I Feel Sorry for Camilla

For a long time I stuck to the idea that she was a horrible husband-stealer. But over the years she has won me over. I'm with you, leave her alone!

Me too. Being a public person has steep downsides, yet her situation probably evokes considerable empathy. And for all those who have been in similar situations or fear that they might her specific story makes it more vivid than the general statistics about such things, but then you know that, from your background in magazine publishering.

I remember a related observation: Remarking on the world’s passivity in the face of Stalin’s mass murder, a newspaper editor noted, “Millions of deaths are a statistic. One death is a tragedy."

The last time I read about Camilla's private parts was when the tabloids reported a telephone conversation between her and Charles where he said that after his death he wanted to "come back as a tampon."

As I read this post and the comments about it, I was struck by how radically Camilla has been able to alter her public persona from those days. The homewrecker image clung to her even after Charles' divorce and Diana's death, but all was forgiven after the wedding.

That's to be expected from a generally conservative society, but I wonder why I'm in such sympathy with her now? I definitely don't approve of husband-stealing, but that's not the same issue. Why was Camilla rehabilitated for me by her marriage? Is there something so conservative, judgmental, and retrograde in me that I like her better now that Charles has made an "honest woman" of her? I hate to think so...

And why do we care that Barak Obama smokes? Or about Anna Nicole Smith? I wish the media would leave all of these kinds of things alone.