If you read about her life I think it's almost certain that Kanga had manic episodes akin to bipolar (though Dale's daughter said in an interview she was never actually diagnosed as such) and also times when she was so befuddled with alcohol and medication that she did know what she was doing in those last sad years.

Charles was at a nadir PR-wise when she was still obsessed about him and wanted to see him. The Press already knew about his fairly brief affair with her. In the months following Diana's death the last thing he and his spin doctor Mark Bolland wanted was the media seeing him hobnobbing with an ex mistress. Bolland was beginning the long task of trying to rehabilitate Charles's reputation with the British public (the polls were showing disastrous figures) and didn't want any distractions.
 
the little I read from her daughter was enough to put me off any further reading. It was awful behaviour on the daughter's part. and Kanga clearly wasn't stable.. but its hard to say how much she was responsible for her behaviour. If it was due to drinking or just wanting to chase after or embarrass Charles, its not entirely her fault. If it was some kind of mental illness it isn't so much her fault.
if Charles was cutting her in public, I wihs he hadn't.. albeit it may have been the only thing he could do to "cut her off" and not feed her fantasies..
 
One thing that is amazing is the strides we've made in understanding mental health issues and how it affects people and that they are legitimate sicknesses and issues.

Heck... I had PMS in the 70s and still, at that time, it was mostly thought of being "in my head" and the solution was to prescribe narcotic pain killers. Those "mother's little helper" were still being dispensed like candy too.

All the more reason why I think what William, Kate and Harry are doing with Heads Together so vitally important.
 
well I get the feeling from what Iv'e read from Dale Tryon's daughter that a lot of her behaviour was just "bad behaviour" or at least that she perceived it as such..
 
It most certainly was bad behavior. Even with being diagnosed as bipolar or as an admitted alcoholic or a drug addict or anything that is a medical cause, bad behavior is still something the person has to be accountable for. Illnesses can contribute to why a person acts out but it never excuses it.
 
I think Kanga lost the plot a bit even before she became ill. There seemed to be quite a bit of conveniently popping her still very young children into boarding school so she could concentrate on her West End shop (which did very well and made her and her family a lot of money) and partying up in London away from home at the same time. She was apparently a marvellous businesswoman and networked brilliantly. However, I think she became bedazzled by London high society and the lifestyle that opened up once she had been accepted as Charles's confidante, so that staying in the country with her husband and children was no longer enough.
 
Dale's end was sad and it seemed lonely which is sad because apparently her husband really loved her but he had to end it.
I heard that Kanga's business helped save her husbands family estate, anyone know if thats true?
 
Children in the landed gentry go to Boarding School just as William and Harry did. It is a wat of life and for the kids, a rite of passage where they make appropriate friends for life.

Her children didn't factor in but if her hard work in the city saved the family pile, it could be a bitter pill to swallow for some men that their wife was more successful than they were.
 
I know that children of the aristocracy go to boarding school. That's a given. However, they don't usually get sent away there as young as seven, even if the said school has taken over the family seat on the estate. And it was after years of not seeing much of their parents at all and being brought up by nannies in a style more common a generation before.

Victoria Tryon, Kanga's daughter gave an interview about the mother she still missed years ago, and here it is below, in which she talks about her family, childhood and Prince Charles.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...ctoria-mother-s-obsession-Prince-Charles.html
 
I know that children of the aristocracy go to boarding school. That's a given. However, they don't usually get sent away there as young as seven, even if the said school has taken over the family seat on the estate. And it was after years of not seeing much of their parents at all and being brought up by nannies in a style more common a generation before.

Victoria Tryon, Kanga's daughter gave an interview about the mother she still missed years ago, and here it is below, in which she talks about her family, childhood and Prince Charles.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...ctoria-mother-s-obsession-Prince-Charles.html

The reality is her kids were only a year younger then William and Harry were when they started boarding school.

As lonely and depressing as it sounds it wasn’t that unusual back then. That’s why boarding schools started that young.

I think it would likely be harder for Victoria as she was literally in her own yard. Being so close and not going home. The family eventually bought the house back from the school but after the kids already moved on.
 
The reality is her kids were only a year younger then William and Harry were when they started boarding school.

As lonely and depressing as it sounds it wasn’t that unusual back then. That’s why boarding schools started that young.

I think it would likely be harder for Victoria as she was literally in her own yard. Being so close and not going home. The family eventually bought the house back from the school but after the kids already moved on.

Cant see if the family were living in a nearby house why she couldn't visit occasionally... and while Dale Tryon was obviously a handful, not sure why Victoria chose to talk about it to the press... Is it really doing any good?
 
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