Standing By Di : Valley Brits Revere Princess as Royalty, Married or Not

Pish-tosh about the adultery, they say. No matter about that interview either.

The poor dear deserves a royal break.

That’s the general reaction of British expatriates living in the San Fernando Valley, who remain devoutly loyal to Princess Diana in the wake of international hubbub over her agreement to a divorce from Prince Charles.

Southern California has about 75,000 British residents, and in the expatriate hangout pubs, restaurants and clubs throughout the Valley this week, Brits insisted Diana will always remain royalty in their eyes, even if she officially lost the title and got no money after her legal ties to Buckingham Palace are severed.

After all, she is the mother of the future king, chimed in several of them.

“She should get everything she wants so she can keep living the type of life she is used to,” said Pamela Jenkins, a British American homemaker who has lived in Northridge for 35 years.

“She was just a young innocent who married Charles out of love. What he did to her was despicable. From what I know about the royal family they are all scoundrels anyway. She is the best of the lot.”

Many local expatriates agreed with Jenkins, describing the former Lady Diana Spencer as a gorgeous, sweet and much-needed national personality who is dearly loved at home and abroad.

Among other accomplishments, she helped liberate Great Britain’s royal family from the mire of stuffy tradition, they said.

“England was getting to be very stale, I think,” said Marjorie Fitchew, a Sherman Oaks resident. “But Diana went out and enjoyed life a little more. She brought the royal family down to a place where we could touch them and understand them.”

A few local Brits judged Diana more harshly, lingering over rumors of her eating disorders, depression and self-mutilation that surfaced alongside international press reports of her deteriorating marriage.

Eileen Selby, who helped found the North Hollywood-based Mayflower Club for local British residents more than 20 years ago--it now has more than 3,000 members--admitted she didn’t know the whole story behind the divorce.

“But if what we read is true about her, it all sounds very weird,” Selby said. “I have never met her, although I have met Charles three times and he was absolutely charming. I am not entirely in support of her. She is not without blame here.”

In a Van Nuys hangout called the Robin Hood, a gaggle of Brits guzzled Boddington’s Pub Ale Drought, chewing over news of the divorce as Beatles tunes and a spirited game of darts served as background accompaniment.

With little prompting, three patrons and the bartender began to squabble over the meaty domestic issues at the palace, the discussion quickly deteriorating into the irreverent.

Should Diana get millions of dollars in living expenses, as the press claims she might?

“Does she deserve the money?” queried Geoffrey Lester, a Studio City Jaguar salesman. “How many people in the world would want to sleep with Charles? How much would they charge? Just think about that.”

Does the divorce mark the beginning of the end for the royal family?

“Oh, come on, the monarchy will never end,” said bartender Guy Botham. “Humans will one day mutate into a different species, but when? Around the same time the royals fall apart.”

Doesn’t it at least cast an unprecedented pall over the royal family?

“Ah, this crap has been happening for centuries,” Lester said. “Edward VII slept with every woman in England,” he said, offering an opinion of Queen Victoria’s playboy son which many historians would agree was only slightly exaggerated.

“Only, there was no media back then to tell everyone about it.”

“Diana is a modern woman trying to change the royal family and her husband, who were old-fashioned,” said Lorraine Williams, co-owner of the Robin Hood. “Thirty years ago they would have just maintained the facade of the marriage and remain separated forever. But Diana was too modern for that. I admire her, really.”

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Some admitted that the family members were viewed more as gossip topics and characters in a far-off drama than real people.

But one opinion was shared by all: They loved the queen and her family without hesitation or qualification.

But despite the burden of dealing with the pesky press, there is some advantage to being a royal wife headed for splitsville in the 20th century, Lester observed:

“It’s better than getting beheaded.”