technically, the last woman standing at Charles' side by the time of the Coronation

Hee! Mistress cage-match!

The straightforward remarriage is forbidden I understand. British royalty seems to operate under a muddier set of rules.

Yeah --- I thought it was as straightforward as, "if he marries a divorced woman, he can't become king." Apparently not.

Henry VIII's divorce wasn't actually a divorce in modern terms.

Was there a precedent for a modern divorce then? Not just permanent separation, which I'm sure has been going on since the dawn of time, but the legal dissolution of a marriage? (I feel like I should know this, but I don't.)

This discussion reminds me (I really don't care one whit about Charlie boy) -- did anyone else hear the NPR story about the monarch of Japan? Currently the only heir to the throne is a 3-year-old girl, Princess Aiko, the Crown Prince's daughter. A male heir has not been born since 1965. The Crown Prince's wife is 41, and had a hard time conceiving Aiko, so it seems unlikely that she'll have any more children.

The Crown Prince has one younger brother, who also only has daughters.

So a Japanese government panel has started debating whether women could take the throne. And apparently time is of the essence, because traditionally at age 3 the heir begins the regime of training and education required to be the monarch.

There's a very conservative faction who is violently opposed* to changing Japanese law to allow a woman to take the throne as Empress, but most Japanese people favor it. *(Violently opposed to the point that they're advocating the Crown Prince adopt a male from some far-removed branch of the royal family, rather than allow a woman to be monarch.)

I'm inexplicably fascinated by all this.

Nope. George IV couldn't STAND his wife Caroline, and went to a trial in the House of Lords on the grounds of her adultery (no question, she was a big ol' cheat), and they still wouldn't give him a divorce. Which is why Queen Victoria wound up succeeding him; George IV couldn't have any more heirs while his wife was alive.

That's the closest I can think of in modern times.

I'm inexplicably fascinated by all this.

Oh, me, too. (As if you couldn't guess.)

Princess AIko in her car seat.. So cute. Even royalty are not immune to the laws of physics. Diana, I'm a-lookin' at you.

I have good news!

I don't have to see my shrink for four weeks. I have NEVER gone four weeks between visits since I started seeing him over two years ago. Also, when I see him next, we're going to set up a visit with me, him, and my therapist to talk about whether we've gone as far as we can psychopharm-wise. I see this as a really positive step.

Yay, vw!!!

I'm inexplicably fascinated by all this.

I've always found Japanese culture to be endlessly fascinating.

YAY VW!