Charles and Diana

[Denville]

If Diana really wanted out of the relationship pre-engagement, all she had to do was talk to the media or someone else who would quote her, like her sister did. She had plenty of opportunites to do so as the reporters and cameramen were chasing her everywhere. She could also just have behaved a bit oddly or inappropriately in front of the cameras.

Why woudl she do anything like that? If she was unsure about Charles, the best thing to do would have been to quietly refuse another date...There was no need for inappropriate behaviour

 

[Denville]

Diana gave no interviews prior to her engagement to Charles, neither did any of her family. As she had no Press or Comms Secretary as a single woman it's hard to see how she 'went along with the media campaign' in order to marry the Prince of Wales. What was she to do? Deny that they were dating? She said nothing or next to nothing to the reporters who were besieging her daily.

If Charles objected to all the speculation about any coming engagement reaching the level it did all he would have had to do would be to break it off with Diana (and we know he had doubts) and let the Press know that through discreet communications from BP. He was far more able to deal with the British media at fever pitch than a young girl who wasn't used to it, but he did nothing.

So are we to take from his inaction that Charles went along with the Press campaign as well, rather than trust his instincts that he and Diana would be a mismatch and act on them.

Diana handled the media very well, but I think that it would have been easier for her to give up Charles than the other way around. The press and public were keen on Diana..and I think if the relationship had suddenly ended, by his doing, there would have been a certain backlash.. that he had toyed with the affections of a young sweet girl whom everyone loved.. If Diana had ended it there would have been disappointment because the press did clearly see her as a wonderful future princess.. who would photograph well, and be charming and lively and delightful, and would give them great stories... but it would not be as bad as Charles ditching her...
Ideally, if they had had less press attention, during the courtship and had a longer time, if they had reached the point of changing their minds, there would have been less of an outcry... But unfortunately, Charles was at the age where he was expected to get married..Diana had a magical x factor that made her attracitve... and The romance was played out under the eyes of the press, and the press and public did "fall in love" with Diana and wanted her to marry him...

 

[QueenMathilde]

Diana's ex chef who is all over youtube (Darrin something or other) says it isn't true they didn't love each other at first. They just didn't have a lot in common.

 

[Denville]

Diana's ex chef who is all over youtube (Darrin something or other) says it isn't true they didn't love each other at first. They just didn't have a lot in common.

Not quite sure how he'd know. Even if he was working for them from the beginning of their marriage.. i doubt if he saw that much of them or that they'd confide in him...
Having said that I think they were a bit in love.. Diana more than Charles. But I think he did find her attractive, she seemed fun and charming.. Diana had a way of fascinating people and she was trying her best to fascinate Charles so that he would fall for her.. but I think that as he got to know her better he may have become unsure if she was really right for the role of Princess, or that he cared enough for her to make a go of mariage and put Camilla right out of his head… and he got jumpy….

 

[AristoCat]

I think Diana did put on a mild act to land Charles, like all women (young and older) do and it is clear that she didn't realize just what it would do to her personal life after her real preferences came out and how it would affect the ability for her to get the kind of love that she always wanted out of Charles. She really did think that there was nothing wrong with pretending to love country life, pretending to love charades, or pretending to enjoy his hobbies (or even be interested in learning about them). He never would have proposed if she hadn't put on a front of liking country life and it is clear that she was not completely honest.


As for the media, they were laying pressure on his shoulders thick. They were determinedly trumpeting all of Diana's virtues that made her perfectly suitable and all but outright ordered Charles to marry Diana.I don't think Charles was prepped for that kind of onslaught since his previous relationships were accepted as being over.

 

[Denville]

I agree that the media were putting on pressure.. but it was alos the situation.. He had reached an age where he kind of had to get married. He was ealry 30s.. he had had his time of having fun, dating and being in the Navy. He was doing full time royal duties and I think that it was time he got married and had an heir.. unless he wanted to be a lot older than his bride and his chiildren. So his family once a seemingly suitable bride like Diana came along, put pressure on as well. And because the courtship was well known, though I think Charles tried to keep it discreet, once he had become involved with this young very innocent girl that was so popular with teh media, if he had dropped her, it wold have looked bad, an older sophisticated man, payng court to a girl of sweet nature and innocent demeanor.. and then dropping her abruptly.. so once he'd gotten invovled to a certain extent, it was hard for him to withdraw and this was what Philip pointed out to him, adding that if he let Diana go, he still had to find a wife and would he find anyone else who was so suitable.
Diana I think fooled herself that she was really enjoying everyting about their courtship, and as she so often did, she didn't realise that to do an abrupt volte face wasn't a good idea. She was a volatile person who often reversed in mid jump.. and she never seemed to realise that people DO remember that you said something quite different a short while before.... and that you look foolish if you so frequently swing around violently....
I think that she didn't really admit ot herself until after the marriage that she didn't like Balmoral in the rain and watching Charles at his sports.. and that she HAD signed up for this for life.. It wasn't a movie. she was stuck with it and that Charles was a man set in his ways who wasn't going to change that much.. and that the RF at the time was also very old fashioned and wasn't going to change....

