In July 1980, Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their engagement in a short courtship. They met at Philip de Pass’s family home in Sussex, and Charles announced his engagement to Diana just five months prior to the wedding. Their engagement was officially announced on 24 February 1981, and the couple gave an exclusive interview.
Prince Charles and Diana married in a grand ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981. The couple’s romance was the envy of the world, and their marriage was contentious and messy. Diana died a mere year after the official papers were signed.
The couple’s marriage was celebrated in the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, which provides an inside look into Princess Diana’s personal life, especially her marriage to Prince Charles. The couple’s wedding was described as the wedding of the century, and the couple’s relationship was contentious and messy.
The couple’s marriage was marked by a highpoint in the popularity of the Royal Family, and their divorce was messy. Diana died a mere year after the official papers were signed. The couple’s relationship was a sad and contentious one, with their marriage being a significant event in the royal family’s history.
📹 On This Day: Charles and Diana’s Awkward Engagement Interview, 1981
‘On This Day: Charles and Diana’s Awkward Engagement Interview, 1981’ On this day in 1981, the Prince of Wales and Lady …
How many times did Charles and Diana meet before they were engaged?
When did Prince Charles and Diana Spencer get engaged?. Charles proposed to Diana on 6 February 1981 at Windsor Castle. But it was a tragic mismatch, says Junor. Charles and Diana had, at this point, barely spent any time together – Diana later claimed that she and Charles had met only 13 times before they became engaged. “And most of that time theyd not spent alone together,” Junor adds. “So they really didnt know one another at all.”
Read more How accurate is The Crowns portrayal of Charles and Dianas engagement? ;
Lady Diana Spencer with Prince Charles in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on the day they announced their engagement, 24 February 1981. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
How old was Diana when she got engaged to Charles?
From the outside looking in, Diana and Charles looked very much like a young couple in love. However, the princess-to-be still had doubts about her future husband.
We had this ghastly interview the day we announced our engagement, shesaid in the documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words. And this ridiculous reporter said, Are you in love? I thought, What a thick question. So I said, Yes, of course, we are, and Charles turned around and said, Whatever love means. And that threw me completely. I thought, What a strange answer. It traumatized me.
May 1981: Diana spent time with Charles and the royal family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland months before the couple tied the knot.
When did Charles propose to Diana?
February 1981: Prince Charles proposes to Diana at Windsor Castle. She says yes. At that time, its said the couple had only gone out a dozen or so times. Afterward, the press attention on the 19-year-old reaches a fever pitch. Although she handles much of it with grace, the New York Times reports that she once burst into tears at the wheel of her car. “I know its just a job they have to do, but sometimes I do wish they wouldnt,” she said of all the photographers. She moves from a tiny apartment to Clarence House.
The couple formally announces their engagement to the world on February 24. When a reporter asks Charles if they are in love, he famously replies, “whatever ‘in love means.”
March 1981: Charles flies to Australia and New Zealand for five weeks, leaving his newly betrothed behind. Shes spotted crying at Heathrow airport upon his departure—not because she is sad, but because before he left, he had taken a phone call with Camilla Parker Bowles. “It just broke my heart,” she later recalled, according to Diana: In Her Own Words.
Did Prince Philip like Diana?
The whole situation was messy and no doubt uncomfortable for everyone in the royal family. At least one member of the royal family reportedly took Dianas side in the split, however. While Princess Diana and Prince Philip were not reported to have gotten along well (during her marriage to Philip, there were reports that he was unkind to her, according to CNN), behind closed doors, it appears he was there for Diana during the difficult divorce — to a degree at least.
In 2003, former royal butler Paul Burrell leaked letters reported to have been exchanged between Prince Philip and Diana that show he supported her over Charles in the divorce. At the time, The Sunday Times reported that Philip was attempting to block publication of the letters, suggesting theyre authentic.
Highlights from Philips alleged letters to Diana (signed fondest love, Pa), released originally to the Daily Mail, include:
How long did Dodi and Diana date for?
Dodi and the Princess of Wales had been dating for only a few months—and had spent only a handful of days together—before their untimely deaths. Despite the relationships newness, there was much media and public interest in the couple, and speculation about their future plans.
