Cultured Views

Diana’s Memorial Service; Who should go?.

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To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, a special memorial service is being planned this week and there is already much criticism of who is on the guest list. Of course, the main bone for contention is the inclusion of Prince Charles’ wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and, even though I kind of like her, I think  this is rightly so.

Of course Prince Charles should be there; he was her husband and is the father of their two sons. He escorted her body back to the UK from Paris that day and successfully argued that her casket should bear the Royal Standard. Not only that though, he really did love her even though most of us were led to believe he did not. He was obviously not ‘in love’ with her, but he definately did love her. And very much too I believe.

But Camilla should not be there as well. From the very off Camilla was the constant thorn in Diana’s side. I think Diana knew from the beginning that she had won her Prince, but not his heart. And that was the whole problem. Charles had always been in love with Camilla; no female, no matter who she was or where she came from, was going to be able to compete with her. So things ran against Diana from the start.

Charles did try I think. He should have married Camilla years ago when he had the chance, but he didn’t. In my opinion the only possible way that this marriage could have been salvaged is if Camilla had made it clear to Charles that they were no longer an ‘item’. He was now married; his marriage was vital to the monarchy, and he had to forget her and concentrate on his new young wife. But she did not. And he did not.

She hovered in the background allowing Charles to come to her whenever he needed to, and even though she obviously loved him as well, she should have cut all her ties with him. Knowing Camilla was always going to be there for him gave Charles the tiniest excuse to ignore what was happening with Diana, to rely on the safety net she provided.

I think the whole saga, and it is a saga, is so sad. Charles and Camilla had never fallen out of love, had married people they shouldn’t have and it took a monumental tragedy for them to start on the path of properly being together. At Diana’s expense it seems. It must have been agony to have known that her husband was pining for someone else all the time he was with her. And lets face it…he was. It may seem strange, but I think the only person who could have saved that marriage was…Camilla.

I do believe that Charles truly loved Diana but the thing was his heart was not in it. And that is the secret ingrediant…the heart. He surely cannot be blamed for that. You cannot be in love with two people, or, force yourself to fall in love with someone just at the whim of a few people; or a few million people. Or at the whim of the media, and I feel the media fell in love with Diana before anyone did. Charles really had no choice did he?.  I believe he still feels her loss today, and  I suspect, more than a tinge of regret about what ‘could have been’. 

The media, by pressuring Diana and Charles, started all this in 1980…and, unfortunately, they were still there 17 years later when it all finished in a Paris tunnel.

A love story that stole our hearts, started and ended, by the media.

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Xmas in Australia

I suppose it’s a bit strange that, as an Australian, I would be thinking to spend Xmas in a cold location because Xmas time in Australia is HOT!. But even though Australia is a relatively new nation in terms of European settlement we still definately have our own traditions for that time of year and they are quite special.

The excitement starts around mid to late November with everyone getting stuck into their shopping and buying gifts. A popular way to buy everything, especially for the kids is the ‘lay by’ system where parents start putting away their purchases at the stores and they pay them off every week before collecting their parcels just before Xmas.

In the lead up in December start the ‘Carols by Candlelight’ services that are held in nearly every suburb and city. People gather in a park in there early evening with picnics etc and sing carols. As it gets darker they light candles, in holders, and sing by candlelight. It is a very special time and the really big ‘Carols’ services are held a week before Xmas in the Domain in Sydney and, on Xmas Eve, at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. These are televised and a ‘must’ to attend if you are visiting Australia at this time of year.

Xmas Eve is all excitement for the kids. The TV stations run all the usual Xmas shows. Many people attend Midnight Mass, even if they don’t go to church all year. The news broadcasts always announce Santa’s departure from the North Pole for the kids and some give updates on his progress towards the southern hemisphere.

Xmas Day is spent a variety of ways. Some people get up and go to church, if they didn’t go the night before. This is after the kids have been up since 5am opening their presents and on Xmas morning the suburban streets are full of kids trying out their new bikes, skateboards or whatever. Australians have been moving away from the traditional turkey dinner for years now and Xmas dinner these days can be a BBQ, or a seafood meal with salads, or a picnic at the beach or in a park and most often Xmas dinner is at lunchtime instead of the evening. But one thing is that families all get together at this time.

The next day, everyone gears up for the Boxing Day sales at the shops!.

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Beds with style

If you are looking at buying a new bed why not consider a beautiful natural wooden bed?. Wooden-Beds.com offer a wonderful range of beds that will give your bedroom a real look and feel of total luxury and come in a range of traditional and contemporary designs to suit your taste.

In particular their Wooden sleigh bed is a stylish design with flowing lines and will suit any bedroom interior. It comes in a choice of natural oak, cherry, pine and walnut and due to it’s solid construction it will last a lifetime. To finish off your bed there is a range of top mattresses all from leading manufacturers to ensure that you get the best nights sleep.  Wooden-Beds offer to never be beaten in price and will beat any price on the internet. This makes it possible to own one of these beautiful beds anytime.

Popularity: 6% [?]