The royals - Kitty Kelley [289]
CHAPTER 21
Articles: The Guardian, August 29, 1996; the Daily Telegraph, November 22, 1995; Daily Mail, May– June, 1994, January 11, 1995; Time confidential files: 1991; Daily Telegraph, 1992; the Sunday Times, August 28, 1994; New York Times, William E. Schmidt, August 28, 1994; the Times, October 19, 1994; the Economist, October 22, 1994; Daily News, October 31, 1994; “The Candour Feared by Charles’s Friends” by William Rees-Mogg, the Times, October 17, 1994.
Interviews: Anthony Holden (April 7, 1994); Jocelyn Gray (May 11, 1993); Victoria Mather’s taped interview with Duchess of York (June 1994); Hoare relative (March 6, 1995); confidential (May 31, 1994); David Cannadine, Smithsonian lecture, December 1, 1994.
Re: The Britannia as a floating palace:
“The Queen and Prince Philip used the royal yacht to receive state visitors,” said Philip Benjamin (April 26, 1994), one of twelve sailors assigned to attend the royal family. “The most memorable state visit was from the King of Morocco, who arrived with a trunk full of jewels for the Queen. The trunk was so heavy, it had to be carried by four men. It was heaped with jewels…. I remember a golden camel on a green marble base as big as a chair with palm trees that had coconuts made out of rubies as big as your fist. In addition, the trunk was loaded with diamonds and sapphires and emeralds…. It was a wonder to behold… must have been worth $10 million…. I would’ve been happy to have had just one of those stones. Could’ve lived well for life, I’m sure.
“The Queen gave the King a signed photograph of herself and Philip in a silver frame. Very little value compared to what they were getting in return, but the Queen didn’t care. She was angry at the King because he arrived late for dinner. She had waited over forty-five minutes for him to come aboard, so she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of being impressed by his gift.
“We had been warned to know when the Queen was getting irritated. First, she taps her foot and looks around. Then the compact comes out. Those are the first two signs…. At the Palace, she has a buzzer under her desk. If someone bores her, she presses the button, which sets off a very soft alarm outside, and her page steps in to eject the visitor. But we don’t have a buzzer like that aboard the Britannia.
“During a Saudi Arabian state visit, one of the royal Saudi princes arrived with gold Rolex watches for everyone. The Queen let her own staff accept the watches, but those of us in the Royal Navy had to return them. Again, the Queen’s gift was a picture of herself and Philip in a silver frame….”
CHAPTER 22
Articles: Life, April 10, 1950; editorial, New York Times, August 25, 1996; the Economist, November 25, 1995; Press Association, October 16, 1996; Daily Mail, August 20, 1996; “Spy Video Mystery,” Evening Standard, October 8, 1996; “Curse of the Curtsy,” Daily Mail, Edward Pearce, July 19, 1996.
Re: Diana’s social skills:
Former White House social secretary Gahl Burt said her husband, Richard, former Ambassador to Germany, was enchanted with the Princess of Wales. He saw her at Washington Post chairman Katharine Graham’s house in October 1994. “Since seeing you last, we had a little girl, who is so beautiful,” he said to Diana.
“She must have your genes,” replied the Princess flirtatiously.
Burt told his wife that Diana was the most superb diplomat he had ever encountered.
Traveling the world on goodwill tours, giving speeches and meeting dignitaries, Diana proved herself to be Britain’s most skilled envoy. She invited Leah Rabin, widow of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to visit her at Kensington Palace. Mrs. Rabin told her, “I feel a great kinship to you because you and I are the two most tragic figures in the world. Except you have a future—and I only have a past.”
Re: Queen’s gesture to religious denominations:
While she was applauded for visiting a Roman Catholic church, she was criticized in 1996 for making a speech to the Warsaw parliament in Poland