Adultery rewarded

Funny, isn’t it, how the unthinkable becomes the thinkable, then the possible, then the acceptable and finally the inevitable? You can see the process in motion when it comes to the prospect of the Duchess of Cornwall becoming Queen Consort in Waiting. Once, the Duchess was lucky to appear in public without getting pelted with bread rolls; now she’s allowed on The Archers, having redeemed her cameo appearance with a plug for osteoporosis awareness, and, ahem, for Duchy Originals shortbread. When a girl in Wiltshire asked her whether she was to become Queen, she said: ‘You never know.’ Which, in terms of ambiguity, equals Prince Charles’s response to a similar question in the US: ‘We’ll see, won’t we? That could be.’

Meanwhile, the press is squared, the middle class is quite prepared for a Queen Camilla. At least those of the middle class who take their lead from the press. My own sinking feeling that the thing is a done deal came when I saw Hello! magazine deliver the message to the hair salons and waiting rooms of Britain that two ‘queens-in-waiting’, viz the Duchess and Kate Middleton, had had lunch together.