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I have been fascinated all week by the spectacle of the most famous blond freak on the planet, an isolated and miserable boy who lives inside a national monument, lashing out and turning into self-destructive acts. But I finally had to turn off the new season of The Crown, focusing on Princess Diana, and turning my attention to Donald Trump, who is trashing this place before he goes off like Axl Rose in a Four Seasons.
Diana and Donald shared some things in common: their toxic tango with the press, their psychic connection with their fan base, their willingness to blow up the rules. Both were “unpredictable meteorites,” as Tony Blair once described Di. They both relished sitting in their rooms glued to their own television coverage, flagging their chosen reporters to control the narrative. They were both unhappy at the top, worrying about being undercut.
Diana nearly turned the monarchy upside down, and Trump is doing everything he can to change democracy. That’s where the similarities end. In terms of empathy, embracing the bereaved, radiant Diana and radioactive Trump are opposites. And while watching her fractured fairy tale breaks your heart, watching her rebellious departure makes your head hurt.
Donald Trump during an event at the White House this week. Photograph: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images
Barking madness
The young princess was afraid of going mad amid the barking of the corgis; the 74-year-old president wallows in his barking madness. On Friday afternoon, Trump continued to embarrass himself and the nation when he finally came out, after sulking in his tent for days, claiming that he had won the election. He blamed Big Pharma, Big Tech and the media for his problems. He sent out a fundraising message praising the press conference with his lawyers, a dripping Rudy Giuliani and a rabid Sidney Powell exposing the absurd global phantom conspiracy that is thwarting Trump’s re-election.
Then Trump met with Michigan Republican Party officials, blatantly trying to subvert democracy and regain an indecisive state, or even simply feed his ego by delegitimizing the election in the eyes of his base. But Michigan lawmakers came out of the White House and said they would “follow the normal process” that has Joe Biden ahead even when the Georgia governor certified the results there for Biden.
It would be just pathetic to see Trump throw nails into the road behind him if he weren’t so dangerous. Biden needs all the air in his tires and a full tank of gas when he brings that Corvette to the White House driveway in two months, because this country is going to hell and running out of gas. Trump is sabotaging the transition as the pandemic progresses, engaging in midnight maneuvers like ending several emergency loan programs that could boost the economy and attempt to devastate the Alaska wildlife refuge.
Dumb and scared
Republicans remain as mute and fearful of Trump as ever. Mitch McConnell could stop this nonsense with a phrase: “We go ahead and recognize Joe Biden as president-elect.” But he refuses, leaving the damage to the country unleashed to protect his own rank-and-file position and hold on to those two Georgia Senate seats that make him the majority leader.
It is outrageous that Congress left town for the holidays this weekend without passing Covid relief. But Republicans, who are already ready to prepare for the next election, prefer to put Biden in a bind and then criticize him for big spending. It doesn’t matter that they are leaving millions of Americans in the lurch.
When I covered Charles and Diana’s visit to Washington in 1985, the couple seemed happy. But trouble was brewing
After watching the callous Republicans, it’s not really an escape to light the crown and see that callous bunch: Margaret Thatcher and royalty. Peter Morgan, the writer of The Queen and creator of The Crown, devoted much of his career to restoring the Queen’s reputation after the disastrous period after Diana’s death, when Blair had to beg Queen Elizabeth to show more emotion. But in this fourth season of The Crown, Morgan introduces a more fragile queen when bulimic Diana cries out for help and the Boss rejects her, feeling that Charles and Diana are spoiled, immature, and disillusioned.
Diana, perfectly played by Emma Corrin, describes the palace as “a cold, icy tundra; a frozen cave, dark, without love, without light, without hope anywhere, not even the slightest crack ”. Morgan’s portrayal of Charles is also crude. The Prince of Wales is too in love with Camilla, too jealous of Diana, and too hurt by her upbringing to give their marriage a real chance.
Electric star energy
When I covered Charles and Diana’s visit to Washington in 1985, the couple seemed happy. But problems were brewing. An insecure future king was sure to be jealous of a wife who diverted all attention just by lowering her chin and looking under her lashes. And it was clear that Diana, who was called “Duch” as a child because she always acted like a duchess, was learning to channel her electric star power.
The Reagan White House gala – Duch meets Dutch – was a showcase for Diana, shimmering in blue velvet and a pearl necklace, not Charles. Nancy Reagan had assembled a pantheon of protagonists for the princess: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Clint Eastwood, Tom Selleck and, as a dance partner when the Marine Band played Night Fever, John Travolta. In The Art of the Comeback in 1997, Trump said his only regret “in the women’s department” was not dating Diana after their divorce. She said she “lit up the room with her charm, her presence” and was “a dream lady.” Keep dreaming, Donald. About their courtship, Diana told a friend: “It gives me the creeps.” Say, we know how you feel.
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