I've been listening to Tina Brown's The Diana Chronicles on audio book. Back when I was a kid, I loved everything about royalty, princes and princesses. When I was nine, my mother woke me up at six-thirty in the morning to watch Prince Charles get married to Princess Diana. I remember hearing the reporters saying how beautiful Diana looked, but I also remember Jane Pauley saying something interesting. "He {Prince Charles} just doesn't look like he's in awe of her." They chalked it up to the British reserve. Little did they know maybe it was because they only met thirteen times before that day. There are times when I feel like too much is being told, like Barbara Cartland (Princess Diana's step grandmother) was not invited to the wedding, and that Prince Charles liked to be called "Arthur" during times when, well, let's say this: He wasn't on the polo field, and normally Camilla Parker-Bowles got to call him Arthur. It makes me want to say: "Tina baby, thanks for sharing, but too much info."

But something stopped me cold yesterday: According to Brown, Princess Diana wanted to save the Royal Family, make them happy. If that isn't an impossible job, I don't know what is. It reminds me of when I was a kid and I thought if I could improve at math, if I could make my handwriting like everyone else's, then everyone will be happy. Of course that's impossible.

I'm also reading Ophelia by Lisa Klein. Klein takes on one of Shakespeare's tragic heroines: Ophelia. Apparently she was tired of how in Hamlet how passive and weepy Ophelia was and decided to write Ophelia's story, make her spunky, give her a backbone. I finally read Hamlet four years ago in my Introduction to Literature class. We all studied pictures of her-of her with her long blonde hair, ready to jump in the water or one of my favorite paintings by John William Waterhouse of her. (Shameless plug, I wrote a short short story about that painting that can be found on my stories page). Of course, this being a women's college, we all discussed how unfair Ophelia was treated, and how she lost her voice.

Now I wonder if Princess Diana ever read Hamlet. It's doubtful, because as Brown points out Princess Diana didn't do well academically and read Barbara Cartland and Danielle Steel. However, I wonder if she did read it, or saw it on the stage, if she could relate to Ophelia, because she knew how Ophelia felt, frustrated and sad that she couldn't get through to the man she loved, and feeling defeated because she felt like she failed.

I stopped waiting for my Princess Charming to whisk me away to his kingdom and take care of all my troubles.  Although, as Paula Danziger once said: if a Prince Semi-Charming came to my doorstep, I certainly wouldn't turn him away.