Way to go, George.
Apparently, according to the Sunday Mirror, W has decided to snub the Royal Family of Britain by not welcoming Prince Charles' soon-to-be-wife Camilla Parker Bowles into the White House. The Mirror seems to think it's because she's a divorcee. It likely has more to do with the affair the two had while Charles was still married to Diana and the fact that Diana is still a beloved figure in America. It would be a bad PR move for the President to welcome "the other woman" into the White House, even if the relationship will soon be legitimized through marriage.
Nevertheless, how tacky. One would think a president would be above such petty social contrivances, but apparently not. After all, isn't Prince Charles demonstrating that "traditional marriage" is still alive and well in Britain?
It was an arranged, political and loveless marriage. I mean, come on, you're a young, beautiful, modern woman with aspirations of your own being married off to a stuffy, old-school aristocrat. Your only real role in the family is to produce an heir. You really think that's going to work? But who cares? As long as we have "...a glittering storybook wedding with all the royal trappings imaginable." As has been the royal custom for centuries, Charles had his public wife and his private love. Diana had her private loves as well.
Where tradition broke down is not in the "sacred institution of marriage." It broke down in the form of beautiful Diana, a strong, intelligent woman who wanted and knew that she deserved more from marriage than to be a royal show piece. She wanted love, affection and companionship. Not that any of those things has anything to do with marriage. Also absent in Diana was the willingness to play the part, or maybe it was her inability to act, or perhaps it was the lack of a belief in the necessity to do so.
It was a tragic situation created by rigid tradition. While Diana is by far the more likeable of the two—and the more tragic figure, given her untimely death—it is hardly fair to say she was the only victim. Charles finally has the woman he loves at his side. Shouldn't we be happy for him?