Who was Dodi?. Dodi was the eldest of billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, a well-known, colorful, and controversial figure in the UK. With an estimated net worth of $1.87 billion at the time, Mohamed was the owner of the famous luxury department store Harrods in London, Fulham football club, and the Ritz hotel in Paris, where Diana and Dodi embarked from on that fatal drive.
Dodis mother, Samira Khashoggi, was Mohameds first wife. Her father had been the personal physician to Saudi Arabias Kind Abdul Aziz and her brother was Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
How much older is Camilla than Diana?
Camilla was some 14 years older than Diana, so its unsurprising that the 19 year old looked to her for advice. In fact Camilla was a closer contemporary of Dianas older sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who Charles also briefly dated. Taking on something of an older sisterly role herself, Junor states that Camilla was a support to Diana when both women watched Prince Charles compete at the Ludlow Races that year – a day that marked Charles and Dianas public debut as a couple. Unused to the cameras, Camilla was no doubt a reassuring presence, with two women photographed chatting amicably as she stayed by Dianas side.
Camilla maintained the friendship as Charles and Dianas relationship became more serious. In Andrew Mortons 1992 book Diana: Her True Story, Morton relates that soon after the couple announced their engagement in February 1981 and Diana moved into Clarence House, she found a note from Camilla on her bed inviting her to lunch. The women are said to have enjoyed a lively meeting, spent gossiping together and catching up. When Diana looked back on it retrospectively, however, she told Morton she later suspected Camilla was trying to find out when she might be able to see Charles alone.
It was around this time that the friendship between the two women began to sour. Morton recounts that Diana began to harbour suspicions about Charles and Camilla as early as during her engagement. The bride-to-be was upset when she found out that Charles had gifted Camilla a bracelet, shortly before the Royal Wedding was due to take place in July. It was engraved with the initials G and F, which Diana was sure was a reference to the pet names Charles and Camilla are said to have given each other, ‘Gladys and Fred, after two characters from The Goon Show. Others speculated that it stood for ‘Girl Friday – no less a troubling allusion, considering that the 1940 film His Girl Friday is about a man trying to lure his newly-engaged ex-wife away from her new lover. Junor also writes of Dianas concerns, alleging that the just-married Princess was upset when she found a photo of Camilla in Charless diary while the couple were honeymooning on the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Why did Charles not marry Camilla in the first place?
Though it seems almost comically old fashioned now, the fact that Camilla had a dating history was a major strike against her. The conventions of the time called for the heir to the British throne to marry a woman who at least appeared to be virginal, writes Bedell Smith.
You didnt want a past that hung about, Mountbatten said.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles on their wedding day in 1973.
Did Camilla tell Charles to marry Diana?
One of Camillas friends told biographer Gyles Brandreth that Camilla “had encouraged Charles to marry Diana,” yet Diana was suspicious of Camillas guidance. But Charles, according to Dimbleby, tried to reassure Diana that Camilla had once been an intimate friend but now, as he was going to marry her, “there was, and there would be, no other woman in his life”. Both Charles and Camilla accepted that their affair had come to an end, yet they remained close friends as Camilla remained a touchstone and confidant.
Wedding of the century. In what many describe as the wedding of the century, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married on 29 July 1981 at St Pauls Cathedral. The couple had two sons, William (born in 1982) and Harry (born in 1984), before the first fissures in their marriage began to appear.
Read more Princess Diana: a modern mother who ripped up the rule book;
Why did Charles marry Diana?
“It was a collision between different aspirations and ideas. The royal family wanted Charles to get married because he was 30, and they wanted a particular kind of girl,” Holden tells PEOPLE. “She needed to be young, she needed to be aristocratic, and she needed to be without a past. It was a very pragmatic decision. She was practically the only person who was left. He had had so many girlfriends by then.
Speaking at the launch of The Princess in London, Holden adds, “From her point of view it was love —she thought he was going to sweep her away and be a knight on a white charger, everything she always wanted. I hadnt appreciated the extent to which what we saw the day before the wedding wasnt just a little bit different from the reality but the actual complete reverse.
