Originally posted by magkelly Actually it's got nothing to do with that. It's little Charlotte's parents determinedly honoring the memory of her much revered and often too much maligned of late Grandmother, Princess Diana. There has been a rather concentrated effort to push Princess Diana way back into the mists of history so that Prince Charles's 2nd wife Camilla can shine more brightly. William kind of rocked the boat and let everyone know he wasn't going to allow her to be forgotten when he married his wife and gave her Diana's engagement ring. Now his little girl will carry her name as well, albeit as a middle name. There's talk of a more suitable memorial for her too. I do hope they go there. That fountain thing is just wretched if you ask me....
Yes, I realise the naming was a reference to the late Princess of Wales (the Palace would never allow her to be the higher status Princess Diana, which is generally reserved for the blood line), but I couldn't help noting the part of the story that, in its own small way, helps to maintain the fiction of historical legitimacy of British Royalty. If you hadn't already guessed, I'm a republican at heart (not with a capital 'R'
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Do you mean the memorial in Hyde Park, or the one on the Spencer family estate? Either way, it's a strange obsession, but part of what makes us human, I suppose. I have to confess to having taken a couple of photos (for completeness, of course) on my last visit to the UK.