Washington’s Ultimate Social Test : Capital in Tizzy Awaiting Charles, Diana

Charles and Diana, the prince and princess of Wales, arrive in Washington today for a three-day official visit--a prospect that has made the elite of this officially democratic capital suddenly mad about monarchy.

Only about 900 Americans have been favored with invitations to social events with the 36-year-old heir to Britain’s throne and his dazzling 24-year-old consort, and that’s counting a museum benefit reception for 500.

A few thousand more may glimpse the royal couple at charity and promotional appearances, which include a visit by Diana to a hospice for the terminally ill and a joint stop at a J.C. Penney store in a suburban shopping mall, where they are scheduled to view an example of American marketing genius: a Rolls-Royce balanced on four Wedgwood cups.

Ordinary Washingtonians, who take pomp and panoply in stride, seem less impressed than the capital’s elected (and unelected) nobility. A Washington Post poll released this week found most Americans a pretty blase lot: Asked if they would like a chance to meet Charles and Diana, 62% said they didn’t much care one way or the other.

Measure of Status

But in an upstart city where the only aristocracy is one of power, and “access” is the chief measure of status, the visit of these two symbols of an older hierarchy has somehow become the ultimate social test.

“We have been deluged with phone calls,” said J. Carter Brown, director of the National Gallery of Art, who is hosting one of the royal dinners. Invitation seekers have included “people who cut a fairly broad social swath around town,” he said. He politely declined to name any names.

Some senators and congressmen were so frantic at failing to snag a seat at dinner that aides begged Penney’s executives for a spot along the prince’s route through the aisles of the store. No dice, said Penney’s, reportedly acting on instructions from Buckingham Palace.

Lists of the lucky invitees have remained carefully guarded secrets, although some names inevitably have leaked. Political nobles like Chief Justice Warren Burger, monied museum patrons like former Ambassador to Britain Walter Annenberg, show-business aristocrats like singer Neil Diamond and Nancy Reagan intimates like socialite Jerry Zipkin will all have a chance to meet the royal couple.

Fascinated With Royalty

Part of the furor, of course, stems from Americans’ fascination with the British aristocracy. “You’ve got no royalty of your own,” observed social arbiter Robin Leach, the Briton who hosts television’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”--”so you borrow ours.”

But the center of attention is really Diana, the winsome and well-born former kindergarten teacher who won Charles’ heart when she was a teen-ager, starred in the grandest wedding of the century, quickly became the mother of two more heirs to the throne--and somehow, amid the demands of protocol and the relentless attention of the press, preserved a charming, headstrong spirit.

“I feel quite sorry for Prince Charles,” said a British Embassy official who begged to remain nameless. “It appears the only one everyone really wants to see is the princess.”

Diana’s visit--her first to America, except for a 1983 refueling stop at Los Angeles International Airport--coincides with a new wave of rumors that she might be pregnant again.

Is She or Isn’t She?

During the couple’s just-ended 10-day tour of Australia, the normally indefatigable princess was reportedly spending an unusual amount of time resting and Prince Charles was quoted as joking that his family could expand, “maybe sooner than you think.” Their children are Prince William, 3, and Prince Henry, 1.

At a news conference here Friday, the Royal Family’s press secretary sought to scotch that rumor. “We get about five of those reports a day,” spokesman Michael Shea said. “And one day, presumably, one of them will be true.”

Already, hordes of frantic reporters--including 150 Britons--have assembled here, delving deeply into the rumored royal gestation, Diana’s wardrobe and similar explosive issues.

Details of Diana’s outfits will be announced in time, Shea said soberly. But one British reporter asked Shea if the princess would be wearing an all-new “American wardrobe,” avoiding the faux pas of insulting the United States by wearing something she’s worn before--a misdeed she has been accused of previously.

‘No-Win Situation’

“The princess is in a no-win situation,” said Shea. “Either she wears the same thing twice or she is accused of spending $20,000 a day on clothes.”

In Washington, the couple will be staying in a suite of rooms at the British Embassy, where a large portrait of King George III still dominates the hall.

The British Embassy carefully--and probably wisely--instructed some of the guests attending events on matters of protocol when dealing with TRH--official shorthand for Their Royal Highnesses. Rules to remember: Do not touch TRH unless they touch you first. Do not speak to TRH unless spoken to first.

The State Department added a patriotic touch of its own. Contrary to European custom, a spokesman for the protocol office said, Americans do not curtsy or bow to TRH. That’s what the Americans fought the Revolution for.

Charles and Diana arrive at Andrews Air Force Base this morning and will meet President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, a few hours later over coffee at the White House.

In the afternoon, the prince will visit the American Institute of Architects, where he will view the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, the last serious armed conflict between the United States and Britain. Meanwhile, the princess will be accompanying Vice President George Bush’s wife, Barbara, to visit the Washington Home and Hospice.

Tonight, the Reagans will host a formal dinner and dance for the prince and princess at the White House.