bethany.x said:

I wish our new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (!) the best of luck. I really do think it's a genuine love match.

As for the comparison between Will & Kate and Henry & Anne, has anyone heard what our old friend Philippa Gregory has to say about Kate? I haven't heard anything but I'm too scared to look! It could be bad…

I chuckled when I read this, Bethany.  I haven't heard anything from PG about her feelings regarding the new Duke and Duchess, but Kate better watch out because if PG has anything to do with it she and Pippa will be in league together in some nefarious plot.  And I guarantee you that incest, rape, or murder will be involved because that's how PG rolls.

And how disappointed was I to learn that “Pippa” was a nickname for “Philippa”?

Impish_Impulse said:

I think William learned quite a lot from his father's mistakes as well. Charles let the love of his life (to each their own, I guess!) go because he was afraid to commit. Then when she married another, he wanted her back. He married Diana for heirs, but could never fully commit to her because he was already committed to Camilla. What a lot of unhappiness all their actions caused!

When Diana died, Charles did the first thing I really admired by defying his parents and insisting on going to France to escort her body back to England, and insisting she receive a State funeral when the Queen was still insisting the Spencers bury her privately. It was also only after her death that I think he realized he needed to open up more to his sons because they needed an involved parent. I think he succeeded, since William and Harry seem to truly want him to be happy and haven't tried to freeze out Camilla.

I think William had cold feet/fear of committment, too, when he and Kate broke up a few years ago. I remember reading somewhere that Charles talked to him about not repeating the mistake he made, although I have no idea how much truth there is in that particular rumor! But it is nice to see people not repeating the same old mistakes and actually learning and growing. So I have much hope that William and Kate will be able to make a go of it in a mature, loving relationship. And that they'll be great parents. That's Diana's true legacy, I think.

Queen Anne Boleyn and Princess Diana were both despised, maligned and discarded royal wives who both contributed greatly to England's welfare via the royal families that rejected them. They both triumphed in the end.

This is beautifully well said, Carolyn.

Anyanka said:

Impish_Impulse said:

Queen Anne Boleyn and Princess Diana were both despised, maligned and discarded royal wives who both contributed greatly to England's welfare via the royal families that rejected them. They both triumphed in the end.

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Except in Diana's  case,  the popular press fell hook, line and sinker for the innocent virginal butter-wouldn't -melt-in-her-mouth idealised single dimension that Diana projected in public. I know how hard it was to disagree with what people were saying about her when she was alive EVEN when her own actions disproved her image.
 

I've long been of the opinion that had Charlie-boy married Camilla and played away-games with Diana, there would not have been half the disapproval heaped on him.

 

Further more, Diana also admitted to several affaires d'amour  as thier marriage was ending.

 

So saying Diana and Anne were equal in a bit of a misnomer.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply they were identical cases.