Roses are red,
Violets are dandy.
Charles’ Camilla
Isn’t arm candy.
And for that cold-hearted assessment on this Valentine’s Day, we can thank Kate Zernike of the New York Times, who observes that “the 56-year-old prince’s fiance, at 57, is decidedly not a trophy.”
After the fairy-tale marriage (well, at least for the first week or so) of Charles and Diana, life has moved on in the royal family. Charles is finally settling down with his long-time flame, despite the fact that neither of them looks as good as they once did in a skirt.
In fact, the tale of Charles and Camilla seems exactly right for the times, as fickle baby boomers face their gray years on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I think it’s a great postmodern romance,” said Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. With Viagra, the high rate of second marriages and the columnists in AARP magazine offering advice on love the second time around, Ms. Whitehead said, “the idea that one is on a romantic quest until we reach the grave is now part of the love and marriage story in America.”
Zernike then gives us a reality check (this is the Times, after all). “But every fairy tale, even true-life ones, needs a dose of cold reality — and here it is: Ladies, don’t expect Camilla’s story to happen to you.”
Or, as divorce lawyer Raoul L. Felder, told Zernike: “There’s [not] a prince for every pumpkin.” Which, if you think about it, pretty much drives a stake through the whole concept of Valentine’s Day.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.