# 14 CAMILLA & CHARLES - ROADBLOCKS, APOLOGIES

The media are referring to it as another ‘road block’ amidst the unfortunate circumstances that keep popping up and making the proposed wedding of Charles and Camilla a royal pain. I am referring to the pronouncement by Bishop Stancliffe that Charles should apologize for any hurt he has caused, particularly to Camilla’s ex. But I’m not sure if Mr. Parker-Bowles is hurting. Perhaps Camilla’s ex is more relieved than hurt.

Nevertheless, in principle, I guess the Bishop’s ruling is a worthy decision, but it leaves me wondering, ‘What about the rest of us? Those of us that are so hurt and disappointed with the degradation of our expectations for princes and rulers.’ Doesn’t the Bishop realize that while Mr. Parker-Bowles may be hurt, the rest of us are hurting even more?

As a Canadian, I am hurt. I know many British subjects are deeply hurt. Church members are hurt. There’s a throng of us that need reparation for our hurts. The Bishop wants Charles to make good any hurts, to restore goodwill and to pay serious attention to associations damaged by any misconduct. "Yahoo, Bishop Stancliffe. Yahoo, Charles. I’m over here. Patiently waiting for balm for my hurts."

Obviously I’ll be waiting a while, so in the meantime I might as well tell you that I am far more impatient with that foxy Camilla, then with Charles. Poor Charles. Obviously he was groomed to be a king and in this grooming it is quite likely the bulk of his studies focused on international diplomacy (and ‘fox-hunting?’ *sly wink* ) to such a degree that aspects of normal society and interpersonal relationships fell away by default. Then too, perhaps it is harder to be chaste, or easier to be chased, with a kilt on then with a pair of trousers. Only Camilla, the fox, and the bag-piper would know for sure.

But nevertheless, when it comes to personal matters, through no fault of his own, Charles is quite stupid, so I’m not sure he should be obliged to apologize to anyone. Like Hub wisely says, "We need to excuse the actions of those who don’t know any better, rather than react with dismay or anger." But the bottom line is it takes two to tango, so now I have to consider Camilla.

Here’s where I have a real problem. There are no valid excuses for Camilla’s acts of ‘treason’ and ‘heresy’ and ‘terrorism’. Yes, I said ‘treason’ and ‘heresy’ and ‘terrorism’. ‘Treason’ because while Princess Diana was in a husband-wife relationship with Charles, Camilla slept with Charles and in so doing violated her purported allegiance to the sovereign of the country – Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana and her children, and the rest of the Royals.

And ‘heresy’, because the illegitimacy of this act demonstrated that Camilla holds to beliefs that are contrary to the doctrines of the Church – i.e. adulterous behavior. And finally, ‘terrorism’ because this was indeed an act of subjugation. Through seduction, Camilla deliberately sought to bring Charles under her control and subjection. I don’t want Charles to necessarily abdicate the throne, but I do want a public broadcast of Camilla explaining that she is aware that she has engaged in these horrific acts and for this reason she feels compelled to relinquish the title and role of Queen of England.

Of course the foregoing arguments are weakly based on language and its interpretation rather than the deeper feelings and fallibility’s of our humanity. So okay, if you feel that way, lets scrap all the foregoing as ineffective arguments. Let’s simply discuss the undeniable truth about love. If we do that, I have to say ‘true love’ is more stringent that Camilla or Charles realize. It means sacrifice. It means denying one’s own personal desires to honor the dignity of the person (or country) they dearly love (as so bravely demonstrated years ago by Charles’s great uncle, the Duke of Windsor). This is love, true love, dedicated love, Romeo-and-Juliet love – forever love; the kind of love that withstands eternally. It is not the kind of love evident in the Charles and Camilla Harlequin saga.

Now I don’t know if Charles and Camilla will be required to take marriage counseling before they wed. I certainly hope they do. And furthermore, I hope their counselor is wise enough to explain to them the difference between ‘lust’ and ‘love’, the difference between ‘erasers’ and ‘rulers’, and the difference between ‘horse sense’ and ‘common sense’.