“How extreme it was, how dramatic it was and how different it was, the author continued. That was the surprise to me.”
Why did Charles not marry Camilla first?
Though it seems almost comically old fashioned now, the fact that Camilla had a dating history was a major strike against her. The conventions of the time called for the heir to the British throne to marry a woman who at least appeared to be virginal, writes Bedell Smith.
You didnt want a past that hung about, Mountbatten said.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles on their wedding day in 1973.
Did Charles cry for Diana?
In King: The Life of Charles III, Christopher Andersen says Charles was ashen and trembling when he heard the news of Dianas death. He let out a cry of pain that was so spontaneous and came from the heart. Palace staff rushed over to Charles room and found him collapsed in an armchair, weeping uncontrollably.
Like the Netflix show depicts, Charles let his sons sleep, and as they woke up, he told them the news of their mothers passing. He wasnt great at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis? Harry writes in Spare of that fateful morning of August 31, 1997. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said: Its going to be OK. That was quite a lot for him. Fatherly, hopeful, kind. And so very untrue.
In the Diana: 7 Days documentary, Harry said, He was there for us. He was the one out of two left. And he tried to do his best and to make sure that we were protected and looked after. But he was going through the same grieving process as well.
📹 Princess Diana’s engagement interview (best quality)
The first official interview given by Lady Diana and Prince Charles since their engagement was announced. 24.2.81.
Maybe I shouldn’t give my opinion because I’m not English or British, but I’ll do it. While perusal this article I realized that Diana was not only in love with Prince Charles (he was not the King then) but she was also mad about him, very much attracted to him in a way beyond our imagination. It is difficult to know what people really feel. Nobody knows what the future may bring… But at that time, she was madly in love. That’s an irrebuttable presumption.
Speaking of awkward engagement interviews let’s take a look at Harry and Scary’s MM: because I’m from the States you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family. And so, while I now understand very clearly there is a global interest there, I didn’t know much about him. 😂😂 MM: I think for both of us though it was, it was really refreshing because, given that I didn’t know a lot about him, everything that I’ve learned about him, I learned through him as opposed to having grown up around different news stories or tabloids or whatever else… anything I’ve learned about him and his family was what he would share with me and vice versa, so for both of us it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other.🤣🤣 JH: for me it’s an added member of the family. It’s another team player as part of the bigger team, and for all of us all we want to do is be able to carry out the right engagements, carry out our work and try and encourage others and the younger generation. 😶😶
For anyone looking for the time of “Whatever in love means,” it’s at 7:43 and it’s more cringe than you could imagine. My gosh. Even the consistent nose scratch of Charles is a dead give away that this was nothing more than a binding contract for him and the gestures of Diana show the tip of the iceberg of the lion’s dean she was thrown into/the torment she was under. For anyone saying, “She could’ve left,” we don’t know the blackmail set ups or the threats made that forced her into this and kept her there. She was also 19 freaking years old. So much is behind closed doors and if I had to guess, it was far worse than what was disclosed.
The Royal family had princess Diana murdered. 1. Four motorcycles were following Diana the whole night (Likely working with british special forces or M16) 2. There were 14 cameras in that tunel and not one of them was working and managed to capture the “accident”? 3. Multiple witnesses report seeing a bright white light right before the crash (brighter than a camera flash) which was likely a strobe light used to blind the driver. 4. The hospital was 10 minutes away from the crash sight, 20 at most with traffic. It took them over an hour to get there. 5. Just 10 months before Diana’s death she wrote a note to a friend stating, and I quote, “Charles is planning a break failure, serious head injury to make way for camilla to marry” 6. Lets talk about the confusion in witness reports post crash: Initial reports claim that Diana was fine, and only appeared to have a broken leg. A sky news reporter recieved the official call stating that Dodi (Diana’s spouse) had die, but Diana was fine and only suffered a concussion and a broken leg. Reasons: -Its no secret that Princess Diana was hated by the royal family. Prince Charles especially, as he wanted to marry Camilla before and after he married Diana. -Princess Diana was pregnant with Dodi’s child, the royal family couldnt accept that a Egyptian muslim would eventually be the step dad of the future king of England. -Shortly before her death prince Phillip issued a threat against Diana after she stated that she wanted to seperate from Prince Charles.
