Soon after they finally married, the Prince of Wales decided to take Camilla on a full-scale official visit to the United States. The �official� designation means that the Prince is representing the Queen (only visits between heads of state are �state� visits). Official visits involve meeting the head of state and staying at the British Embassy. This week�s trip included the Prince of Wales� third visit to the White House. On each of the three visits he has been accompanied by a different woman � Princess Anne in 1970, the Princess of Wales in 1985, and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005. (Perhaps one reason why the Prince decided that his second wife would be known as the Duchess of Cornwall was so that his wives would not inevitably be known by their first names to distinguish them.)

In the summer of 1970, Prince Charles � as he was more often known before he became half of �the Prince and Princess of Wales� � was a 21-year-old bachelor who had just graduated from Cambridge University. He would not meet Camilla Shand for two more years. The American media was excited about Charles and Anne�s visit in much the same way that a visit by William and Harry would excite them now. As the Prince of Wales somewhat ungallantly observed in his toast at this week�s state dinner, the American media hoped to marry him off to Trisha Nixon, �and it�s very interesting to see the same sort of thing happening to my eldest son.� Presumably this is a reference to the rumors a few years ago of a long-distance romance between Prince William and President Bush�s niece Lauren, a model, whose parents were at the dinner.

Princess Anne was a rather surly adolescent at the time of the visit to the Nixons. She was expected to be friendly with the Nixons� daughters, with whom she had little in common, and her unwillingness to be �a fairy-tale princess� (as she said in another context) annoyed the American media. However, her attitude made Prince Charles look good. He had not yet become the prematurely middle-aged worrier he would be in his thirties, and he maintained a polite enthusiasm during the busy two-day visit. His web site states that the visit was �as guest of President Nixon�s daughters and son-in-law,� so it apparently was not an official visit.

Inevitably, the Prince�s 1985 visit to Washington will be the best remembered of his American trips because of the presence of the Princess of Wales. She was then only 24 years old and had recently emerged from the period when her sons were born and she spent much of her time at home. She was beautiful, fabulously dressed, and captivating. She shone in comparison with her husband and President and Mrs. Reagan. In fact she almost totally eclipsed her husband, who was annoyed on all of their tours together by how people wanted to see her rather than him. The Reagans� dinner for the Prince and Princess is now remembered as a high-water mark of 1980s glamour. When Diana auctioned the dress she wore that night for charity shortly before her death, it sold for $222,500.

The Prince of Wales was visibly happier during this week�s tour than during the 1985 tour. Part of the reason was that the program was designed around his and Camilla�s personal interests, including visits to a farmer�s market and an organic garden in California. His earlier tours were more likely to feature conventional engagements suggested by bureaucrats. But the main reason for his happiness was that he could finally bring Camilla along with him and have her be treated as a princess. Even better, she was treated as his consort, not as someone far more interesting than he. Camilla carried out her engagements well and wore clothes that were tasteful and appropriate rather than stunning. This was probably the Prince of Wales� last official visit to the United States. Time will tell if he and Camilla will be able to return on a state visit someday.