(B+) 79% | Good Notes: Spread inches deep, miles wide, comprehensive if vanilla, paints a warts-and-all Diana, and a whack-a-mole Camilla.
*Check out pr(B+) 79% | Good Notes: Spread inches deep, miles wide, comprehensive if vanilla, paints a warts-and-all Diana, and a whack-a-mole Camilla.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary: (view spoiler)[
Progress updates:
06/04/2021 - Page 3 [image] (1) Okay, let's try something different. (2) I'm unsure whether I want to continue Gaiman audiobooks with "American Gods," as it's only partially covered by the show. - I'll have a think about it. (3) I try to read at least one non-fiction book a year, so why not this bio of Prince Charles I got for $4.49 CAD at Book Outlet? - I bought this book to get free shipping.
06/06/2021 - Page 17 [image] (1) Finished the first chapter, which covers Charles' life pre-Gordonstoun. The key theme, repeated over and over, is that in the absence of his parents raising him, Charles gravitated and transferred affection to other women in his life. - His nanny, his governess, his grandmother, etc. - Over-mothering, ironically not from his mother, possibly instilling wimpiness.
06/07/2021 - Page 31 [image] (1) The second chapter is about Charles' Gordonstoun years, including six months at its sister school, Timbertop in Australia. - He loathed Gordonstoun but loved Timbertop. - Australia's lack of a class system seems to be the difference, no longer bullied for his background. (2) Charles is named Head Boy in his final year, which just conjures images of Percy Weasley.
06/08/2021 - Page 51 [image] (1) Charles, being such an ardent environmentalist, I always assumed he was a hippie. But apparently he hates hippies. (2) His first love was the brainy polymath daughter of the Chilean ambassador. - Because virginity was at one time important, Charles has always denied any hanky-panky. Sure, why not. Seems downright wholesome compared to the many scandals to follow.
06/09/2021 - Page 67 [image] (1) Richard Nixon tried to set up Charles with his daughter Trisha. - Charles described her as plastic and artificial, like a Barbie doll. He pretty much said the same thing about Wallis Simpson, and other women he didn't care for. I'd be unsurprised if he said the same of Diana. (2) On the whole, Watergate would've been less scandalous for Charles than Camilla-gate.
06/12/2021 - Page 93 [image] (1) Charles met Camilla via his former girlfriend Lucia, who was her neighbor. (2) Among Charles' girlfriends was American Laura Jo Watkins. - Laura Jo described Charles as "a fabulous lover." Genuinely surprising. (3) Uncle Dickie wanted Charles to marry his granddaughter Amanda. - They're second cousins. But so were Elizabeth and Philip when Dickie introduced them.
06/23/2021 - Page 111 [image] (1) Getting back into this after a bit of a hiatus. (2) Between leaving the Navy and marriage, Charles' life seemed preoccupied with following gurus. - You don't really hear much of gurus these days. I think it may have been a '70s thing. (3) Charles set up The Prince's Trust in 1976 to help urban youth. - Probably would've earned him a knighthood were he a commoner.
06/27/2021 - Page 123 [image] (1) Before Diana, Charles proposed to his second-cousin Amanda. She declined. - Had things gone differently, we could've had Queen Amanda, though she likely would've gone by Victoria (her more royal middle name). (2) He also dated Diana's sister Sarah. - But being expelled, having eating disorders, and boasting of "thousands of boyfriends," she had too much baggage.
06/28/2021 - Page 145 [image] (1) You know, I've always joked that it was the lack of virgins among the British upper classes that forced Charles court much younger women. Turns out, I was right. (2) The Royal Train Scandal was when Diana was purported to have slept with Charles before marriage on the Royal Train. - Such a quaint scandal. - The blonde in question may or may not have been Camilla.
07/01/2021 - Page 161 [image] (1) Diana was obsessed with Camilla, which inflamed her already erratic behavior, which drove Charles to Camilla all the more. - Obviously Charles did wrong, but perhaps things would have been different if Diana wasn't so paranoid. (2) Diana threw herself down the stairs while pregnant, crying for attention. I don't care how Charles behaved, that's plainly not right.
07/11/2021 - Page 173 [image] (1) Tony Blair was so "pissed off" with Charles taking a public stance against GMO foods that he took it up with the Queen. - I suppose even the heir to the throne can't escape authorities going to his mom about his bad behavior. (2) Charles survived scandals of giving royal opinions mostly because they proved popular. - People came around to organic food eventually.
07/18/2021 - Page 195 [image] (1) Diana's go-to insult to Charles was that he'd never be king. - Interesting. Must have known that's what would hurt him the most. (2) Diana's favorite musical act was Supertramp. - I've probably heard their music, I'm just not familiar enough to name a song. (3) Diana forced Charles to get rid of his dog after marriage. - I can relate. I'm not a dog person either.