In an interview, Diana in Her own Words, she talks about this moment. The “whatever love means” response, Diana never forgot that. You can see on her face that deep down her heart starts to break even though she hasn’t actually processed it yet. And the spiral down began. #RIPPRINCESSDIANA queen of hearts.❤
I met her once. She had accidentally sat on a Cadbury’s creme egg and it had melted and besmirched her kaftan. I helped scrape off the worst of it with a teaspoon. She took it in her stride and laughed saying “I hope no one thinks it is something worse!” The next day she sent me a Butler and Wilson keyring and a very small panda teddy
I don’t see how anyone could fault her for being troubled or unfaithful knowing the full story. He was fully committed to a whole different woman for there entire relationship, everyone around them knew it and acted as if she was supposed to just accept it and get on as if nothing was wrong and continue being faithful in a loveless marriage where she was literally used as breeding stock & nothing more. She deserved so much more, and she absolutely does not deserve to be forgotten. She was the crowns biggest mistake & they deserve to be continually reminded & ashamed of it. It sucks that Charles was forced into the marriage, & I’m truly glad he’s with his true love now, but it’s no excuse for the way Diana was treated by him or many others in the royal family.
Poor Diana, Lamb to the slaughter. He needed to.marry a young chaste girl to breed him two sons…a heir and a spare ..then he went back to Camilla …like men of the aristocracy have done for 100s of years. See him look at the ground when he tries to talk about why he chose her …blah blah blah …so fake he is. He was pressured to marry and breed an heir. Poor girl but she out shone them all and still does.”Whatever love means” …says it all
When I was a young Bride years ago, I suffered through a rocky loveless marriage, as well. I felt her sadness on a very personal level. Many people, including myself watched the Royal Wedding and we all had high hopes for the Royal couple’s blissful future. It was not to be, for them or for my Marriage. When she passed away. I cried n cried. I’m a Native American Woman. Traditionally, when we’re in mourning we cut our hair to show that were sad and suffered a great loss of a loved one. Well, she’s not my relative, but I did cut my hair for her. I was shocked and saddened along with the rest of the world. RIP Beautiful, kind Lady. You will live in our hearts forever.
I’m a bit autistic and have tried to teach myself to read faces over time. I have a slightly different take on the “whatever love means” exchange. Don’t watch Diane at 7:40 like everybody does. Watch Charles instead. When the interviewer asks “and very much in love?” Charles mumbles “course” unconvincingly but looks to her because he doesn’t feel the question was directed at him really. Diana answers “of course” but looks down sheepishly like a child does when they tell a fib. Charles sees it and he knows you saw it. The question hit too close to home and she’s accidentally let the cat out of the bag to the whole world: they’re not really in love. So he tries to rescue the situation by attacking the question. And in so doing, digs an even bigger hole. We’ve all had those moments where you instinctively say something stupid to try and save an embarrassing situation. Then immediately want the ground to swallow you up. This is one of those moments. Don’t be fooled by the over the top “I’m not at all embarrassed” smile. He realises what he’s done at 7:46 and desperately tries to explain it away. But he doesn’t know how. “…put your own interpretations on (love)…” It’s too late, it’s done. And down go his eyes to the floor…
Gosh, I really don’t like him. Just by the way they were walking in the beginning of the article, She’s all jumpy and blushing and excited and you can tell she’s in love, and he’s just standing there like an ass that doesnt deserve what he has…oh wait, no, he IS an ass that didnt deserve what he had.
It’s odd that now in hindsight as I watch this article, I see that Prince Charles clearly lets it be known that he is not in love with her……and you can see the hurt, shock & embarrassment on Diana’s face when he answers the interviewer’s question with “whatever in love means”, her face turns beet red. So very sad……
I don’t think she was sad here, per say. She was 19 and you could tell she was very gullible and wanted love and very much wanted Charles. Like said in previous comments, Diana was used to produce children and heirs to the throne. Charles never loved her. Charles always loved Camilla. The Royal Family wanted someone for him to marry that wasn’t tainted. And on reflection, I wish he would have just married her to begin with. He did in the end anyway.
she said she called her sisters that night to yell them what he had said “whatever in love means” and that she countered with “as you can clearly see (we are) but he face dropped in sadness afterwards.. she almost backed out of marrying him because of his statement. poor young girl.. she said “on my wedding day I felt like a lamb led to the slauter” weird cause she was = she’s dead now!
