Charles and Camilla to visit Ireland in May 2017

[Trudie]

To each her own. I would not go out of my way to see her much less invite her to a dinner party. The Queen would not eat in front of cameras that way. Nor most of the other members of the royal family. I think it looks unflattering and I am standing by this opinion.

She is confident in herself to the point of being nervy which is how she got where she is today.

The jewelry was given to Camilla by Charles when she was his mistress. She is no doubt used to getting these perks.

Kate will get the same bling or more when she is Queen.

When Camilla first was getting a makeover it was said it cost much $$$ (including dental work) and the PR for her was not cheap.

I would venture her upkeep cost more than Diana's.

he's not bad at the hurling at all.. it is very good to see them in irleand.  Camilla is refreshingly "iun -vain!"

I agree that the couple appear to have had a warm reception in Ireland and Northern Ireland. If you had asked me twenty years ago if a member of the BRF could have visited the Republic of Ireland, I would have stated "no." However since the Queen's initial visit and the state visits from both nations, I am optimistic that the future relations between the two countries is going to be positive.

IMO Camilla is not someone who is "high maintenance" and is content with appearing neat, tidy and appropriately dressed for the occasion. 

Camilla does not just get up in the morning, grab a frock from the closet dress and leave the house, running a comb through her hair. As a royal woman she has hairdressers, maids, stylists and so on. Of course royals are high maintenance, including Camilla. She reportedly goes for costly spa treatments from time to time. And her hair needs maintenance (coloring and styling. She probably has a closet the size of a NY apartment. That is high maintenance.

I so totally agree however, Diana was content to also mix in costume jewelry I have yet to see Camilla wear jewelry that is not high end gems. Camilla like all royal wives is high maintenance they have to appear impeccably stylish as they are also representing the country.

[TLLK]

Her hair can carry them off in a way that other royal ladies might not be able to do. 

Well much like QEII, Princess Anne,  Queen Fabiola and Queen/Princess Beatrix, Camilla does have a trademark hairstyle circa 1975. :D

And it is one that works well with the larger tiaras as many were designed to be worn with fuller or piled hair.
IMHO she's not very interested in fashion and is happy recycling outfits over and over. (Though I doubt that she'll venture into Princess Anne's example of wearing outfits from 1981!)
Camilla has a basic uniform style that she's comfortable in shades of blue, green, and cream. Sometimes she'll venture into plum or red with black for occasions that require it, but that's about as exciting that she gets.

Her collection of pearls, brooches and chokers seem to be her indulgence. 

[Curryong]

Yes, I think many of these tiaras were designed and made in the 19th century, when many women wore cottage loaf hair styles with massive buns piled up on top or chignons. I always think, when I see tiara-wearing women in the 1920's and '30s with their hair smooth to their skulls, that the tiaras never looked  at their best. I think Cam and Sylvia have tiara hair. Maxie doesn't but being Maxie carries it off anyway, as does Queen Daisy.

[royalanthropologist]

Don't get me started on the jewels people. Otherwise we will go right off topic :hehe: There was a picture of queen Alexandra practically wearing the entire collection of royal jewels. It was so gaudy and yet so diva, so bad that it became good in a way. lol :teehee:

Tiara Mania: Hanover Fringe Tiara worn around her waist by Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom | United Kingdom - Tiara Mania | Pinterest | Prince,

[Curryong]

Queen Mary was even worse (or better, depending on your point of view) at wearing everything but the kitchen sink on her person in the way of jewels at the one time. She looked magnificent though, and it was very Edwardian to do that.

[sandy]

Her hair can carry them off in a way that other royal ladies might not be able to do. 

Well much like QEII, Princess Anne,  Queen Fabiola and Queen/Princess Beatrix, Camilla does have a trademark hairstyle circa 1975. :D

And it is one that works well with the larger tiaras as many were designed to be worn with fuller or piled hair.
IMHO she's not very interested in fashion and is happy recycling outfits over and over. (Though I doubt that she'll venture into Princess Anne's example of wearing outfits from 1981!)
Camilla has a basic uniform style that she's comfortable in shades of blue, green, and cream. Sometimes she'll venture into plum or red with black for occasions that require it, but that's about as exciting that she gets.

Her collection of pearls, brooches and chokers seem to be her indulgence. 

Well certainly Camilla got used to the good life and she does not just have a "few" dresses she wears over and over. Same style maybe. She has been interested in fashion and high maintenance for years now.

Anne's upswept hair looks better with tiaras than Camilla's outdated style.

