Queen Camilla? I Hope Not!

One news item has grabbed my attention more than any other this morning.

The bumbling fool that is the Prince of Wales has made such a mess of answering the straightforward question of whether Camilla will be Queen one day ("That's, well ... We'll see, won't we? That could be") that now speculation is rife that:

a) He wants to make her Queen, and
b) The British public are up in arms at the prospect.

As a member of the British public I can confirm that as I sit here, next to my window, I can see no crowds gathering, brandishing guns or bows and arrows, marching purposefully in the direction of Highgrove House.  There are no signs of riots or aggressive protests on Sky News this morning.  To be honest, I am not sure that most British people give much of a damn whether Camilla becomes queen.

Obviously, by virtue of the fact that I am blogging about this, I do care.  I am one of the likely minority who do have an opinion (although for the record, I am not arming myself with weapons and a placard to march to Highgrove and cause a scene either!).  I have decided to make my point in a slightly more sedate manner.

Such a shame this didn't happen in  1981

And ironically, my objection to Camilla becoming Queen is not actually about Camilla as such.  She is probably a very nice lady.  William and Harry like her, and that's good enough for me in truth.  If they can judge that Camilla's role in the life or their mother was acceptable, then I am sure that I can.

Oh no.  My objection is not to the prospective Queen.  I don't like the prospective King.  Charles is a weak and dithering man.  He demonstrates over and over again the fact that he cannot manage the press or any form of attention shows that he just cannot cut it as a credible public figure, let alone the Head of State.

If he had had the strength and courage to stand up to his parents in 1979 and say "Actually, Mum and Dad, Camilla is the woman I love.  She may not be your choice, but she is mine and if you won't accept her then I will walk away from my role as future king, because my love for her is more important to me than anything else", then surely to goodness so much pain and angst could have been avoided.

Instead, he found an emotionally damaged 19 year old girl that he probably felt he could manipulate into being a subservient and accepting wife, while he carried on his relationship with Camilla behind her back.  He clearly missed the fact that as the product of a divorce and a romance obsessed teenager, Diana was never going to be someone who bowed out of her marriage in all but image, just for him.  And to be honest I don't blame her.

I am definitely more "Team Diana" than I will ever be "Team Charles", and I thoroughly enjoyed having her as my stereotypical princess through the young and tender years of my life.  But I would happily trade all of the magic of having a beautiful princess to admire at the age of seven, for the relative peace and tranquility that would have been afforded to all concerned if Charles had been a stronger man before it all started.

There is no doubt that Camilla makes Charles happy, and even I have warmed to her slightly over the last few years.  If he decides she should be Queen, so be it.  It will not change my attitude one jot.

I look forward to the day that William takes the throne.  He has the rare quality of being the perfect mix of properly "royal" and a thoroughly normal guy.  I think he will always stand up for what he believes to be right.  And that I can respect.