“When did you decide she was the right lady for you?” “Erm…gradually.” “She was a very attractive 16 year old.” “Whatever love means.” All really disturbing comments but most heartbreakingly, she looks so depressed here. The only thing that showed they even liked each other was when Charles started stroking her hand. That was literally it.
It’s sad to see how hopelessly in love Diana was with Charles but he loved her in a brother/sister kind of way. When Diana was having other relationships with men James Hewitt, Dodi Al Fayed etc. she wanted Charles to show some sort of jealously but he actually didn’t give a shit. But when Charles was with Camilla, Diana was envious. She confronted Camilla, and humiliated her on national TV. Diana and Charles weren’t the perfect match and didn’t get on like a house on fire but if they didn’t get together the charming and wonderful Princes William and Harry wouldn’t have been born.
It’s absolutely unbelievable how much better looking the actors in The Crown are compared to the real people they portray. I know that is usual, but boy does that difference screams. UPDATE: yes, I do mean Charles. But also Queen Elizabeth, Princesses Margaret and Anne. And the guy Charles Dance plays. Obviously.
I feel so damn sorry for her, she‘ll never be forgotten! She just wanted to be loved from him and as she realized that‘s never gona happend she start to look for it somwhere else but unfortunately could not find it, very sad! I really hope that she knew at least she was loved by so many People in the world. RIP Angel
What he said was wrong… But when it comes from the mouth of a man who did not get ANY love or attention as a child… (and when one has that knowledge of what his childhood was like…) it makes me think that he did not say this for spite or to hurt her. He truly did not know what love is. He also lacked emotional intelligence.
Edit: Great season 4 of The Crown on Netflix. Made me remember how much I miss Diana even though it’s been 23 years. She was a beautiful and kind soul. Still hate the way they treated her. The actress who portrayed Diana was perfect. Great show. *You can tell by the body language in the article they weren’t in love. Just forced into a marriage he didn’t want and she too young to realize what she was getting herself into and then also ultimately forced into the marriage as well. Diana just had this beauty and sadness about her. I think initially she wanted to love him and for him to love her. I believe she wanted the marriage to work. But like she stated, there were 3 people in their marriage. The third being Camilla.
Prince Charles had enough mistresses including Camilla but as now so many things has been said and written Prince Charles never loved Diana but liked her as a amazing and gorgeous woman she was, and also very true Prince was pressured by his royal family to marry. as Princess Diana was extremely good looking and healthy and he could not let this chance go by. It clear up by what he said like “whatever love means” is just to understand he was not looking for love but more who can carry out the duties as a princess and protect the upcoming future monarchy!! Princess Diana was naive and she absolutely felt in love but after her divorce she must have been realized that she had put herself in a terrible royal spider web. Nobody care about this Royal family except Princess Diana and her legacy and the love she carried out over the years she had lived. Princess was a real face of an angel. After looking at this engagement article it feels like now that Princess Diana was standing on a execution field and it hurt so much how her life ended, but God must have given this Angel a paradise where she belong.
In hindsight so profetic was her basis to get married,,,,Diana said very emphatically” for such a young girl ……” Charles and I can’t go wrong, he’s there with me”,,,! TRAGICALLY HE NEVER WAS ABLE To Be…,,, CAMILLA,, never gave up her hold on him,,emotionally, allowed charles to marry Diana for the monarchical duty of heir and spare,Allegedly had said,” she’s perfect, a mouse”,!,( never thinking the mouse would turn out to be the most beautiful, famous… lioness in the 21st century !!!! And so played out the infamous ” historic tragedy of cloak and dagger.. The Gods privy to the ” fate in hand,”……. 🙏 .,
I have a marriage like hers. My husband came out late in life and he has a very controlling family. He is very successful and has a big family business. I have been so shocked at how mean they family is to me. They angle everything against me. He has been so disloyal and unkind. I just can’t believe it. I really feel for her. My husband makes me Whole world revolve around him And his business but includes me in nothing and his sisters and ex wife control all the finances. It is so Bizarre.he tells he I am fine following in his coat tails. I was so shocked when he said that. I thought we were going to be partners. It is important to get to know a persons family before jumping into things. And often some of the wealthiest people are the most cold and cruel. They killed her, even if not literally, they drive her to isolation and escapism. I couldn’t imagine being in her position. I am so proud of Harry for what he has done.
