Will Camilla be a hit?
2005-11-01 12:29
London - With 50 dresses in her luggage and 20 servants and make-up artists in tow, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall sets out to "conquer" America this week.
But although her smiles have become more relaxed and her dress sense has won compliments all round, 58-year-old Camilla was bound to feel nervous ahead of her first trip abroad at the side of Prince Charles, royal watchers said.
In America, where Princess Diana became an instant hit during her first tour 20 years ago, Camilla has a "hard act to follow", court observers said.
Both she and Prince Charles could not be certain about how they would be received during their eight-day trip to New York, Washington and San Francisco, which starts on Tuesday.
Charles's last visit to the US in 1985 was a glitzy affair, epitomised by Diana dancing with John Travolta at the Reagan White House.
For many Americans, that visit marked the beginning of a fixation with the princess, her celebrity and the soap opera of her marriage.
But the return of the Prince of Wales this time is under very different circumstances, with a new wife, trying to see if America is still interested in what the British Royal Family has to offer.
The palace, for its part, has spared no expense.
The couple's goodwill trip will cost the British taxpayer an estimated £250 000, the Daily Mirror reported on Monday.
Mindful of comparisons Americans might make with Diana, Camilla was determined to look her best.
However, she had not yet decided which frock she would wear for a state banquet with President George W Bush in the White House.
The shortlist of three includes a pearl-studded ivory evening gown by designers Antonia Robinson and Anna Valentine, who created Camilla's wedding dress.
Defending the expense, Charles' spokesperson Paddy Harveson said: "The prince and duchess are travelling at the request of the Foreign Office to support British interests in America and to recognise the close relations between the two nations."
However, one aide told the Mirror, it was no secret that neither the prince nor the duchess were particularly keen on American culture.
Prince Charles was expected to raise the delicate question of Islam and the issue of global warming in his conversation with Bush, the Mirror said.
Camilla, said the Mirror, would never be able to capture American hearts in the way Princess Diana did.
The key question was, however, whether she would "act the royal role with the same professionalism as the Queen".
A senior courtier told the Mirror: "Going to America is all about launching her as a figurehead. The stakes are very high". - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA