Of course you're not.

There is a royal visit next week, but it's only the C team coming to see us.

In recent years we have been treated to trips from the Queen, William, Kate, baby George and Harry. And we can't get enough.

From the speculation over where they will go to the marsupials they meet and the jewels/dungarees they wear. They don't even have to say anything. Just meet crowds of wriggling school children and deserving community groups.

But as Charles and Camilla prepare for their five-day national tour next week, is anyone other than the Women's Weekly and David Flint getting out the mini flags?

That lack of buzz can't be credited to some pro-republic surge. The majority of us still love the idea of being tied to the British monarchy. But we also love to hate on the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Indeed, republicans see Charles' ascension to the throne as one of the best chances they have of ever getting a nationwide "yes" vote.

The antipathy is not restricted to our shores, either. A poll of more than 2,000 British adults earlier this year found that while nearly 80 per cent like William, Harry, Kate and the Queen, 53 per cent like Charles and only 34 per cent like Camilla.

It also found 55 per cent thought Camilla should not be Queen if Charles becomes King, while 40 per cent thought Charles should just stand aside and let his son take the crown.

The unkindness dates back to 1981, when Charles married Diana, the beautiful young innocent virgin. But the fairytale hit a snag because Charles was in love with the already married and much less photogenic Camilla.

It then got so much worse. As Charles and Di hit the rocks, Charles and Camilla had their totally private (or so they thought) phone conversation recorded and published for the entire world to see in 1992. Even before you get to the infamous Tampax bit, the part where they talk about needing each other "several times a week"/"all the time" is pure vomitron.

It was the PR nightmare you couldn't make up if you tried.

Despite Di's own funny business, she was unequivocally painted as the victim. As for Camilla? She reportedly got pelted with bread rolls at her local supermarket by outraged citizens.

Even though we're now decades down the track, Charles and Camilla are still viewed with a mix of derision and moral high horsing. And it's not fair.

Along with being two of the most underrated royals, theirs is one of the great love stories of modern times.

Put the Tampax thing to one side (please) and you have a couple who met in the '70s and really liked each other, but because of various events and expectations (there are a few different theories here) didn't make it official at the time.

But they couldn't stay away from each other, even when parents, the press, society and everyone else were against the idea.

So they must really love each other if they were prepared to weather the hideous freakstorm of condemnation that followed through the decades – not just from the "Camillagate" transcript fallout but the Di-vorce and then tidal waves of grief following her death.

By the time Charles and Camilla finally married in 2005, they were well into their 50s. They were saggy and baggy and totally unglamorous. As Camilla reportedly said at the time, they were "just two old people getting hitched".

Despite their wealth and royalness, they are battlers in their way. Their wrinkles aren't the only ordinary thing about them either. Their extra-marital carryings on are not so unusual – an estimated 20 per cent of Australian marriages end because of an affair. The same percentage that end because of drifting apart.

But get beyond their love lives and their royal careers paint interesting pictures as well.

Charles – the longest serving "heir apparent" in British history – has not just spent his time playing polo, going to garden parties and wondering when he'll get to wear the big crown.

In the 1970s he started a group of charities that today tackle meaty issues like youth unemployment, community-engaged businesses and sustainability in the built and natural environments. They are substantially funded by his organic food range.

As a keen environmentalist, he has been plugging organic produce and sustainable farming years and years before it became mainstream and hip. But it's not just about flogging free range pork chipolatas and unhomogenised milk at supermarkets; he's also called for "profound changes" to the global economy to limit the impact of climate change.

As a duchess, Camilla has got stuck into some 85 charities, including causes like osteoporosis, literacy and sexual assault. Sure, Charles and Camilla also support their share of more palatable artistic causes, but they haven't just gone for easy, warm fuzzy stuff.

The Cambridges are the crowd favourite with their glossy locks and picture book lives, but the older generation are much less plastic and much more interesting.

Charles and Camilla are not perfect and have made epic mistakes. But far out, they've paid for them and they're still here to tell the tale.

Wrinkly love and sustainability may not be as popular as going bra-less to a movie premiere or flying a helicopter. But if Australia was still handing out those knights and dames, I can think of two highly suitable candidates.