Prince and Princess Visit Washington

The Princess will take at least six outfits for each day to cover any eventuality and weather condition. She'll bring a stack of hats, gloves and handbags. She'll also carry a black outfit in case she has to go back home for a funeral. The Spencer family tiara will be packed for the White House dinner next Saturday, or perhaps a more grand one borrowed from the Queen. – Plaid Princesss: “She likes bold designs. She's revitalized British fashion,” Stephen Barry says. – By Lionel Cherruault

As the USA rolls out the red carpet for her first visit next weekend, a former royal valet gives us an inside look at her life with Charles.

When Prince Charles went to Washington, D.C, in 1970, President Nixon tried to match him up with his pretty daughter Tricia. But both the Prince and Tricia had different ideas. The next time he went to the USA, it was 1977 and he had me for company. This time around, there was no threat of matchmaking. Amy Carter was too young. “At least I won't have a daughter to face,” he said before we left. 

This time he brings a wife. When the prince arrives in the States next Friday, he'll be accompanied by the beautiful and exceptional Princess Diana. And one thing is certain: Princess or not, Diana is tremendously excited by the prospect of her first trip to the United States. The purpose of this voyage is to visit an exhibit of paintings, silver and furnishings from the great homes of Britain The Treasure Homes of Britain at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and also to raise money for Prince Charles' pet charity, United World Colleges, at a dinner in Palm Beach, Fla. 

The couple will spend the first three days in Washington and will fly to Palm Beach on Tuesday. Knowing that the cameras will be upon Princess Diana, she has been having a field day with her clothing allowance. During the summer, she made trips to London from Balmoral Castle in Scotland for fittings for her brand-new wardrobe. Her bags will be laden with evening gowns from Belville Sassoon and day clothes from Bruce Oldfield, her favorite designer. It looks as if the color scheme will be autumnal.

The Princess will take at least six outfits for each day to cover any eventuality and weather condition. She'll bring a stack of hats, gloves and handbags. She'll also carry a black outfit in case she has to go back home for a funeral. The Spencer family tiara will be packed for the White House dinner next Saturday, or perhaps a more grand one borrowed from the Queen.

When the royal couple dine with the Reagans, the First Lady will find that Princess Diana is very different from the 20 year-old former kindergarten teacher whose wedding Nancy Reagan attended on July 29, 1981. The difference will also be noted by the millions of USA citizens who watched the royal wedding on TV.

Even though Princess Diana coped su perbly that day, I never would have imag ined her becoming the poised performer she is now.

She always was radiant. But now the Princess, at 24, has matured and become much more stylish and confident. She has grown into her royal role; she's everyone's idea of what a Princess should be.

Royalty is a bit like Dynasty and Dallas without the double dealing. But, while the royals are much richer, they are much less grand. There aren't a lot of champagne corks popping about the palace. In fact, champagne has just been banned at diplomatic receptions as an economy measure. And the Queen, obsessed with conserving electricity, is often seen switching off lights. Princess Diana, however, is putting a new shine on the royal image. She's very beautiful, incredibly photogenic and she wears clothes well.

The Princess was a triumph throughout the Australia tour which took place in 1983, shortly after the birth of Prince William. That was an easy trip because Australians treat the British royals like members of the family, so if they make the odd mistake, nobody takes much notice. During that trip, she looked to Prince Charles for guidance and he was always close at hand.

The princess's equally triumphant tour of Italy last spring was a gentle ride, too. All Italians love a pretty girl and, as she can't speak Italian, she just had to smile a lot.

Both these tours were the nursery slopes. The Queen’s advisers now believe Diana is ready and experienced enough for this United States trip. She has had practice at being a Princess and she is poised enough to handle the press and the pressures involved in a trip to the USA.

This visit will mark one of her biggest challenges, but I can’t see Princess Diana failing

She has learned to love the limelight. In fact, Prince Charles is the first to admit that his wife is usually the main attraction. When the couple toured Australia, the Prince said with a grin: “I might as well have stayed in the car.”

I believe she’ll draw the largest crowds Washington has seen in years. In my trav els around the States, I have found a boundless curiosity about the British royal family. People in the USA are fascinated by the glamour of it all.

The Prince, for his part, loves the United States and is looking forward to introducing Princess Diana to your country. Though normally he moans and groans about overseas trips, an invitation to the USA is accepted with alacrity. – By Stephen Barry for the San Bernardino Sun, 1985

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Royal Etiquette for Diana

Diana of Wales took to the dance floor with actor John Travolta, in the White House during a 1980’s visit to the U.S. – Born and bred as “Lady Diana,” she was well versed in the finer ponts of etiquette and briefly attended a Swiss finishing school. However, learning etiquette for a royal life, would naturally take some time. It is said that someone will be working with the new Duchess of Sussex,who only last week married the late Diana’s son, Prince Harry, over a six month period to help her learn the royal ropes.

Lady Diana Briefed on Etiquette 

LONDON (AP) 

Lady Diana Spencer, who will marry Prince Charles after her 20th birthday this summer, got her first lesson in royal etiquette Wednesday over breakfast with Queen Mother Elizabeth, the Prince's grandmother. Lady Diana moved into Clarence House, the official London residence of the 80-year-old queen mother, after Buckingham Palace announced the royal wedding plans Tuesday.

The Queen Mother, one of Britain's most popular royal figures, went through the adjustment of palace life 58 years ago, when as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she married the Prince who became King George VI. A wedding date has not been announced, but the couple said Tuesday, it will probably be in late July. Lady Diana's birthday is July 1st. – San Bernardino Sun, 1981

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Reagan’s Royal Etiquette Blunder

The late, Harold Brooks-Baker, an American authority on British nobility who was a sought-after commentator on the doings -- serious, scandalous or merely ridiculous -- of the British royal family, was at one time managing director of Debrett’s. He published in 1978 a tongue-in-cheek, bestselling guide to The English Gentleman, who “does not drive a Rolls-Royce unless it is very old and smells of dogs”, and always “speaks to the engineer before a train trip because of an old belief that he owns the railroad.”

