Royal Trip May Fall In Di's Shadow

Tuesday, Prince Charles escorts wife Camilla on her first official visit to the United States, and his first since 1994.

This trip promises to be very different than the one he made here two decades ago, with Princess Diana, reports The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith.

The royal stay will be an eight-day, carefully choreographed tour, Smith says. It will include visits to Ground Zero, the United Nations, two meals at the White House and of course, the inevitable comparisons to what may be the world's toughest act to follow.

It was very nearly 20 years ago Monday when a British magical mystery tour began, with the emphasis on the magic: Americans were clearly enchanted by Diana, as typified by a girl in a crowd that came to see Diana who exclaimed, "I asked to see her ring and she showed it to me!"

Later, she cried, "I've been waiting so long to see her. I finally did."

The Early Show entertainment contributor and People magazine's Jess Cagle says Diana was a "very specific entity. She was a very strange kind of celebrity. She was on the cover of People magazine many, many times, and the public never lost their appetite for her."

But beyond the adoration, Smith points out, happiness escaped her. Diana once said she felt there was a third person in her marriage: Camilla. Now, on her own U.S. tour, Camilla will have to compete with a third person as well. Or at least, her spirit.

Diana was simply stunning, Smith observes; Camilla is said to have had a makeover recently. Diana was the quintessence of cool; Camilla is not.

"She does not seem cool," Cagle told Smith.

"Camilla's not cool?" Smith asked Cagle, for confirmation.

"Camilla's not cool," Cagle repeated. "Camilla's a wonderful, respectable woman, but not cool, or sexy. We'll leave that to Prince William and Prince Harry."

And, Smith notes, Diana's U.S. trip was not so much an official visit as a running fashion show, from glittering White House events, where she danced with John Travolta at one point, to a well-turned-out stroll-through a JCPenney.

Diana, says Smith, was a style icon. Camilla is merely stylish.

"She's not afraid of a big hat, I will have to say, and she carries it off!" Cagle remarked.

There are even more comparisons, Smith says: Diana's fairytale wedding helped make her a superstar in the U.S. even before she arrived. Camilla's April wedding was a bit more subdued. And she's hardly a household name.

Some women approached by Smith knew Camilla, but for all the wrong reasons.

"If you had one word to describe her, what would you say?" Smith asked some.

"The mistress," answered one.

"I agree: the mistress," said another.

"Not the Duchess, the mistress?" Smith followed-up.

"That's correct," said the second woman.

Of course, commented Smith, the Princess of Wales had scandals of her own but, even though Diana had the edge in star power, Camilla may yet be an inspiration in her own way.

"She's done a lot for middle-age love, Camilla has," one woman told Smith, "and in some ways, I think if we give her some time, she'll be a very interesting role model for us older women."

A group of Diana devotees called, "The Diana Circle" plans a protest in Washington. They also tried, unsuccessfully, of course, to stop the royal wedding in April.

"I don't know if Camilla aspires to be anything more than a good partner to Prince Charles," Cagle told Smith.

And, concluded Smith, that would give her something Diana never had: a fairytale ending.