Customer Reviews

Charles: Victim or Villain

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Penny Junor feels the need to apologize for Charles and defend the coldness exhibited by the Royal family. To do this, she seems to find it necessary to downgrade Diana. Personally, I like Charles. He seems abundantly human, a good father, and how many people could wake up their children and have to break their hearts? He did an impossible job very well. However, on page 51, Junor writes "Apart from the companionship,... Charles had no need for a wife. His life was ordered, his meals were cooked, his clothes bought, laundered and laid out for him; his every whim catered for...". Is this what Junor thinks a wife does? If so, it's no wonder the marriage failed. There are far better books in this genre.

As a lifelong Anglophile, I've always been interested in the royal family, and sympathetic to the fact that they have to live in a fishbowl, forbidden the common rights that any Fred Bloggs takes for granted---the right to marry whom they will, the right to walk down the street in peace, to name two. So, when Charles' marriage went on the rocks, I felt sorry for both of them and felt that the endless coverage couldn't have helped---could anybody have worked out problems in their marriage with Fleet Street all but crawling down the chimney to report every bit of tittle-tattle they could? The majority of coverage took Diana's side, so I always did kind of lean toward Charles, if only because I'm suspicious of one-sided coverage of anything. Junor's book, although not wildly well-written and prone to gush over Charles' virtues, is a needed antidote to a lot of the sentimental pishposh that came out in the wake of the accident. BTW, one thing that really, really disgusted me in the wake of the accident was the cold-blooded way the news media in the UK whipped up the mob at the royal family. How _dare_ they not be in London? Never mind that they had two boys on their hands who had just lost a mother they loved! We, the people, _demand_ that they mourn, and mourn _our_ way! Okay, so the royals showed the stiff upper lip---what was expected of them? To gash their cheeks like Huns mourning the death of Attila, mourning with blood instead of water? To howl and wail like Chinese professional mourners?

Years ago, as the story of Charles and Diana was unfolding, some of my friends and I knew that what the public generally believed about their relationship was not true.

All of the chaos of their marriage was familiar to us -- the suicide gestures and threats, the self abuse, the obsessive fantasies of abuse and abandonment, the wild mood swings, all of the signs were there.

We knew that the marriage of Charles and Diana could only end in one way, with her leaving Charles, whom she would inevitably began to hate without reason or bounds.

There was nothing that Charles could have done that could have changed that outcome. From the moment he married her he was doomed.

My friends and I also knew that the truth of their relationship and Diana's nature would never come out. It did not surprise us that Diana was generally regarded as a victim of the heartless Charles, so effective was Diana's portrayal of herself as such.

But, as it turns out, we were wrong. Finally, someone has had the courage and intelligence to tell the truth about Charles and Diana, and that truth is revealed in this remarkable new book.

No new facts are brought up in the book, but the author interprets the facts in a very novel way.

The public cry of outrage from Diana's fans about this book is predictable -- Diana's fans did not really know her. Only a person who lived with her and has lived with people like her, day in and day out, could even begin to understand her and her Charles' predicament.

This book is very interesting! The author is obviously a GREAT fan of Prince Charles! From interviews that I have seen with the author, I fully expected a Diana-bashing book and I wasn't far from the mark! Just the mere fact that the Princess of Wales is not here to defend herself against these so-called "facts" of Ms. Junor's shows you what kind of diabolical mind the author has! Ms. Junor herself is making quite alot of money writing about the misfortunes of the Prince & Princess of Wales. I should hope that the proceeds for this book would go directly to royal charities and those who are TRUE victims all around the world! Surely Ms. Junor would not want to line her own pockets with this scathing book - or would she? Think on, Ms. Junor!

Penny Junor's new book on Charles is a great work of revisionist history aimed at putting Charles into a better light and also dear Camilla. The truth of the marriage is somewhere in-between Andrew Morton and this book which neatly refutes every one of the common stories of the marriage. Charles can't be that good and Diana couldn't have been that bad. Will Junor become a Dame of the Empire for this???

This book is very pro-Charles which was to be expected. After all, both author and Charles are still alive. Diana can't fight back. And who knows what the truth is anyway?

