Issues

The royal women live extraordinary lives, but therefore they also had, and still have, to face extraordinary problems and issues.

 

When thinking about her past, Queen Elizabeth II surely is proud of herself and deservedly she can be so. Like many people, she had experienced World War II but not as a normal citizen: Elizabeth had to see her father, King George VI, make decisions for Great Britain during that difficult time, after his brother had abdicated in order to marry the divorcee Wallis Simpson. At the age of 18 Elizabeth decided to serve the military and there she got her driving licence. She saw the Cold War and the breakup and fall of the British Empire, since Great Britain had been badly affected by the war and was almost ruined financially. Between 1945 and 1965 the number of people who were under the British authority outside the UK decreased from 700 million to 5 million. As a queen she saw twelve prime ministers come and go. Through it all, she had to be strong, confident and firm. The world has changed but the Queen stayed the same. In times of alteration, she was the icon for consistency.

Diana's issues were of a more personal nature. She had problems with herself, suffering from low self-esteem and timidity. "Shy Di" is how people called her. She was blushing when cameras took pictures of her, even on her wedding day. Since she had Bulemia at the age of 20 and lost a lot of weight in only a few weeks, the couturier had to make Diana's wedding gown smaller after he had already finished it. Diana was a public-pleaser: she tried her best to be presentable and close to people and she actually succeeded in doing so. The Britains loved and valued her. However, Diana could not stand the public pressure and not only by pleasing others, she destroyed herself. “The problem with Diana was that she didn’t play by the royal rule book. She did many great things and shook the royal family up, but in doing so and breaking the mold she roughed people up the wrong way,” Katie Nicholl, a royals reporter for the Daily Mail, told ABC News. However, this was not the only problem: Diana was unhappy with her marriage as Charles cheated on her with Camilla over a long period. "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.“, she said. Even though Diana's death was an accident, many believe that the pressure and her unhappiness had already killed her.

Camilla's problems are closely linked to Diana's. As already mentioned the British people loved Diana and are afflicted with her dramatic fate; therefore, they dislike Camilla. Many blame her for commiting adultery with Prince Charles, who was still married to Diana. Queen Elizabeth reluctantly agreed to Charles' and Camilla's wedding and did not really accept her son's new wife for a long time. Just now, the relationship between Elizabeth and Camilla seems to have improved, as these pictures show the two women closer than ever:

Kate Middleton is the newcomer of the royal family and that makes everyone look at her critically. She does not come from a royal background but a family of self-made millonaires and she is always compared with Princess Diana. Yet, she is not like Diana at all: “I think Kate has done things very differently. She followed the royal rule book literally rule by rule. She hasn’t put a foot wrong, she has followed all the advice, she’s followed her husband’s lead and she’s proving to be a great success.”, continued Nicholl her report to ABC News. And yes, Britain loves Kate already. In fact, she more resembles Queen Elizabeth II, since Kate is as self-confident and strong as her.