Poor Diana, it’s been 35 years since this interview and nobody knew what was going on. But if you were really listening to the way Charles talked about everything, you can tell he was just going through the motions. The one thing good that came out of this was the children William and Harry. You did good Diana R.I.P.
Prince Charles saying “Whatever in love means” was a big red flag right there. But most 19 year old boys and girls cannot see such things. I don’t think one should marry that young anyways. But Charles wasn’t a teenager. He was mature enough to know you do not speak this way when you are engaged to someone even if you don’t love them, especially in media. At least he could have had that much decency to treat her right. That sentence was very very cruel. It showed he had no feelings for her. She might have been shocked but she might have chosen to ignore it later. But good that he said this in media so the world could see signs of his deception. Boys and girls if you see such red flags in your partner no matter how much you think you love them, drop them right away. Do not argue or fight. Just mention your observation and leave. Nobody needs someone who betrays like this. You will find someone much better. But learn to feel emotionally complete on you own and be emotionally independent.
I have to admit, seeing Charles hold Diana’s hand so tightly is pretty adorable. She looked so shy and petrified and it seems as if Charles was trying to comfort her in a way. I do think they would’ve worked things out had Camilla not tried to get involved with Charles. She is the definition of a disgusting person who has no respect for a married couple with two amazing boys. Truly heartbreaking 💔
There’s so many clues, apart from the ‘whatever love means’ part. He hesitates and says that it was a gradual process to discover the right woman (why, because he knew she wasn’t). Diana is even giving things away – she said that is what she ‘wanted’ before swapping it to the present tense ‘ wants’. Clearly things were not right and this was a carefully staged interview to deceive the public, but the clues are there.
Am I seeing things or does Diana quietly show how hurt she was after his “whatever in love means” blunder? She laughs nervously and then her eyes show this flicker of pain. The she kind of frowns then rolls her eyes subtly when the interviewer calls them “two very happy people.” That poor girl. By the end, you almost feel like she wants to get away by herself as soon as possible and process what he just said and cry
This is the beginning of the end of Diana’s real happiness and normalcy. I truly believe “The Firm” created the climate for Diana’s misery and her consequential passing😒🥺 She was too young and inexperienced for Charles…but he used her to bear his heir(s) for the continuity of the crown and that was it unfortunately. And the jerk resumed his affair with the old hag, how awful and self-serving. I hope Harry and Meghan be well, happy and healthy….and do better in their marriage.☺️👨👩👧👦
You can see she was very sad at some points when they were asking certain questions. Especially when they were asking right after she got engaged that Charles went to Australia and didn’t phone her at all and pretending like he did phone her and you can kind of see in her eyes like she saying in her head ” you never tried to phone me you asshole stop lying” And in the crown you can see this process going which is very accurate to what her face looks like when they’re talking about when he went to Australia straight away after they got engaged she was lonely she was away from her family it’s very sad
Watching “the Crown” and felt really sorry for Charles after understanding his difficult childhood, but still disgusted camila and him for dragging Diana to hurt her, break her and caused her to death in the end. The only good thing about Diana married to Charles was giving birth to the heirs and becoming the queen of people’s hearts. She was a master piece that Charles and royal family didn’t deserve.
I understand why he would say “whatever in love means.” He was in love with someone else and everyone including the woman he was in loved with told him to get that thought and emotion out of his mind and soul…so it’s not surprising he was disappointed by everyone, including the people he trusted, and they all played a role in making him get the idea of “being in love” a pointless proposition, since nobody seemed to cared; everyone around him was simply doing what was expected of them regardless of how they felt and he was no exception. It’s sad and tragic!