 

[Sandy345]

If Diana really wanted out of the relationship pre-engagement, all she had to do was talk to the media or someone else who would quote her, like her sister did. She had plenty of opportunites to do so as the reporters and cameramen were chasing her everywhere. She could also just have behaved a bit oddly or inappropriately in front of the cameras.

Charles should have thought of the implications of marrying Diana and thought it would be wrong to bring her into a marriage where he did not love her. Once the engagement took place and Diana was living in a royal residence it was difficult to leave.

[...]

 

[Jacknch]

This thread has been cleaned up and off-topic, speculative and fanciful posts removed.

Please be reminded that references to affairs, love interests, previous relationships, subsequent relationships, Diana's mental health, "what-if" scenarios, comparisons to other royals are off-topic.

 

[MARG]

Charles should have thought of the implications of marrying Diana and thought it would be wrong to bring her into a marriage where he did not love her. Once the engagement took place and Diana was living in a royal residence it was difficult to leave.

[...]

You are assuming that Charles did not love her and she didn't love him either. The proverbial "honeymoon" period showed a somewhat bashful Diana and a Charles that was over the moon in love.

Meeting them on the tarmac of RNZAF Base Wigram was an unforgettable occasion and he was so utterly besotted with her just as one would expect.

I have never understood the rubbish about age as my parents were the same ages when they married and, like everyone else, they had to work at it.

For the first time Charles had someone in his life who loved him just as Diana had someone who loved her first. His pride in the easy acceptance of his wife and his sheer joy at introducing her was contagious. While over 50% of marriages failed, one should not be surprised that theirs did as her parents and Charles younger sister and brother's marriages had as well.

I hate revisionist history. The great conspiracy theory of the cold, hard hearted Prince marrying the naive and innocent young lady as a brood mare sets the stage for their son's paternity to be questioned to this day. Facts don't matter, scandal does. And Harry has had to live with the consequences since he was old enough to understand what infidelity meant.

Words matter. The help they hurt they harm and if people want to put their hands up to subscribing to any particular conspiracy theory should use the caveat IMHO or IMO.

 

[Osipi]

The marital woes of Charles and Diana, over time, has taken on a life of it's own and has been told and retold so many times that it's changed drastically as the years passed. Kind of like a game of telephone. The recent episodes of "The Crown" on Netflix hasn't done it any favors either.

They both went into the marriage intending to make it work for them and they did have an idyllic period of marital bliss. Over time, differences in their expectations of marriage surfaced and things started to go south. Diana, herself, said that while she was pregnant with Harry were perhaps some of the happiest times of the marriage. After his birth, things deteriorated fast. [...]

 

[AC21091968]

I remember seeing this picture recently (on social media) of Charles and Diana in their honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise ship. And all I can gather at that time is that Charles and Diana were in love at the beginning of their marriage. I agree with Osipi that they tried to make the marriage work and achieve the most out of it, before things start to deteriorate. In this case, I think their honeymoon and Diana's pregnancy (i.e. Early marriage) are definitely the "honeymoon period/phase".

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/dd/60/9fdd605d69cf302f6b6b9aa30787db5a.jpg

Charles and Diana at Balmoral during their honeymoon. Again, appeared to be in love with each other.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fd/6b/52/fd6b52887a45be77b898f4bc2c277eaf.jpg

 

[Denville]

The marital woes of Charles and Diana, over time, has taken on a life of it's own and has been told and retold so many times that it's changed drastically as the years passed. Kind of like a game of telephone. The recent episodes of "The Crown" on Netflix hasn't done it any favors either.

