How the women of the Windsor family become human shields

The Times title How the women of the Windsor family become human shields invites us to reflect on the role that the consorts have played in The Firm. What public roles they have played and how they have affected their lives.

In this portrait of the Windsor Women Not only Diana of Wales fits, but also Camilla Parker-Bowles and Sarah Ferguson. They are joined by two new generation women, Meghan Markle and, now, her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, cornered by social networks, who show disbelief at any image of theirs that is published.

These women, after marrying a Windsor, took their first steps in the palace, which the author of the text, Jennifer Weiner, describes as a “honeymoon period.” But those days of wine and roses are over. The path became narrower and each of them, with their respective personalities, had to face her environment, “other women in her circle and her generation,” says Weiner.

In the case of Diana, is clear. The Princess of Wales created her own personal space to move on with her life in a broken marriage. “There were three of us, a crowd,” as she herself confessed in the controversial interview she gave to the BBC. Her eating disorders accompanied her in a few years of loneliness and misunderstanding, which she filled with her work, focused on charitable causes, such as her campaign against landmines together with the Red Cross; or her activism in the fight against AIDS.

In that marriage “of three” was Camilla. Diana’s death in 1997 was a death knell for Parker-Bowles, metaphorically speaking. Heartbroken British society was not prepared to see the heir with his lifelong lover at a public event. The country had to live, first, its mourning. Camilla, persevering, focused and very intuitive, knew how to wait for her moment. And her moment came in 2005 with the wedding, after 35 years of relationship and two divorces. She then became the future queen, but she also paid a very high price: time. She paid for it by waiting and waiting. Her perseverance and tenacity helped the consort on her path. It was Elizabeth II who, at the end of her days, gave her place by naming her queen.

In the case of Meghan Markle, the media pressure on her was so high that Harry feared reliving the photographic persecution that his mother suffered. Together they decided to give the famous step back. They prepared their departure and left London in 2020. The American actress became a clear example of a victim of her own public persona. An alienation from which she freed herself by creating her own space with her husband in her Montecito mansion, in Los Angeles. However, the Sussexes, far from living that private, intimate and family life, have dedicated themselves to making their experiences in Buckingham profitable, revealing episodes from the past about members of the Windsors. And they have done it in Netflix docuseries format, in memoir format (In the shadow) and in podcast format on Spotify, an audio series that was later cut short. Not to mention the Sussex brand, a title that they are not willing to give up at the moment.

And we have Kate. The Princess of Wales, jewel of the British crown, has an impeccable image. This was the case until she underwent abdominal surgery at The London Clinic, without a single detail being reported. Not only from her hospitalization, but also from her subsequent convalescence. An informative bolt that has exploded in the palace like a cluster bomb.

Until this moment, the blameless princess, together with William, projected the new era image of the institution. Kate has always been a rising stock. However, this communication breakdown surrounding her health has hurt not only Kensington, but her as well. It was incredible that she had to come forward to explain the disastrous episode of the retouched photo. Incredible that they left her alone to apologize. Didn’t anyone in the palace see that edited photograph before it was released to official networks?