Our 50+ Poster Girl: Camilla!

Prince Charles and his lovely bride Camilla are currently visiting the U.S., their first time here together as an official couple. Camilla has some mighty big shoes to fill (and let's face it, Diana was fabulous, but had feet the size of stretch limousines).

But, come on, guys, the reception that the Duchess has gotten here has not exactly been stellar American hospitality. Snarky comments about her age, her appearance, her style -- what is that about in the land of rooting for the underdog?

And we, angry women of a certain age, should Camilla not be someone for us to look up to rather than down on?

Camilla put the moves on Charles way back in the '70s, when she was an older woman (a year older) and they hung out in the same crowd. They pretty much connected from the start, but he was too slow for her (and maybe she was a little too fast for the royal handlers?) and she married someone else while he dawdled. Anyway, we all know the story: He waited to marry until it was almost a national crisis, and then came the beautiful, virginal, youngyoungyoung Diana. Fairytale wedding, etc, etc. But Charles never forgot Camilla, and before long they took up where they left off. Because even if Camilla wasn't as pretty or as young as Diana, she was the woman that he loved. Camilla got out of her marriage (the British nobility can be so civil about these things) and, a couple of tell-all books and TV interviews later, Charles was also free. The tragic death of Diana put a halt to public acceptance of the marriage of the now middle-aged couple, but eventually the British people seem to have accepted that their future king would only achieve full happiness married to his One True Love. Sigh.

Instead of snorting at Camilla's wacky headgear and less-than-Diana-like evening wear, we should be looking at her in open-mouthed wonder. How did she keep him hanging on for all those years? He loves her so much that he wouldn't just keep her as his "official hostess" as she'd been in effect for these intervening years. She's now the consort of the future King of England and at his side as his "darling wife" when he meets the heads of state throughout the world.

Not bad for a 50+ chick who hasn't even had a face lift.

We miss you, Di, but chalk one up for our side.