They both went into the marriage intending to make it work for them and they did have an idyllic period of marital bliss. Over time, differences in their expectations of marriage surfaced and things started to go south. Diana, herself, said that while she was pregnant with Harry were perhaps some of the happiest times of the marriage. After his birth, things deteriorated fast. [...]

I dont think it was ever idyllic, or that it lasted for more than breif periods of time. Diana was ill, she was depressed and easily upset and Charles even before the marriage seems to have been unsure if he was doign the right thing. So how happy could it be? As I recall she siad that the few weeks before H was born was the happies time of hteir married life...

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Was Prince Charles' marriage to Diana arranged by the royal family?
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainme...ince-charles-princess-diana-arranged-marriage

 

[Prinsara]

Was Prince Charles' marriage to Diana arranged by the royal family?
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainme...ince-charles-princess-diana-arranged-marriage

Yes and no. It's known as "the last arranged royal marriage" for good reason. No one was directed or forced, but a lot of internal and external pressure was applied to Charles given how familiar and eminently suitable for the position Diana seemed to be. Charles took a letter from his father telling him that he should either marry Diana or break it off, since the media were compromising Diana's life, as a signal to propose, and did.

Mountbatten wanted Charles to marry his granddaughter Amanda (who ultimately refused him), which probably would have amounted to the same degree of arrangement.

 

[Roslyn]

Was Prince Charles' marriage to Diana arranged by the royal family?
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainme...ince-charles-princess-diana-arranged-marriage

Arranged? I wouldn't say that, since they didn't introduce Charles and Diana. However the family very, very, very, very, very, very strongly "encouraged" it. And at the time I suppose they thought they had good reason, because it seemed she was perfect for the job and that his, and - by extension, their - reputation would suffer if it was perceived that the much older Charles was stringing the sweet young English Rose along and compromising her.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

I remember seeing this picture recently (on social media) of Charles and Diana in their honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise ship. And all I can gather at that time is that Charles and Diana were in love at the beginning of their marriage. I agree with Osipi that they tried to make the marriage work and achieve the most out of it, before things start to deteriorate. In this case, I think their honeymoon and Diana's pregnancy (i.e. Early marriage) are definitely the "honeymoon period/phase".

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/dd/60/9fdd605d69cf302f6b6b9aa30787db5a.jpg

Charles and Diana at Balmoral during their honeymoon. Again, appeared to be in love with each other.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fd/6b/52/fd6b52887a45be77b898f4bc2c277eaf.jpg

I don't think he personally ever was in love with her. He may have liked her and loved her as the mother of his kids. But Camila always as had his heart. This may make him look bad, but I don't think he is. He was in love with another woman and you can't control who you love.

 

[Sandy345]

Charles clearly told his biographer he did not love Diana and when he went into the marriage he preferred Camilla. Hardly fair to Diana. He should have not subjected her to that and let her go. Charles had many other women in his life not just Diana and Camila. He was reportedly besotted with exes like Davina Sheffield and Anna Wallace. I think had Mountbatten lived, Charles would have married Amanda Knatchbull. I truly believe that.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

Charles's beloved great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was so determined the future king would not end up with Camilla, he attempted to set him up with his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull — Charles' second cousin.

So Charles, ever the obedient royal, diligently proposed to Knatchbull, whom was considered the "perfect candidate” despite being nine years younger than the prince.

Davina was beautiful!

 

[Denville]

Charles's beloved great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was so determined the future king would not end up with Camilla, he attempted to set him up with his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull — Charles' second cousin.

So Charles, ever the obedient royal, diligently proposed to Knatchbull, whom was considered the "perfect candidate” despite being nine years younger than the prince.

Davina was beautiful!

it had noting to do with Camilla. Mountbatten wanted Charles to marry his granddaughter because he wanted a member of his direct family to become queen.

 

[victor1319]

Diana?!

Are we disussing today's article in the Daily Mail, which claims, that Diana cheated on Charles first?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowb...cess-Diana-stray-marriage-Prince-Charles.html

"....One of the couple’s former royal protection officers has come forward to present a startlingly different version of events.

Allan Peters claims Charles did not start seeing Camilla romantically again (they had first met in their early 20s) until after he discovered Diana had been having a fling with fellow protection officer Barry Mannakee.

And Peters was the one who informed Charles of his wife’s affair." (ibid.)

