Rebellious Royals-- An Overview
Diana
If anyone could carry the label of being
"The Rebellious Royal" it would be Diana.
Her character was a rebel and if we look at the reasons why, we see them clearly. When she was born her parents
had been hoping for a son, having two daughters already and a son John born before her having died in infancy. Her
father when asked by friends about her birth saying " I don't know what I'm bloody doing wrong, we've just had
another bloody girl!" This resulted in Diana pretty much left alone devoid of parental affection to get on with her own
life even being shunned by her elder sisters. 3 years later Charles, the Spencer Heir, was born-- a birth celebrated
with champagne! When Frances the children's Mother left, the two elder sisters came closer together and Diana
became a surrogate mother to her baby brother Charles. At last she had someone to give her affection to and have it
returned. As soon as she was old enough being she was sent to boarding school and then a Swiss finishing school
but little wonder she failed her examinations as nobody cared if she were successful or not. There was, however, little
or no discipline in her life, she could do as she wanted, when she wanted. It is not surprising she felt so
uncomfortable and unable to relate to the very regimented and disciplined life of the Royals bound by duty and
protocol. The reality of this hitting her full force in the time spent at Balmoral on the tail end of the Royal Honeymoon.
Diana told how boring and strait - laced she found the company, treating the Queen as if she were unreal, false
smiles, weak jokes and everyone on their best behaviour. At that moment realising this life was not for her and never
would be, she wanting to scream but carried away by her teenage fairy tale dream of marrying her Prince Charming
had done so and it was all too late to realise her mistake. Diana saying she looked at Charles across the table during
the first week at Balmoral and saw not the man of action or the lover she had briefly known but a bumbling, weak,
sorrowful excuse for a man who buckled at the knees whenever in the presence of his mother, growing up to agree
and respect her every word, never daring to question or contradict her. It is amazing he is reported to have argued
with her over his insistence to use an aircraft of the Queen's Flight to collect Diana from Paris and to bring her home
as opposed to, as suggested to him, using a regular B.A. flight. The coffin in the hold perhaps with the other
passengers suitcases !
Diana was also soon to realise how the power of the courtiers and advisers ruled Charles's life, he having little
personal authority and even told friends had she not been pregnant with William she might well have walked out of
the marriage and damn the consequences. Diana was a people person and proved this in becoming "The People's
Princess" and supporting causes like H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. which were issues Diana's personal involvement with was
frowned upon by the Queen who felt they were totally unsuitable. Her involvement therefore appealing to her sense
of rebelliousness against an institution which Diana had felt no personal sense of support from. Diana knew all about
her husbands philandering with Camilla and likewise entertained lovers herself, speculation of her first serious lover
Captain James Hewitt being the father of younger son Harry and Charles agreeing to rear him as his own son, an
accusation strongly denied by Diana. In 1992 " Diana, Her True Story " published, again a rebellious act on her part
to personally let people read of her experience as H.R.H. Princess of Wales
The book full of embellishments so did not tell the entire truth but served its purpose and helped to dismantle the
stability of the Monarchy as Diana intended it doing. It nevertheless was not a complete fabrication which is what lent
weight to its being believed and was as intended by her a popular read worldwide. Diana succeeded in what she had
intended on doing; standing centre stage leaving the Royals, including the Queen, in the wings. Diana drew greater
crowds than the Queen publicly and abroad commanded a far greater press attention, even after her separation from
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales who found his personal popularity waned considerably. Thus Diana was in a position of
remarkable strength in spite of the Palace machine trying to do all they could to destroy her and her personal image,
all efforts to do so backfired as Diana was shrewd. Diana herself saying that she always remembered she was a
"Spencer " and not a "Windsor". Diana soon realised the more she was seen to publicly rebel against the royals, the
more popular she became with the people being approachable and having "The Common Touch", not being a born
royal which would have made her character very different having faced a similar indoctrination into personal conduct
and behaviour as they have been subjected to. Diana has said that she is so grateful to their father for allowing
William and Harry to live with more personal freedom than he himself was given to experience.