[TLLK]

@sandy-On this topic we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

I think Cam and Sylvia have tiara hair. Maxie doesn't but being Maxie carries it off anyway, as does Queen Daisy

I do agree that Camilla and Sylvia's day to day styles are tiara friendly while Victoria, Mary, Maddy and now Sofia are comfortable with adapting their styles for tiara events.

Regarding Camilla's hair I would expect at this point she's mostly grey but has a good colorist.

[sandy]

Her hair is well attended to by stylists apparently.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

As to the "Di-mania" that swept the early 80s, this blog is great for re-running some of the old news articles at that time May 2017 – Princess Diana News Blog "All Things Princess Diana" In a recent one you can real about Dianas upcoming 21st birthday and the extra staff needed for thank you letters for birthday presents,etc. They regularly have ones that talk about the frenzy over her popularity, people preferring to see her, etc. People forget in these days with "accessible" royals being the norm how much she broke the mold, and with the bar set so low in terms of warmth, friendliness and expression by the royal before her, it made it even more so refreshing.

While I can on the one hand see people saying it was rude, I do have to say thats looking at it with a bit of hindsight thrown in. I dont think a lot of people wished Charles ill will saying it, its just that well, we had by that time 10 to 15 years of seeing Charles doing things, she was new and boy could she draw a person in, so people wanted to see her, bar set so low and all. Thats where Charles needed to take heart my "investment" analogy that met mixed reviews, his time would come again, but he messed that up by unwittingly forcing Diana to turn to the public for support and that just made it all the worse for him.

For the jewellery, color me biased but I do think Diana really stole the show for both display and being able to mix costume and regular royal jewels. although my fav will always be the Spencer family tiara, technically not a royal jewel. As for Camillas taste in jewels and their cost, I think part of that might be to make Charles pay a little bit for the years of trouble over the war of the walses, etc. she had to go through a lot to get the brass ring, so to speak, one can understand she wants to enjoy the "spoils of victory".

I recall an article about how she had to restructure herself after divorcing APB on the advice of her friends to be "cash poor" to rein Charles in more and more to cover her expenses, but have a proper property to entertain him. (I did enjoy the part where she and a friend hid from the fishmonger at the door as she hadnt paid him  :lol: sorry @royalanthropologist they'll think we're in cahoots if I dont take a poke at Camilla once in awhile  :lol:)

I dont know if it was mentioned here or not, but it had been mentioned about Camilla having to endure APB infidelity, at the time Camilla and APB were dating, a royal biographer, said APB was regarded as "the best lay in London" and it was a six or seven year campaign to get him down the aisle.

I find it hard to believe as worldly a woman as Camilla(no i dont mean loose, but she had her head on her shoulders and knew how the world worked compared to say Diana at 19) didnt know about APB roving eye, hands and other parts pre marriage, but knew it was the next best option with Charles off the table in 1970s Britain. Others would know better about this, but I wonder if maybe that was a "plus" for her, in that APB would have no leg to stand on to complain if she were to keep seeing Charles, given his activities.

[Curryong]

I don't think Diana did much for her 21st birthday, did she, just lunching with Fergie. Of course it was just after William's birth, but it would have been nice if Charles had surprised her with tickets for a show or something, even if she was feeling depressed. Still, birthday presents from strangers is better than nothing, I suppose.

That August there was the kerfuffle about Frances's recollections of her first marriage and Johnny being 'stubborn and difficult' about access to the children all those years before,  which appeared in a new biography of Diana by Gordon Honeycombe and which the Tabloids seized on with delight. As Diana was up at Balmoral at the time that wouldn't have helped to lighten her mood.

I think Camilla may have believed that Andrew would settle down and change after marriage, though that was surely a vain thought, considering he was a supposedly mature adult at the time of his nuptials. Does a leopard change its spots?  She herself didn't exactly sit at home waiting for him to call, either, during those years.

[royalanthropologist]

He he @Duch_Luver_4ever.  Unless someone is completely mad, they can tell that you are one of the people who really liked Diana. Even us who are more cynical have to admire your even-handedness.

Yes the fish monger's story was rather tawdry. Almost as bad as being shoved in the boot of a car to get to an assignation with a married man. You know, sometimes it is best not to really think about mental pictures of those things because they can put you right off royalty. There is a piece of irony that a woman who was part of the Camillagate tape will be crowned with a version of these words "By her virtuous life, she has deserved this office". I am sure the Archbishop of Canterbury will have a wry smile in his heart :hehe:

To this day I have never been able to listen to the Camillagate tape in full. It is just one of the most embarrassing things and I even feel ashamed to look at the people involved when I remember that tape. So I have subconsciously just tried to forget about it.

