WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- For Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, who arrived in New York Tuesday the eight-day trip to the United States is the toughest visit they could possibly have undertaken. Even eight years after her death in a Paris auto accident, America remains Princess Diana country, and her memory will loom over the royal couple's itinerary which besides New York includes Washington DC, and San Francisco, and a side trip to Hurricane Katrina-stricken New Orleans added at the last minute.
The December issue of Vanity Fair reaching the newsstands this week underlines the enduring affection that Americans still have for the glamorous late Princess of Wales. The trendy New York glossy carries several pages of hitherto unpublished photos of Diana taken in an East London studio by photographer Mario Testino very shortly before her death. Advanced television coverage of the visit has dredged up shots of Diana in a black sheath evening dress at the 1985 White House dinner in her honor, dancing with movie star John Travolta.
This is Charles' first official U.S. visit since that occasion. At the time, Diana was 24 years old, and the prince 37. Now he's 56, and Camilla 58; and the U.S. press has carried unflattering comparisons with that earlier visit that do not bode well for its success. On Monday, the Miami Herald called the Charles and Camilla visit "the un-Diana tour, in which a couple of middle-aged, earnest eccentrics from the English countryside take an educational holiday abroad." Meanwhile, a Gallup poll published Monday found that 81 percent of Americans have no interest in the royal tour -- although 30 percent said they would like to meet Prince William, the heir to the throne and his younger brother Prince Harry.
If one purpose behind the trip was to give Camilla international exposure the choice of the United States was clearly made on the basis that if the Duchess of Cornwall was a success here she would be a success anywhere. But the London Daily Telegraph called it "a risky strategy." In the years since Diana's death Prince Charles is known to have resisted requests by the British government for an official U.S. trip. On Monday, Mark Bolland, Prince Charles' former deputy private secretary, was quoted in the Times of London as saying, "(The Prince) was always nervous of America -- fearing rejection by a culture that he saw as being more aligned to the Princess of Wales's celebrity than his man-with-a-mission message."
But the royals don't pick where they go on their official trips. But the British royals are an exportable commodity and royal visits are proposed and planned by the British government, usually with a political or commercial purpose in mind, or both. The 1985 trip, for example, focused on the opening of the sensational exhibition Treasure Homes of Britain, one of the biggest blockbuster exhibitions ever mounted at Washington's National Gallery. It brought together historic items from stately homes all over the United Kingdom, and had a major impact on tourism to Britain at the time, which was one of its main objectives.
This time, the purpose of the visit is both more diffuse and more somber.
For one thing Britain currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union and the royal visit adds prestige to that position. Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government has made increasing American awareness of the European Union a priority, and a British source says Prince Charles' speeches will contain references to Britain and Europe. The British hope the royal couple's visit will boost tourism, which has declined because of a combination of deterrents, including the unfavorable exchange rate for U.S. tourists, and the recent terrorist bombings. Last year 3.6 million U.S. tourists visited Britain down from an all time high of 4 million in 2000.
At a British reception in New York the couple will do their requisite share of partying with the stars including Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex in the City" fame, and Robert De Niro. The Washington program includes a lunch and a dinner at the White House, a seminar at Georgetown University, and a visit to the National Institutes of Health.
The royal itinerary will also emphasize the trans-Atlantic relationship through such events as the unveiling of a plaque Monday at Ground Zero in New York, to commemorate the British victims in the 9/11 terrorist attack on World Center twin towers. "Both our nations have been united by grief and strengthened by the support we have given each other," Charles said at the unveiling.
