Prince Charles was in his thirties and knew it was time to settle down with a wife and make an heir and a spare. Camilla Shand, the true love of his life, had married years before and had children by this point, so Charles could hardly ask her to marry him. Camilla had moved on, and Charles tried dating many women. He even dated Diana’s older sister, Sarah, for a bit.
When Sarah granted an interview about dating Charles, he broke things off with her. Diana was only sixteen at the time. Charles continued working and dating, and he appeared to be no closer to finding a wife when he met Lady Diana at a barbecue of a mutual friend. They talked, and Diana told Charles how lonely he looked at the funeral of his Uncle Louis (Dickie) Mountbatten.
The prince pursued Diana, but he took his time, with her stating much later that some weeks they spoke every day, and then three weeks would pass with no word from Charles. Diana went about her business of being an assistant teacher and living in a flat with three other girls who swooned over Lady Di’s romance. Diana said she always felt as if she were destined for something unusual, so she didn’t spend her time dating and sleeping around. Besides, a lady would be expected to make a good marriage, especially in 1980.
I just realized I didn’t state how beautiful and charming shy Diana was. Charles would have been quite taken by her looks and the way she started off as shy and warmed up eventually and laughed and let loose. But Diana was definitely a very pretty woman, and Charles found her to be beguiling.
Diana had the blue blood, so to speak, as she came from an aristocratic family, so Diana was deemed quite suitable as a wife for the future king. Diana had also saved herself for marriage, so no old boyfriends came out of the woodwork talking about bedding the lady. Times were very different back then, and it does seem archaic, but these two factors weighed heavily in the decision for Prince Charles to marry Lady Diana Spencer.
Diana was over-the-moon in love with the idea of being the wife of the Prince of Wales. Diana would be a fairy princess and live happily ever after. Who wouldn’t want that life? Lady Diana kept dating Charles, though they only spent thirteen dates together before Charles popped the question. The couple became engaged in February of 1981 and married in July of that year.
Charles married Diana because she came from an excellent background, she was a virgin, she was fertile and Diana loved Charles. He thought she’d be a fairly good support as a royal wife, but they weren’t well-matched, and Diana had some emotional issues along with a new eating disorder. This all hurt their marriage, but Prince Charles said he did love Diana at that time. Early in their marriage. But by the time Prince Harry was born the couple had drifted permanently apart.
On paper their marriage looked perfect. In reality Diana and Charles had a tough marriage. They both strayed, and they both craved true love. We know it didn’t end well for Diana, but I do think Charles found his soul mate in Camilla. They did marry, and she supports him and helps Charles with his workload.
Maybe if Lady Diana and Prince Charles had spent more time together they would not have married, but they did, and many lesson were learned. Times had changed and senior royals were marrying for love, not to make a good match. Heirs are now allowed to marry for love.