 

[Prinsara]

1) It's from the Daily Fail

2) It's also not news. The story Diana had an affair first has been around for years. I believe it's in Sally Bedell Smith's book, for one thing.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Princess Diana was never the same after divorcing Prince Charles.

 

[Iluvbertie]

1) It's from the Daily Fail

2) It's also not news. The story Diana had an affair first has been around for years. I believe it's in Sally Bedell Smith's book, for one thing.

The first time I heard this story was in 1984 when he was sacked because he was found in a 'compromising position' with Diana. That was widely reported at the time.

 

[Denville]

In 1984? Im very surprised. AFAICR there was no mention of Diana's having any affairs until rumours began to surface in the later 1980s, that the marriage really was on the rocks and that Diana was possibly involved wtih James Hewitt and that Charles had another woman as well. I cant imagine that any paper would run a story of Diana being found in a compromising position wiht a man as far back as 1984.. They did not release the tapes of Gilbey talking to Diana for a long time because it was unprecedented for there to be a serous report of any affair on the part of a senior rroyal -.

 

[Mirabel]

Charles clearly told his biographer he did not love Diana and when he went into the marriage he preferred Camilla. Hardly fair to Diana. He should have not subjected her to that and let her go. Charles had many other women in his life not just Diana and Camila. He was reportedly besotted with exes like Davina Sheffield and Anna Wallace. I think had Mountbatten lived, Charles would have married Amanda Knatchbull. I truly believe that.

I agree with you.
It would have happened because Charles wanted to please Mountbatten.

 

[ladongas]

Isn’t this story just another in the long-running effort to whitewash Camilla’s reputation? I find it hard, if not impossible, to believe that the Charles/Camilla relationship was totally chaste from before the marriage (to Diana) until years later when Diana’s alleged affair was discovered in 1984. She would have been pregnant or immediately post partum for that entire year.



Sorry, I don’t believe this slant on the story. Some stains just can’t be washed out.

 

[Osipi]

Personally, I don't think it matters one bit who cheated first in the marriage. For *either one* of them to stray, the marriage had to be in pretty serious condition to start with. Besides, no matter which partner cheated first, that doesn't give license for the other spouse to go and do likewise.

One of Diana's early complaints in the marriage was that Charles was gone too much. During that time, with Charles being a workaholic, Diana probably saw Mannakee and spent more time with him than she did with Charles and this allowed for a close relationship to start. I remember reading about the "compromising position" and if memory serves me today, Diana was sitting on Mannakee's lap. How far their relationship really went though will remain a mystery to us all.

 

[Denville]

I agree with you.
It would have happened because Charles wanted to please Mountbatten.

Not really because Amanda K didn't want to marry charles. I dont think she would have allowed herself to be talked into it.

 

[Denville]

Isn’t this story just another in the long-running effort to whitewash Camilla’s reputation? I find it hard, if not impossible, to believe that the Charles/Camilla relationship was totally chaste from before the marriage (to Diana) until years later when Diana’s alleged affair was discovered in 1984. She would have been pregnant or immediately post partum for that entire year.



Sorry, I don’t believe this slant on the story. Some stains just can’t be washed out.

I agree that its unlikely there was a full blown sexual affair, that year when Diana was pregnant and according to herself, she and C were very close at least in the last weeks of the pregnancy. I think it is quite possible that Charles and Cam were not sexually involved then, but they may have been in touch by phone... I think that Diana did cry on Manakee's shoulder and possibly there was some flitrting, but I dont think that she would have had an affair while she was still having her children...

 

[Denville]

Personally, I don't think it matters one bit who cheated first in the marriage. For *either one* of them to stray, the marriage had to be in pretty serious condition to start with. Besides, no matter which partner cheated first, that doesn't give license for the other spouse to go and do likewise.

One of Diana's early complaints in the marriage was that Charles was gone too much. During that time, with Charles being a workaholic, Diana probably saw Mannakee and spent more time with him than she did with Charles and this allowed for a close relationship to start. I remember reading about the "compromising position" and if memory serves me today, Diana was sitting on Mannakee's lap. How far their relationship really went though will remain a mystery to us all.

Depends what a compromising position is. Its been said that Diana invited Man to tea in her private sitting room and that he was obviously attracted and had his head turned a bit by her being specially friendly with him. And that in itself might be considered compromising....
but I can't imagine that that there was a definite full blown sexual thing going on during her pregnancy.. or that any UK paper would have published anything about her being found in a comrpomsing position