[sandy]

I don't think Diana did much for her 21st birthday, did she, just lunching with Fergie. Of course it was just after William's birth, but it would have been nice if Charles had surprised her with tickets for a show or something, even if she was feeling depressed. Still, birthday presents from strangers is better than nothing, I suppose.

That August there was the kerfuffle about Frances's recollections of her first marriage and Johnny being 'stubborn and difficult' about access to the children all those years before,  which appeared in a new biography of Diana by Gordon Honeycombe and which the Tabloids seized on with delight. As Diana was up at Balmoral at the time that wouldn't have helped to lighten her mood.

I think Camilla may have believed that Andrew would settle down and change after marriage, though that was surely a vain thought, considering he was a supposedly mature adult at the time of his nuptials. Does a leopard change its spots?  She herself didn't exactly sit at home waiting for him to call, either, during those years.

Camilla would have had to be incredibly naive (which I doubt she was) to think Andrew would change his ways. The two had as one biographer of her called it "a sexual competition." APB was said to have been proud that Camilla bested him by landing Prince Charles (after he was involved with Princess Anne). Camilla did not sit home and cry if APB cheated on her. She had her own fun. I think other than being with each other to conceive children it was an open marriage. APB like Mr Simpson did not seem too upset about his wife being with a Prince of Wales. He only was driven to divorce when Charles blabbed about the affair with Camilla in 1994.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

He he @Duch_Luver_4ever.  Unless someone is completely mad, they can tell that you are one of the people who really liked Diana. Even us who are more cynical have to admire your even-handedness.

Yes the fish monger's story was rather tawdry. Almost as bad as being shoved in the boot of a car to get to an assignation with a married man. You know, sometimes it is best not to really think about mental pictures of those things because they can put you right off royalty. There is a piece of irony that a woman who was part of the Camillagate tape will be crowned with a version of these words "By her virtuous life, she has deserved this office". I am sure the Archbishop of Canterbury will have a wry smile in his heart :hehe:

To this day I have never been able to listen to the Camillagate tape in full. It is just one of the most embarrassing things and I even feel ashamed to look at the people involved when I remember that tape. So I have subconsciously just tried to forget about it.

I appreciate that @royalanthropologist I try to take it as it comes with Diana, I think because theres so few conditions to my affection for her, I can, as they say "love the sinner, hate the sin" on the times she may have missed the mark, which all of do, usually without the worlds press watching our every move. All she had to be was herself, not some idealized product.

As yes, so many funny events from that time, I think everyone at some point was smuggled in the boot of a car, Camilla, Charles, men Diana was seeing, etc. someone could have made a pretty penny desingning luxury boots for royal cars to the aforementioned smuggled people could ride in style. :lol:

Ah dont feel too bad about the Camillagate tape, our side has one too, and really in both, the women come off not too bad. Its been awhile since I listened to the whole thing, so im sure someone will jump in, but I think the worst Camilla said was about Charles "filling her tank" and I dont think she meant it in a in the gutter type of expression.

It was the males in both tapes that said the worst stuff, of course the delightful schadenfreude of Charles fear of turning into a tampax and wanting to live in her trousers. Its a testament to his breeding, training,and overall sense of entitlement that he can still hold his head high when most mere mortals would have found that beyond the pale when looking ppl in the eye again  :teehee: :teehee: :teehee:

Then poor Gilbey telling us of his self-gratification habits, idk if it was a sloane thing, but idk how he thought that was going make Diana eager to drive over right away to see him. :happy17: :happy17: Even for a guy like me, I thought he was way too saccharine sweet with the "love you, love you, love you, love you, love you," no wonder he was trapped in the friendzone  :lol:

[sandy]

Some critics of the tape singled out how Charles and Camilla hoped that an ambulance strike would not end (the strike endangered lives) so her husband (who was deployed to assist) would not return home and spoil their fun. That was the thing that really bothered these critics, not the risque dialog.

[amabel]

I don't think Diana did much for her 21st birthday, did she, just lunching with Fergie. Of course it was just after William's birth, but it would have been nice if Charles had surprised her with tickets for a show or something, even if she was feeling depressed. Still, birthday presents from strangers is better than nothing, I suppose.


I

Oh Goodness I'm sure that Charles gave her presents and a party...Didn't he give her a new car?  Are you saying that everyone did things for her birthday except her husband