Endgame: Take My Wife's Royal Designation, Please
BY MARTHA DUFFY
The Princess of Wales, as the mother of Prince William, will be regarded by the Queen and the Prince of Wales as being a member of the Royal family." So read the statement released by Buckingham Palace last week announcing that the Waleses had reached a divorce settlement. This acknowledgement must have come hard. Diana lost the designation Her Royal Highness, but the palace could not dismiss her completely, despite Charles' bitter acrimony toward her (London papers reported that the Queen was willing to let Diana keep her H.R.H., but Charles insisted that she relinquish it). The recognition that she remains in the family was not all Diana won; all things considered, she did pretty well, financially and otherwise.
The reason, of course, is Wills. The royals cannot give the mother of the future King a settlement that would appear to be niggardly or vengeful. For one thing she has too much popular support, especially among ordinary people. For another the Queen and Prince Charles might someday have to face a powerful young man whose loyalty to his mother could be heightened if he were to feel that she had been mistreated.
The financial settlement has not been made known, but it is probably about $23 million. (Diana reportedly asked for $75 million, a sum not unheard of. Actress Amy Irving is said to have received close to $100 million from director Steven Spielberg in 1989; two years later, TV magnate Norman Lear paid an estimated $112 million for his freedom.) It is not clear whether the payment will be made in the lump sum Diana reportedly wanted. The Queen is notoriously tightfisted, so the settlement amount may represent principal held in trust from which Diana can draw interest. In that case the money could someday return to the Windsors. She does get to keep all personal jewelry she has amassed as Princess of Wales. Also unknown is whether she would forfeit any part of the settlement were she to remarry.
She gets to keep her 30-odd-room apartment in Kensington Palace rent free. That may not be the Windsors' preference or Diana's. In recent years she has been offered a look around other grand London houses, but the excellent security at Kensington Palace, a dormitory for various royals, including Princess Margaret, was doubtless the deciding factor. The concern would not have been just for Diana's well-being but also for the children's. There has never been any squabbling over custody, and the boys will continue to split their time between their parents.
An interesting part of the statement released by the palace concerns the niceties of Diana's rank. She will "from time to time receive invitations to state and national public occasions." At such ceremonies she will "be accorded the precedence she enjoys at present." In other words, she will not be banished far from her boys should they be in attendance. If Diana wishes to be part of the family, she can gradually reingratiate herself. Lord Snowdon, the photographer and Princess Margaret's former husband, has reappeared on the court scene and can be found at receptions and other occasions, not to mention behind the camera at royal photo shoots.
Left to the imagination is the whole curtsying rigmarole. In some ways the court has not changed in hundreds of years, and technically, having lost her H.R.H. (reserved mostly for those who are in line for the throne and male heirs' wives and children), Diana would be obliged to curtsy to her kids and Prince Andrew's daughters. It isn't likely to happen.
Reported by Barry Hillenbrand/London