A Prince and His Princess Arrive: Charles and Di

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Meanwhile, in Washington, the eponymous city of the man who fought to have the inequities of hereditary privilege purged from a new nation, socialites and politicians were maneuvering like Machiavellian courtiers in order to meet the Prince and Princess. "It's the social event of the season," said former White House Aide Michael Deaver, who now heads his own p.r. firm. "This is one of those events that if you're not invited," said Sheila Tate, Nancy Reagan's former press secretary, "you'll plan to be away for the weekend so no one will know." Miss Manners, a.k.a. Washington Post Syndicated Columnist Judith Martin, decried the social jockeying not only as "a disgusting spectacle" but, worse, as undemocratic. Above all, she exhorted patriotic readers, "never curtsy."

Wherever the couple go nowadays, they are watched closely for signs of the state of their union. Time and again during the past year, their four-year- old storybook marriage has been compared with a nighttime soap opera. The plot goes something like this: the House of Windsor, imperturbable on the outside, has become a seething "Palace Dallas" on the inside. The Princess, once known as Shy Di, has been transformed into "Dynasty Di"; and Prince Charles, once dubbed Action Man for his intrepid sky- and skin diving, has become a hermetic, mystical crank.

But if "The Windsors" is like a prime-time serial, it is one that, before Lady Diana Spencer joined the cast, was having ratings problems. The characters had become predictable: no more wildly inappropriate flings for Princess Margaret; prickly Princess Anne had turned goody-goody; crusty Philip made nary a gaffe; and the Queen, as ever, was placid perfection. For Charles, the role of bachelor Prince was becoming old hat; the public grew tired of a succession of Charlie's Angels but never a bride. Then, like an inspired casting director, Charles picked an unlikely ingenue for the role of Princess: the girl next door. Voila! She became the biggest star of all and made "The Windsors" the most watched show of all time.

Diana has become a British national monument. According to one recent tally in The Book of Money Lists, the Princess of Wales is a bigger draw than Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament combined. In the past two years she has generated some $66.6 million in revenue from magazines, books and tourism.