“Princess David?” No, a royal blunder! Charles and Diana may be casual about etiquette, but not their names!

President Reagan made a double gaffe at a White House dinner by first calling his guest “Princess David” and then “Princess Diane,” a royal genealogist said Sunday in London. Reagan erred by not using her official title, the Princess of Wales, and when he tried to correct himself he got it wrong again by muddling Diana's name. “It's like calling Queen Elizabeth II ‘Libby’ or something like that,” said Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage, one of the bibles of British bluebloods. While the Princess is popularly referred to in the news media as Princess Diana, her official title is the Princess of Wales, which is what she is called at all official functions. Brooks-Baker said he blamed Reagan's speechwriter and the British and American protocol experts who were given advance copies of the speech for the breach of royal etiquette not the President. “He's not to know, but his advisers are to know,” Brooks-Baker told The Associated Press. “It's no wonder the Prince of Wales looked somewhat downcast after the President proposed the toast.” 

The gaffes came while Reagan was making a toast at a White House dinner Saturday night attended by show business celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, John Travolta and Neil Diamond. While millions of Americans watching the Prince and Princess of Wales on television might not notice, Brooks-Baker said the two are changing royal etiquette. “Right at the top is the fact that they behave as equals. It is no longer prince and consort ... or Queen and Consort, as it is still with the Queen and Prince Philip,” he said. “More often than not, on this tour, we have seen the Princess of Wales taking the lead. Then, there are the public displays of affection. Never, previously, would royal couples dream of kissing in public, as the Prince has kissed the Princess.” 

On their Washington trip, Brooks-Baker said, the royal couple are keeping to the “royal, and upper class, tradition of separate bedrooms, though never before would there have been photographs of royal sleeping arrangements as there have been recently, ostensibly to publicize English design. Royalty should never be used for advertising.” He said the choice of Palm Beach for the couple's next stop also surprised many Americans, especially the poor and homeless. “Palm Beach is a symbol of the thoughtless, vulgar, nouveau riche, careless of the plight of others,” the U.S.-born Brooks-Baker said. “It is like asking the Pope to go to Sodom and Gomorrah.”  — (By Edith M.Lederer, AP) San Bernardino Sun, 1985

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J.Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

The "Princess Diana Factor" in Royal Etiquette and Protocol

Two pictures in stark contrast ~ Kate Middleton was carefully brought into the royal fold and was taught the protocol and etiquette she needed to know to fit in to the British royal family properly. Princess Diana, on the other hand, was left to fend for herself after marrying the Prince of Wales. Little wonder that she always appeared so uncomfortable, whenever she was pictured with the Queen and the Queen Mother.

The palace made a great effort with Kate Middleton, prior to her marriage to Prince William and ever since, helping her to fit in smoothly as a British royal family member. They refused to make the same mistakes they did with Diana. Because of this, Kate's progress as Duchess of Cambridge continues to be managed with huge care. How starkly all this care and consideration compares with what happened to Diana when she arrived in the Royal Family.

Diana was just a mere 20 years old, while Kate was 30. Diana was 12 years younger than Charles and they had very different tastes. Kate, however, is actually a few months older than William and they share everything. Supposedly, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge even share the household shopping. Again, in stark contrast, no one was on hand to advise or teach the very young, and inexperienced, Diana. She had to learn royal protocol from scratch on the job, as Prince Charles failed abysmally to aid Diana in learning the royal ropes.

Not wanting Kate to become another version of Princess Diana, the British royals have engaged in very fine image polishing at the highest level. It is something the Queen firmly believes could not be accomplished by Charles and his advisers at Clarence House, nor by William either, for that matter.

There was astonishment in many royal circles that the Queen and Philip chose Kate to accompany them on a visit to Leicester to launch the 2012 Diamond Jubilee tour of the country, while William was away. They were expected to take Princess Beatrice or her sister Eugenie, both of whom had expressed a deep desire to have a royal role. But the Queen’s private secretary contacted Prince William’s private secretary to say that Her Majesty wanted Kate to go along. There could be no clearer indication that the Royals viewed the new, young Duchess, as the vital ingredient in their future popularity.

Being swept up by the Queen and Philip while her husband was away never happened to Diana. As a result, the young Princess trembled before engagements. Diana was visibly shaking when switching on the Regent Street Christmas lights, at her first solo engagement, back in 1981.

Diana had no guidance whatsoever from Charles, other than when he expressed his irritation — for example, admonishing her for putting on a black dress for an evening function, saying that "black is for funerals."

Instead of encouragement from her husband, Diana bore the brunt of his envy when crowds flocked to her on their first foreign trip to Australia in 1983. To Charles’s chagrin, the crowds groaned when, instead of his glamorous wife, he approached them. William is completely different. He takes delight in his wife’s popularity. ‘He is so protective of her in everything they do,’ says an aide.

Some palace aides revealed they are uncomfortable with the inevitable comparisons which will be made between Diana and Kate. They were said to have regarded as a "big mistake" Kate’s decision to wear to an event, a strapless black dress by Alexander McQueen, due to the fact that it was almost identical to a gown worn by Diana, some 30 years earlier. "The Diana factor is one that has to be watched," claims a royal family friend. "It does trouble the Royal Family." 

But, fortunately for the British people, there are aspects of Diana’s approach to her position that seem to be encouraged, such as her increased involvement in charities and her visits to sick children. In that respect, Kate could not follow in the lead of a better young woman than Diana.