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1997 a roller coaster year for Britain's royals

Prince Charles

December 31, 1997
Web posted at: 8:51 p.m. EST (0151 GMT)

From Correspondent Riz Khan

LONDON (CNN) -- For the British royal family, 1997 started out as a year to rebound and regroup -- particularly for the embattled Prince of Wales.

With public opinion polls showing that one-third of British subjects believing Prince Charles wasn't fit to be king, and a majority feeling no real connection to the royals, the heir to the throne formed a new strategy group, whose job it was to improve his image.

It was to be a five-year effort, leading up to Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, celebrating 50 years on the throne, in 2002. During this makeover, the royals would set out a new vision for a 21st century British monarchy.

Charles was also planning on a series of public events with Camilla Parker-Bowles, hoping to eventually ease his longtime mistress toward public embrace.

Princess Diana also began 1997 with hopes of a new beginning.

Friends say that she was finally learning to live and enjoy her life as a single woman, a mother of two, a very public crusader for land mine eradication and AIDS funding and research.

Diana's funeral procession

Charles' brother, Prince Andrew, remained in his low-key role. But he did pay a much-publicized visit to the United States in May, where he was the guest of honor at a black-tie affair in San Francisco.

In June, Prince Charles led the British delegation to the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, the symbolic twilight for the British Empire. That same month, Princess Diana offered her finest dresses and gowns for auction in New York, earning millions for her favorite charities.

But Diana could not escape the media intrusion into her personal life, and, as the summer continued, the royal year began to take a dark turn.

Headlines blared that Diana was dating Dodi Fayed, the millionaire playboy and son of the man who owns London's famed Harrod's department store. The tabloid press had a field day, while the public gave a disapproving nod to the relationship.

Then, on August 31, Diana and Dodi died after the car in which they were riding -- driven by a drunken security employee of Fayed -- crashed in a Paris tunnel as they tried to escape the paparazzi. The world mourned the death of the "people's princess." There was also an outpouring concern for the two young sons she left behind, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary

The royals, beset by criticism that they hadn't been sufficiently mournful, indicated that they had gotten the message and would go about changing the institution of the monarchy. And that is the task which occupied much of the rest of their year.

In October, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Prince Charles attended the Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh. On November 20, the queen and Philip celebrated 50 years of marriage at Westminster Abbey. The crowds assembled for the celebration included a glittering collection of European royalty, very deliberately mixed in with numerous commoners.

Prince Charles also took his son, Prince Harry, on a visit to South Africa, where they shared the spotlight not only with President Nelson Mandela but also with the British pop phenoms, the Spice Girls.

As 1997 closed, Charles had rehabilitated his image somewhat, though clearly not in the way that was originally planned. The prince won praise for his handling of his sons in the weeks after Diana's death, and one public opinion poll published in late December showed him with a 61 percent approval rating.

But in the wake of Diana's death, the public still remains very skeptical of the prince's relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. What the future might hold for them appears to be anybody's guess.

Related site:

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• Official site of the British Monarchy

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A Nation Mourns: As the world looks on, Britain buries a princess The Death of Princess Diana: Coverage of the accident, the investigation, and global reaction

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