Charles and Camilla seeking to make a splash

By Aussiegirl



Dogged by a PETA anti-bear-hunting protester, and preceded by the unwelcome news during a time of terror that Charles had come to plead Islam's case to George Bush and the American people, Charles and Camilla swanned into town yesterday, but instead of a royal splash they made more of a tiny plop on this side of the pond.

Let's face it, retread Camilla in even 100 colorful frumpy suits is not going to set any hearts aflutter. Sure, Diana was the Princess of Wails and a drama queen of premier proportions, but she was a stunner to look at, and simply to be able to utter the words "British Royalty" and "beauty" in the same breath was a strange sensation that hadn't been experienced in recent memory. So if nothing else, Diana was a novelty and easy on the eyes. And there was undeniably a strangely hypnotic, naive and childlike charm about her, with that combination of worldly sophistication and schoolgirl bashfulness which captivated us for those brief moments she basked in world attention. And who can resist a walking soap opera in progress?

But Charles and Camilla are just two aging adulterers, and everywhere they go you can't help but think of all the people they have betrayed repeatedly over the years, her husband and children, his wife and children -- and so really, at least for me -- British royalty in the best of times leaves me cold, but where at least Diana had some of the dangerous off-kilter glamour of a Marilyn Monroe, the child sex-kitten we were fascinated to watch as she neurotically self-destructed in the harsh limelight of public attention -- Camilla merely appears to be matronly and boring and desperate. Just face it guys, you missed your time, it's too late for those things. And lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.

But that never stops Charles from imagining that he actually has something to say that the rest of the world might find to be of the remotest interest.

David Frum's Diary on National Review Online

Prince Charles is visiting the US this week and has apparently told friends that he hopes to encourage Americans to take a more positive view of Islam. Greater understanding of Islam is of course always welcome. Americans interested in the impact of Islam on Prince Charles’ country should read “Islam in Britain,” a report of the UK Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, available from www.isic-centre.org.

“Islam in Britain” paints a vivid picture of a rapidly growing British Muslim community determined to remodel British society along Islamic lines.