It is thought what might have provoked Diana's making the secret Panorama Interview being that she had believed
the Queen was about to order an official divorce between her and Charles. Already being officially separated this
might have meant, as well as losing her home of Apartments 8 & 9 in Kensington Palace, most significantly losing a
personal connection with her boys, the lights in her life. This was a thought Diana couldn't bear happening. The
interview being an appeal to the nation and speaking about her life and marriage in a candid way that shocked even
the Media in its content. It was dynamite, challenging, critical, insulting and full of innuendo, proving to being
compulsive viewing. The fact Diana did not inform the Queen about it was a crime in itself. No member of the Royal
Family would ever have the audacity to undertake such a venture without the Queen's permission. It would also
necessitate something being cleared by the senior aides at Buckingham Palace and Diana knew this. It was a gamble
and ultimately one Diana lost as soon after it finding the Queen did demand the divorce she had feared, though her
relationship with her beloved boys was not affected. Diana had lost to the Queen and did not like losing so she then,
in a rebellious manner, involved herself in causes and issues outside of the kingdom ... Leprosy and the Land Mine
Issue as well as others. These moves gaining her global acclaim. Not being royal any longer she was able to involve
herself directly in both political and controversial issues and creating for herself a new image; something like a cross
between Mother Teresa and a super model, an image remaining with Diana since her death in Paris in 1997. Diana
died with the new man in her life, eldest son of the British Establishment's enemy No.1 Mohamed al - Fayed. Dodi
Fayed being the second Muslim man Diana entertained a relationship with, the first being heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat
Khan. It suited Diana's rebellious nature to conduct relationships with men from a culture that she knew would
antagonise and humiliate the Royals and British Establishment. Therefore the circumstances surrounding her death
remain shrouded in mystery being thought by many all over the world to have been a planned accident organised by
British Security Services to rid the Royal Family of the rebellious Diana who had won the people's hearts and minds
and greatly assisted in destroying the popularity, prestige and authority of the Royal Family.
Charles
H.R.H. Prince Charles of Wales perhaps
joined the ranks of the rebellious royals
when announcing on Valentines Day in 2005 that he would be marrying his mistress during his marriage to Diana,
Mrs. Camilla Parker-Bowles. Alternatively it could be seen as he obeying the dictates of his mother, the Queen, to
face for the Monachy.
Charles became increasingly impatient with the imposed ruling that he was forbidden to have Camilla accompany him
on official duties and appearing in public anywhere together, even privately to friend's weddings, because they were
not man and wife. As he became more and more angry he contacted his mother the Queen in reaction to these rules
and his anger the exact reaction she wanted from him, able to tell him bluntly that if he wanted this ruling changed
that his own personal circumstances had to alter, that he must marry her! It can be imagined that the Queen, anti -
divorce and being Head of the Church of England which officially does not recognise divorce, has a relationship of
polite tolerance with the former divorcee who is now H.R.H. The Duchess of Cornwall. Her insistence of the second
marriage happening being in keeping with maintaining some kind of respect for the Monarchy. The alternatives being
he retaining her as his mistress or kicking her to the curb, which were not viable options to consider seriously, and he
knew it especially considering his first wife having died in a mysterious road traffic incident in Paris, France It can be
wondered how he, also becoming Head of the Church of England upon his ascension to the throne as a divorced
man and married to a divorcee, will justify his being so. It is something that waits to be resolved.
Camilla and Charles first meeting in 1972 and there being an immediate reaction in spite of his escorting North
American beauty Laura-Jo Watkins, a relationship that like others indulged in by him naturally over time fizzled out.
Camilla was dating one of his polo pals Captain Andrew Parker - Bowles, an officer in the Household Cavalry. Charles
was serving in the Navy and was at sea when Camilla and Andrew married. When their first child Tom was born,
Charles was invited to be his Godfather and jumped at the invitation. Camilla was also significant in finding for him
Highgrove House, his personal country retreat, and ironically found when he was dating Diana's eldest sister Sarah.
Charles, prior to his subsequent marriage to Camilla, imposing conditions to the Queen and these being that Camilla
be granted the title of H.R.H. The Duchess of Cornwall and that she should be the second most senior woman in the
Royal Family after the Queen which were ones agreed upon and so they married April 9th 2005. In spite of Charles
wanting her to be his official Queen it is most likely when he becomes King, following the mapped out destiny he has
already and is still waiting years to fulfill, that she will be known as the Princess Consort. Now it seems more than
likely that according to the media this marriage has failed resulting in the estranged couple showing a united front on
certain official occasions as he and "Diana did before their official separation and subsequent divorce.
