A Good Read – The Duchess

My darling chum, Jackie, recently gifted me with this terrific book.

If you’ve been our chum for any length of time, you no doubt know how much we enjoy all things British and especially those things having to do with the Royal family. So when Jackie sent me this book I was really happy to get it.

Though over the past several years it has been undeniable how much more comfortable and relaxed that Prince Charles has seemed in the public eye since his marriage to Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, I must admit that as a big fan of Diana, Princess of Wales, I was skeptical about Camilla. Somehow it felt that I was being disloyal to Diana (I woman I never met and only knew through TV media and books and articles written about her) if I gave Camilla “a chance”, and didn’t see her as “the other woman” who was responsible for the demise of Charles and Diana’s marriage.

Intellectually I knew there are always two sides to every story of a failed marriage but emotionally Camilla had very successfully been portrayed as a “home wrecker” and that image was a very public and powerful one. Still, I couldn’t deny that the love between Charles and Camilla that had lasted well over a half of a century deserved to be looked at as more than a lustful extramarital affair.

So I read Penny Junor’s book as open-mindedly as I could. I am happy to report that I’m so glad I did. There were definitely mistakes, and unfortunate and willful choices made on all sides that contributed to the breakup of what the public believed to be a Royal fairy tale marriage, but far from being the scheming villain the media painted Camilla out to be, she is a strong, caring, multifaceted woman who didn’t seek the limelight or a titled position. She only wanted the chance to stand beside, and support a man she had loved for most of her life. She and Charles had been denied that chance long before Diana came into the Royal picture. But their bond was strong and has survived horrible press, ugly public criticism and slurs, the tragic death of a beloved ex-spouse and family pressure to end their relationship.

This book gives a 3-D view of a woman in a long lasting relationship that has long been depicted as a 1-dimensional caricature. No matter where you come down currently on who you think Camilla is, this book will enlighten and stretch you to see her, and her marriage to Prince Charles, from a different perspective. This book was a reminder to me that we are all flawed and fall short in one way or another and can find ourselves needing to make choices and decisions that are difficult and complicated to say the least.

The bottom line on The Duchess is that it was a fascinating and highly enjoyable and enlightening read. You can get it from all the usual places, Amazon, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Audible and more than likely local places in your neighborhood where books are sold. Whether you are a Royal watcher or not, this is more than a Royal story, this is a human story. Read it. We think you will be glad you did.