Royal Family

Television tinkering can be a wondrous process. Last year, CBS' "Royal Family," created by Eddie Murphy, was one of a very few new series showing ratings strength. Then, in October, Redd Foxx, who was playing the lead role of Al Royal, died suddenly. Sincere mourning was heavily tinged with panic.Jackee, formerly of the series "227," was grabbed to play Ruth, also known as Coco, who is the half-sister of Victoria, Al's widow, still portrayed by Della Reese.More time was needed, though, to work out necessary adjustments, and the show went off the air temporarily.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The bombing of the foreign military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday was a tragedy waiting to happen. It was an action designed to destabilize the Saudi Arabian royal family by exposing and attacking their greatest crime in the eyes of Saudis and others in the Arab world -- the establishment of a permanent American military presence on Saudi soil.Several historical threads lead to this event: the long effort on the part of the United States to establish a permanent, land-based military presence in the Persian Gulf region; the declining fortunes of the Saudi royal family; the growing presence of revolutionary groups in the region willing to use violence to overthrow governments they view as corrupt.

SAUDI ARABIA'S royal family is convinced it presides over a country that is peculiarly blessed.It feels it has created a fusion of political and religious power ideal for an Islamic society. It is puzzled that other Arab states do not emulate its system.It vows it will not have an army -- ike its neighbors Syria and Iraq -- which can take over the state. It sees the disorderly parliaments of Kuwait and Egypt as warnings against the temptations of democracy.King Fahd, 74, who suffered a stroke in November, transferred power on Jan. 1 to his half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah, 72. The House of Saud insists there will be no succession crisis.

WASHINGTON -- Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, had a family-style get-together with President Bush down at the Western White House, a conciliatory meeting intended to soothe a strained marriage between the two countries. Although President Bush sought to dampen Saudi opposition to a pre-emptive attack on Saddam Hussein, the reaction from Riyadh -- America's oldest Arab ally -- was "no sale." Despite the Saudi brush-off, the Bush administration seems intent to sweep U.S.-Saudi disagreements under some magic carpet and maintain the veneer of amity.

Saudi monarch King Fahd's fears have been realized the past few months, as his normally docile citizens have grown more and more insistent that the ruling family's absolute powers be checked.Emboldened by the events in Kuwait, where the emir is being pressured by his subjects and the United States to make democratic concessions, two groups of Saudi notables recently presented petitions to Fahd, demanding a greater voice in the country's management. And to insure that their demands were not brushed aside, both groups took the highly unusual step of leaking them to the Egyptian press, which readily published them.

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair lunched with Queen Elizabeth II and defended his country's beleaguered monarchy yesterday, while some press barons heeded a call from Prince Charles and began retreating from intrusive coverage of the royal family.On the day after the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, Blair sought to heal the emotional and political wounds in a still grief-stricken nation.He revealed that shortly before her death, Diana had agreed to serve as a special ambassador for Britain, and he praised Britain's monarchy, which was widely accused of being aloof during the national trauma.

London--Everybody in England is in his usual place: God is in his heaven; the queen is in her palace; and Sarah Ferguson is back on the front pages.Once again the errant daughter-in-law of the queen of England, reluctant and tempestuous wife of Prince Andrew the hapless, has hit the tabloids, and even the front pages of the quality press.Topless she is and, for want of a more delicate description, in a posture of carnal enthusiasm.And with an American no less -- 37-year-old oil tycoon JohnBryan who proves, if nothing else, that bald men can be appealing to a British blue blood.

LONDON -- There will be no drums, no bugles.There will be only a few soldiers. There will be people in wheelchairs.And pop star Elton John will sing a song to a princess, "Goodbye England's rose."These are the unique touches being prepared for tomorrow's funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales.The details were announced yesterday as Britain's royal family was forced to shatter one long-held tradition after another in the face of public demand and resentment.A restless British public demanded from its royal family more displays of grief -- and support -- for the late princess, killed Sunday in a Paris car crash.

During the Great Depression, when millions of people were homeless and despairing, the emotional problems of the very rich in fiction and fantasy entertained them. Not so in recession-plagued Britain today, where people are fed up with their real life fantasy, the royal family, its outlandish extravagance and its failed personal relationships. Polls suggest the British people do not want the Royal Family to vanish, they want it to shape up.This led Queen Elizabeth not only to call 1992 a "horrible" year but to do something about it. She will pay taxes starting next year.

London -- Divorce British-style can be such a mess, especially when you are linked with the heir to the throne.Yesterday, the acknowledged love of Prince Charles' life, Camilla Parker-Bowles, 47, and her husband, Brigadier Andrew Parker-Bowles, 55, announced they are getting a divorce.The tabloids have brought out the screaming headlines. The television networks provided wall-to-wall coverage. The royal mess spews on.The announcement came less than a week after the former secretary to the queen, Lord Charteris, predicted Prince Charles and Princess Diana would divorce "sooner rather than later."