07/24/2021 - Page 205 [image] (1) Charles' affair with Camilla wasn't until 1986. Diana had affairs with her bodyguard and then her riding instructor the same year. - To me, it seems to be less a case of revenge affairs starting from Camilla, and more like an open marriage agreement à la Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten. (2) I like that "proof" Harry is Charles' son are his bald spot and beady eyes.
07/26/2021 - Page 217 [image] (1) It seems awful narcissistic to be jealous of your own wife's philanthropy. On the other hand, I can see his perspective. A single hug makes her a saint, while countless sleepless nights of paperwork and provable results barely gets him a pat on the back. (2) I can't read two books at once. A book and an audiobook, yes. But two books, and one falls by the wayside.
08/03/2021 - Page 231 [image] (1) This biography seems to be going through the 1980s year by year. - It makes sense, since those were the Diana years, and the most interesting to casual readers. (2) What tipped off the press to marriage difficulties was that Charles and Diana stayed in different hotel rooms. - Of course, that would've been no big deal a generation earlier, especially for royalty.
08/08/2021 - Page 241 [image] (1) Dorchester needed to expand. Rather than sell off land to developers, Charles decided to build his own town, Poundbury. - As Duke of Cornwall, I suppose it's technically his land to decide what do with. (2) Seems very authoritarian to deny townsfolk a supermarket and cinema for aesthetic reasons. - Though, to be fair, they did choose to live in Charles' Sim City.
08/09/2021 - Page 251 [image] (1) Diana's nickname for Camilla was "Rottweiler." - I can't tell whether that was a reference to her appearance or her temperament. (2) Charles kept his affair monogamous and out of public view. Conversely, Diana carried on several affairs simultaneously, and in full view of Kensington Palace staff and her children. - So very different. Little wonder it didn't work.
08/11/2021 - Page 271 [image] (1) Best chapter of the book so far covers 1991-1992, from Diana's press offensive against Charles, to the Morton biography, to the separation. - I sort of wish the entire book was the scandalous parts, but then, it wouldn't be a comprehensive biography. (2) In 1992, there was still hope, despite the separation, that Diana would be crowned Queen. - How very medieval.
08/12/2021 - Page 283 [image] (1) Though there was little doubt that Diana would be "the fun parent," she made extra effort to have her fun in public, so that Charles would by contrast look uninvolved in raising his sons. (2) When Buckingham Palace opened to the public, the Queen put Charles in charge. - He bemoaned selling cheap items in the gift shop. Though, what exactly is "cheap" to Charles?
08/16/2021 - Page 303 [image] (1) To secure the infamous 1995 Panorama interview, Martin Bashir used fake financial documents to convince Diana that her staff was spying on her. - This deceit was only uncovered this year. (2) As intended, the interview permanently burnt bridges with the royals. - As a direct result, the Queen demanded Charles and Diana divorce. She could no longer be queen-to-be.
08/17/2021 - Page 317 [image] (1) Following a long royal tradition of hiring "men of indeterminate sexuality," Charles hired PR wunderkind Mark Bolland. - William and Harry nicknamed him Lord Blackadder. (2) Diana fell in love with a Pakistani heart surgeon. He dumped her for being "needy and suffocating." - Eg. she would be furious with him for declining her phone calls while performing surgery.
08/18/2021 - Page 329 [image] (1) The portion of the book dealing with Diana's death is both the most moving part of the book and the least interesting. - I know it all already. (2) In my opinion, the British public never really accepted the divorce. There wasn't enough time. As such, to the public, they always will be married and, no matter how official, Camilla will always be "the other woman."
08/19/2021 - Page 359 [image] (1) "Stephen Fry['s] ubiquity at such functions put him perilously close to court jester status." - From what I know of Stephen Fry, I'm sure he'd take court jester as an honor. (2) Camilla was so unpopular that there were plans to elevate Princess Anne to "Royal Partner," to perform consort duties instead. - Reminds me of when Chelsea Clinton was briefly First Lady.
08/22/2021 - Page 439 [image] (1) Charles recycles his bathwater to water his garden. - I'm more surprised that he takes baths. (2) William's 21st birthday was fancy dress. - It was notable for a gate-crasher dressed as Osama bin Laden, also as the first royal event attended by Kate Middleton. (3) Harry's Nazi costume sparked international government condemnation. - Seems overkill for kid idiocy.
08/23/2021 - Page 495 [image] (1) Following retirement from the military, William and Kate moved into Kensington Palace apartment 1A, which features four stories, twenty rooms and a private garden. - My first apartment was a one bedroom with a window view of a brick wall. (2) In 2012 Harry was photographed naked at a party in Las Vegas. - First rule of naked Vegas party: check phones at the door!" (hide spoiler)]...more
(B) 73% | More than Satisfactory Notes: Like a box too big for its baubles, it’s profuse in puffy packing peanuts: padding out vacuities with filler ar(B) 73% | More than Satisfactory Notes: Like a box too big for its baubles, it’s profuse in puffy packing peanuts: padding out vacuities with filler art analyses....more
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