Return of the Prince

"That was what Diana was to be," she said in a 'nuff-said sort of way. She said she hoped Camilla would end up as a sort of "first spouse" without becoming queen, the way Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, is Duke of Edinburgh and not king.

For the record, Paddy Harverson, the Prince of Wales's chief spokesman, said British law states that the wife of a British king is always technically the queen, although the husband of a queen is not automatically king. But Harverson said Camilla has chosen not to assume the title, opting instead to be known as the princess consort -- a title that sounds perfectly reasonable to aristocratic ears but slightly naughty to the rest of us.

Harverson also stressed that Charles would become king upon the death of his mother and not before. He dismissed as "nonsense" speculation that the queen might step aside for Charles to ascend to the throne, or that Charles would decline the throne and let it pass to his older son, Prince William.

That kind of rumor is about as wild as things have gotten lately for the House of Windsor. These have been quiet days -- and therefore good days -- for a family that craves peace and decorum but often seems to find a whoopee cushion on its throne.

The queen will turn 80 in April, and she and Prince Philip have been all smiles and little waves in these cool fall days, when all the sex and scandal seems to be coming from the world of politics, not the palace. Royal aunts and uncles and cousins are behaving themselves. No one under the royal umbrella is divorcing, writing tattletale books or stomping their expensive shoes on the parquet floor and crying, "Poor me!"

Both of Charles and Diana's sons, William and Harry, have emerged as good citizens and are enrolled at Sandhurst military academy.

William, 23, graduated from Scotland's St. Andrews University in June. There he met a girlfriend, Kate Middleton, a proper-seeming young lady whose lawyers recently warned the media to mind their manners. William has begun to undertake solo royal duties, including a trip to New Zealand, and several work-experience placements, including joining a mountain-rescue team, working at an international financial institution and learning about land management on a country estate.

Little brother Harry has been at Sandhurst since May. After creating an uproar when he appeared in a Nazi costume at a party earlier this year, Harry recently gave a rare television interview on the occasion of his 21st birthday. He said he was delighted that Camilla makes his father so happy and does not think of her as his "wicked stepmother."

Then there is Charles, who turns 57 in a couple of weeks and seems to be a sort of royal barometer. For at least a decade, Charles's private life was a drag on the family. For a while it seemed that everyone who ever washed an argyle sock for Charles was writing a book. The queen's face was beginning to appear permanently puckered.

Not anymore. Charles seems at his most content these days, all ruddy-cheeked and good cheer in the cotton and wool and leather of princedom.

Dimbleby, who attended the couple's wedding reception at Windsor Castle, described Charles as "at ease with the world, and he's with a woman he loves."

"I think there's a real love there that makes people smile when they observe it," he said. "She is good at pulling him down if he indulges in pomposities. She is very much grounded when he's got his head in the clouds. But she's very much in awe of him as well."