I don’t normally post negative material against the Royal Family because I know how things can so easily be misrepresented by their enemies. However, this story is inexplicable to me.

Apparently, the Duchess of Cornwall has received a fabulous ruby necklace (pictured) from a member of the Saudi Arabian Monarchy which rules that oil-rich country. The necklace is reputed to be worth £1 million, or nearly $2m.

We know that Michael Fawcett has cheerfully sold off such gifts in the past — after a suitable period of time has elapsed. In this case, we are told, the necklace will not be sold or pass into Camilla’s family heirlooms, but will become part of the Royal Collection.

The Duchess wore it for the first time last week at a reception in Pennsylvania, where it attracted a great deal of attention.

Already Labour MPs are calling for Royal gifts to be treated in the same way as political ones, and the bad publicity reaches into what we normally regard as loyal newspapers.

Why does a senior Royal personage feel the need to subvert her integrity by accepting such a high-value gift, when they’ve clearly got more than enough to compete with anyone else?

Has shooting yourself in the foot moved up to the neck?

Prince Harry seemed decidedly the worse for wear following a nine-mile forced march in Windsor Great Park yesterday.

Although he kept up with the group, his flushed face bore some of the hallmarks of 10 days on the town with girlfriend Chelsy Davy. During her short stay in London, Harry was out nightclubbing till late on at least four occasions.

Just after 7am yesterday, in freezing temperatures and snow, it was back to hard training for the warrior Prince.

He joined four platoons of his regiment, the Blues and Royals, who set out from their base at Combermere Barracks near Windsor — home of the Household Cavalry — for the gruelling march.

The soldiers were dressed in combat fatigues and carried 48lb backpacks, plus a service rifle.

Whether he kept going by thinking about Chelsy is something only he will know, I suspect.

Last night, Britain’s ITV network presented a programme called, Kate Middleton Vs Paparazzi. There was nothing really new in it, except they interviewed many of the in-crowd, including a major paparazzo.

The show spent a lot of time on the legal aspects, citing a European court judgement in favour of Princess Caroline of Monaco, who won the right never to have a picture of her published unless she gave permission. It seems Kate Middleton might expect similar protection.

What occurred to me throughout this discussion is whether it’s good for Kate herself, or indeed for the Royal Family, to disappear off the radar completely. Shots that are “in the public interest” are few and far between. Already, since her birthday Kate photographs have all but vanished from the headlines.

A prominent member of the paparazzi mulled over some of the pictures to decide which were iconic and would be republished in a century and more. The one that stood out for him was Kate putting out her rubbish bags and glancing sideways at the photographer with her tongue firmly in her cheek. She seems to be thinking : “Is this really interesting? Are you mad?”

Apart from that, the main interest in the programme was some eminent talking heads, from Ingrid Seward of Majesty magazine, looking considerably older than when I last saw her, to Sir Christopher Meyer, once Ambassador to Washington, now head of the voluntary Press Compaints Commission. There was even a psychologist analysing how Kate was feeling during various media scrums. Apparently, she has a great coping mechanism.

All agreed it’s a pretty poor show to harass the girl in the way the paps have done. Something must be done.

But what? The choice seems to be between more of the same or total obscurity. Perhaps Kate herself should decide.

There’s an amusing set of predictions about Kate Middleton on the prestigious American political website, Slate, by Christopher Buckley.

It begins :

Here We Go Again
A projected timeline of the Prince William and Kate Middleton courtship.

“… 2007 looks like being the year of Our Kate. It is perhaps too early to think of her as the new People’s Princess, but her elegance, dignity and beauty certainly make her the People’s Choice. Kate is what we need. …
– Sunday Times of London.”

Then follow a set of fanciful possibilities … HERE.