皇貴妃 做得好 Imperial Consort - The Long Game

"Camilla has played her part well; she's kept her mouth shut, something Prince Harry could do well to note."

Queen Elizabeth II has played a blinder with impeccable timing. Anointing Camilla as Queen Consort on her 70th anniversary, she opens the way for Charles to get the coronation he wants. Riding a wave of acclaim as Britain's longest-serving monarch, any criticism of this endorsement of her daughter-in-law is likely to be muted.

On the surface, this is a remarkable turn of events. And yet what we are witnessing is the culmination of a carefully crafted exercise that played out over decades.

The issue of Camilla has been problematic from the outset. Charles first confessed on TV that he was having an affair. Then Diana brilliantly turned the tables in the infamous BBC interview to utter, "There are three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
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Diana's face-plant on a Benz dashboard in a Paris tunnel evolved into an unprecedented convulsion of emotion, so brilliantly deconstructed by Christopher Hitchens in "The Mourning After".

And with that, Camilla's place as the evil one in the Royal fairy tale is cemented. With the public set against Camilla, her standing in the Royal line-up looked illegitimate to many.

But Chuck was having none of that. Hence 'Team Charlie' worked flat-out to rehabilitate Camilla. Mark Bolland, a public relations expert who'd helped polish Charlie's image, was brought in to coordinate the campaign.

Nicked named "Blackadder' by William and Harry, Bolland worked tirelessly to smooch the media and have them drop the term 'mistress' from any coverage of Camilla before her civil union with Charles. He achieved this by granting access favours.

Accompanying this charm offensive were many events with the Queen, carefully managed public exposure to kids and old folks and no untoward associations with silly charities. Dogs, horses, donkeys, hospices are all good, woke stuff less so. And Camilla has played her part well; she's kept her mouth shut, something Prince Harry could do well to note.

And yet, the Queen is taking a gamble because the opinion polls indicate public support for Camilla remains marginal. She is number eleven in the Royal league table, just behind the lightweight Prince Edward. Camilla scores an overall 34% popularity rating, while Charles gets 46%.

But he is beaten by Anne at 56%, her daughter Zara at 47%, the Cambridges (65/66%) and the Queen with 76%. As expected, the disgraced Andrew sits at the bottom of the pile with 12%.

Whether the Queen's endorsement of Camilla will create a halo effect that brings more support remains to be seen.

Of course, as an elderly monarch, the Queen has one objective — the safe transition of the dynasty to the next lot, preferably with public support. However, history tells us such changes are fraught with risk and can have consequences for the nation if poorly handled.

What is also remarkable is even today, the bed-chamber plays a role in Royal ascendancy. People in this part of the world recognise that.

Empress Dowager Cixi started her climb to the throne at the age of 16. In 1851, she was selected as a low-ranking consort to the Emperor. Eventually, she ruled as the queen regent from 1861 until she died in 1908, through one of the most turbulent periods in China's history.

She helped transform China from a medieval society to more modern power with her iron will and intelligent mind. Along the way, she conspired to kill opponents, poisoned her step-son and played hardball with the Western powers. As a result, she saw off rebellions and attempts to kill her, including the Boxers.

For over five decades, China's fate rested with Cixi. Despite strict court protocol that limited her movements and contacts, she imposed her authority. She presided over meetings from behind a screen and never entered the central section of the Forbidden City, which was reserved for the Emperor.

She governed with ruthless control by working through proxies — a loyal cadre of men. Cixi advocated westernisation— but at a controlled pace that retained traditions. For example, she did not want to promote mass production in textile factories because they took work away from Chinese women. Eventually, she oversaw a wave of modernisation, introducing electricity and coal mining.

Cixi managed to bring peace to the country, put public finances on a sounder footing, build a navy, and encouraged the government to open up to the world. She was also pragmatic enough to engage Westerners to train her army to defeat the Boxer rebels.

Camilla will have no such worries on her plate, nor will she exercise the power that Cixi could wield. Her role as Queen Consort has no bearing beyond the ceremonial. Although, we never know what whispers she may deploy to fluff the empty sails of Prince Charles.

He has shown himself more than willing to express unwelcome and vapid views on subjects beyond his remit. Along the way, he's fallen for homoeopathic medicine and the silly ideas of fake anthropologist Lauren van der Post — nothing too worrisome there.

However, he championed a facility in London that proved the incubator to Richard "Shoe Bomber' Reid and other unsavoury types. These infatuations are much more troublesome. I suppose when you are on the longest apprenticeship in history, it is easy to be distracted.

I sense that Camilla, like Cixi, is a wiser sort who understands that popularity is a fickle friend. Princess Anne exemplifies the type. Moreover, these women demonstrated that patience, carefully positioning oneself, and fortitude would pay dividends.

And those are lessons we can also take from Queen Elizabeth II's reign. One can only hope her son displays similar qualities.

Maybe Camilla should have a quiet word. Although, these days poisoning a step-son is not generally acceptable.