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There will be more tit-for-tat scenarios, more struggles for what is perceived as the high ground. One certain sticking point is the amount of money Diana will receive. The figure usually mentioned is $23 million, but whether that will come in a lump sum or an annual dole has yet to be haggled over. Last week the senior royals--the Queen and Prince Charles--attended the memorial ceremony for the Gulf War dead. The regal phalanx was secondary news as papers devoted pages to Diana's latest crisis. That sort of snub inspires the kind of resentment that dies hard among people who expect celebrity treatment even though they would choke on the word.
This is a game that will not end with a divorce settlement. For years, indeed for decades, Diana will be a presence in the Windsors' life, and the contest between royalty and celebrity will go on and on. Charles will enjoy the status conferred by a role embedded in his country's traditions. One day he will occupy the ancient English throne, he will open Parliament, the coins and bills will bear his portrait. Diana, in contrast, will have no formal place in England's order, unless she forces the palace to give her one. She has said she would like to become a goodwill ambassador, not an official one, and the issue of her future position is central to the divorce negotiations. Whatever role she is assigned, however, Diana will never have the weight of the Establishment behind her. Her real strength will continue to derive from the adoration of both the people and the cameras. So far, that has proved an equal match to 1,000 years of history.
--Reported by Helen Gibson and Barry Hillenbrand/London