To be upstaged by his wife

[LouisFerdinand]

The first time a hint was seen of Prince Charles' jealousy of Princess Diana's huge appeal to the crowd was on their joint tour of Australia in March 1983. Instead of seven photographers, there were seventy.   
What could Charles have done to make the crowds like him more?   :unsure: :unsure: :unsure:

[Curryong]

^ There's probably nothing that Charles could have done. The media and the crowds everywhere, in Britain and abroad, fell in love with Diana from the beginning. A woman in a nice dress and accessories is 100 times more likely to draw attention than a man in a suit. That's just a truism all media people know instinctively. Diana was beautiful, tall, photogenic and interacted well with the crowds as well. I saw her and she was terrific. Also Charles had been to Australia many times before, Diana was new, and charismatic.

Perhaps if Charles had been a conventionally handsome man he might have gained a bit more attention, but he wasn't. He complained on the visit he'd made earlier, when there were newly engaged, about people in the crowds wearing huge plastic ears and masks of his face (Aussies are no respecters of persons and enjoy a joke) as he thought it disrespectful to himself. It was, but Charles must have been fooling himself if he thought that when he was beside a young woman at the height of her beauty that he would get an equal share of attention and love from the crowds.

[TLLK]

^^^@Curryong is correct and there is nothing that Charles could have done except behave graciously as possible and show some pride that the people appreciated his fiance. As we know though that didn't happen once Charles realized that this was going to be the norm with crowds groaning when they realized it was Charles shaking their hand while Diana met with another group.  Also other heirs have married commoners it's the ladies that attract the attention. (Sorry to Sweden's Daniel!)

For example, Willem-Alexander still looks like he can't believe his good fortune and NO ONE in the Dutch royal family could have possibly competed the well-named Maxima.

[amabel]

^ There's probably nothing that Charles could have done. The media and the crowds everywhere, in Britain and abroad, fell in love with Diana from the beginning. A woman in a nice dress and accessories is 100 times more likely to draw attention than a man in a suit. That's just a truism all media people know instinctively. Diana was beautiful, tall, photogenic and interacted well with the crowds as well. I saw her and she was terrific. Also Charles had been to Australia many times before, Diana was new, and charismatic.

I don't know about Austraila but Charles WAS extremely popular in Englnad in the 70s as far as I can remember,  He was "actionMan" had been in the Navy, was doing dangerous sports, charity work, courting pretty girls.  He was popular But Diana jut had a special quality that made her mega popular.  Porbalby any wife he had would have at least for a few years outshone him whether she tired to or not because yes a pretty woman with nice clothes and so on, is more photogenic than a man, even a  handsme one...
But Diana had a magic and just was loved by the camera and attracted more attention even if she hadn't tried...and I think that at first he didn't mind her popuilarity but he began to get irritated when he felt that it was taking away from his "serious interests, speeches etc.

[royalanthropologist]

Diana failed to realize one very important fact. Without Charles she would have been nothing...absolutely nothing. Nobody would have said a word about her in the media had she not been the Princess of Wales. So if I was her adviser, I would have done absolutely everything to ensure that Charles was always on my side. That was her fatal flaw and Camilla took advantage. Camilla offered Charles seemingly unconditional support and he clearly preferred that to a wife who was determined to destroy him. Irritating the royal family and criticizing the queen/queen mum was only going to make things worse. Charles saw Diana as being disloyal and erratic.

When Diana realized that she could never persuade him to love her, she joined the media in denigrating her husband. He in turn withdrew. She used her popularity to upstage him at every opportunity and he resented her for it. Even her last flight with the photographers on that yacht was a futile attempt to take the attention away from the Camilla birthday. Of course it all ended spectacularly badly.

If Diana was sick of Charles' antics and jealousies, she might have asked for a civilized divorce. There is a princess of Denmark who did something similar recently. Up to now she gets on well with the rest of the family. Instead Diana engaged in childish games which at times seemed to endanger the very monarchy that had made her famous. She joined hands with Charles enemies (Mike Holden etc.) to push her vendetta. She revealed family secrets that embarrassed the queen and royal family. She gave succor to republicans and was one of their greatest assets right up until the end.

The Guardianistas love Diana for no other reason than the fact that she destabilized the monarchy. They cheered when that horrible hypocrite Charles Spencer insulted the queen at the funeral. They relished every new scandal including that excruciating Camillagate tape which was illegally obtained. However, at heart they truly despised the Diana and saw her as nothing more than an unwitting weapon to beat down on the monarchy. 

For all its worth, I never believed Diana was a bad person. She was just terribly mis-advised and very poorly educated. As she herself said, she let the heart lead the head. That is not what a consort is supposed to do. You are supposed to make your spouse look great, at least in public...not put him down and expose his weaknesses. It all sounds great being a militant feminist in your marriage but it does not help you much when you are effectively abandoned by your husband and his powerful family.

Diana could not or would not do what the royal family wanted her to do. In their end her antics pushed them to the limit and they spat her out. Unfortunately she was never able to survive outside the royal fold and ended up losing her life at the hands of some shady security and paparazzi. It is a cautionary tale for all royal wives. Kate Middleton has learnt well and she does all in her power not to cause a fuss. That is why I think she will eventually get to the throne.

[LouisFerdinand]

Margaret Holder of Royalty magazine declared that Princess Diana upstages Prince Charles.   
Margaret said, 'She upstages the whole royal family.'

[royalanthropologist]

It is people like Margaret Holder with their armchair analysis of the marriage that helped to end it very quickly. They sowed the seeds of discontent between the couple and encouraged them to go after one another in the War of the Walesses. It all made good copy but the personal cost on the people involved was too much to bear.

[TLLK]

Margaret Holder of Royalty magazine declared that Princess Diana upstages Prince Charles.   
Margaret said, 'She upstages the whole royal family.'

Which likely led to an uptick in sales for Royalty magazine that month. <_<

[amabel]

It is people like Margaret Holder with their armchair analysis of the marriage that helped to end it very quickly. They sowed the seeds of discontent between the couple and encouraged them to go after one another in the War of the Walesses. It all made good copy but the personal cost on the people involved was too much to bear.

nobody had to encourage them.  Diana was the one who kicked up a public fuss, and charles responded.  the Media may have enjoyed the fact that their "war" was good for press sales, but it was the 2 of them who couldn't get on and who used the pres to attack each other

[LouisFerdinand]

How long has Margaret Holder been associated with Royalty magazine?

[TLLK]

Margaret Holder Profile | TMR

[LouisFerdinand]

Writing about the Royal Family for thirty tears is indeed a long time!