There isn't anything really new in this book except details about how news of Diana's death was received at Balmoral, actions of Charles and the Queen then, etc. There are conflicts with other accounts I've read. Was Diana's face damaged? Was an autopsy done in Paris? Other sources said her face was unmarked and body was not autopsied until it was returned to London. It is little details like this that make me wonder about rest of the book. What is the truth?

I continue to be amazed at the influence the press has in England. Do they really have that much control over the Royal Family? Apparently they just make stuff up and everyone believes it. The Royals are so out of touch and isolated. I think they should just be left alone and out of the newspapers like they used to be.

Where does the author get her evidence? First that Diana was first to cheat, second she threatened Camilla Parker Bowles. The book seems to justify the fact that Charles was involved with Mrs. Parker Bowles from even before the marriage and that it was alright because Diana was scheming and nasty to him. It tries to create a spin on the royal marriage favoring Charles and his liaison with Camilla. This is the book to buy if you are ardently pro-Charles and agree that Diana was completely to blame for the breakup of the marriage.

This book does what a good book should. It informs, entertains, and through a skillful blend of fact and fiction serves to perpetuate the " fantasy " which is the Monarchy. Junor's inside track to the royals serves up a tasty selection of the stuff that fairy tales are made of and shows that empirical power and privilaged patronage offer a potent and possibly irresistible formula for continuing the royal traditions in Britain. She weaves a tapestry of intrigue through innuendo, inference, tidbits and just plain gossip laced with facts. What is amazing to royal " rebels " is that the carefully orchestrated P.R. campaigns dished out by the men in grey suits at Buckingham Palace perpetuates the illusion of the Monarchy. The book also beautifully illustrates the brutality, greed, and power within the establishment. Charles; like prince charming lives in a glass house and if anything positive can come out of Diana's death it was watching millions as they witnessed the incredibly callous response from the inner circle as the imperial chandelier was almost smashed to bits in the aftermath of public grieving. Prince Charles is a charming man!. Unfortunately as a Windsor, he is a captive in his own prison. He has said many times that there is nothing he can say or do that does not catch tomatoes. The Monarchists will love this book. Regardless of which side of the throne you sit on you will be left with a feeling of pride or frustration. Three cheers for Penny. A very good read.

This is a run down on Prince Charles' behavior. A single guy(and a future king) cheats with his friend's(Andrew Parker-Bowles) wife(Camilla); then continues to cheat with this same married woman while engaged to Lady Diana.
Then takes gifts to his married lover against the wishes of Lady Diana. On his honeymoon, tokens of his continuing love affair shows up in Camilla photos falling from his diary and cuff-links(two C's connecting).
The new Princess of Wales is rightfully hurt and confused.
This behavior of Charles hardly gets the marriage off to a good start.
Throughout the marriage, Diana is witness to numerous occasions where Charles(through actions or words) declares his never-ending love for a married woman and continues with his adultery.
Charles and Camilla showed as much disregard for Andrew Parker-Bowles' feelings as they did for Diana.
What is especially upsetting is that rather than publicly admit he was a heartless, cheating man, Charles continued to portray himself as a loving husband to Diana and a respectable man who would one day be crowned king. He was willing to let his subjects believe he was an honorable man.
Not only is the future king a cad, he is a liar as well!
Besides there is NO evidence showing Diana as metally ill, un-balanced or anything before her association with Charles. As for her tantrums, I would site inmaturity and sheer frustration as the reasons for her outbursts.
Diana was a normal, sane, healthy young woman prior to her engagement. Her bulminia did not start until after she moved to Buckingham Palace and she realized she was a Lamb to the Slaughter. It was then she realized her future husband did not love her and was very much committing adultery with a married woman. Adultery was something that Charles would continue to practice throughout their marriage.
What is equally the mark of a cad, is Charles even cheated on his mistress!
To write a book that basically white-washes Charles' moraless antics, is a disgrace and an insult to everyone's itelligence.
He is a Villain if I ever saw one!!!!!

It's interesting. She says both were victims, by the way, with faults and good points. The trouble is, sloppy errors like wrong dates and quotes, and calling Pierre Trudeau Canada's President, make it hard to trust other information. There are no source notes. For instance, where did she get the information about their sex life together? In addition, the syntax is dreadful, even allowing for British/American variations. Finally, some terms are meaningless to me, though I presume a Briton would understand them.