All I can say is that wanting to be married or getting married at twenty wasn't the norm among people I knew back in the day in Britain. None of Diana's flatmates were married at that age, nor did any of Charles's girlfriends choose to marry early.
Diana's sisters didn't marry at twenty and my bet is, though I haven't done a survey, that if you looked at the average age of aristocratic brides of the late 1970's/early 1980s you wouldn't find too many who were engaged at 19 and married at 20. Nor do I believe that 20 was the average age of brides in that era. Diana married at that age because of her special circumstances, including, as you say, her great need for security.
Judging by the charts given below 23 was the average age for brides in Britain in 1978, and from then in there was a steady rise upwards.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/p...pic-britain/population/have-kids-settle-down/
Diana's sisters didn't marry at twenty and my bet is, though I haven't done a survey, that if you looked at the average age of aristocratic brides of the late 1970's/early 1980s you wouldn't find too many who were engaged at 19 and married at 20. Nor do I believe that 20 was the average age of brides in that era. Diana married at that age because of her special circumstances, including, as you say, her great need for security.
Judging by the charts given below 23 was the average age for brides in Britain in 1978, and from then in there was a steady rise upwards.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/p...pic-britain/population/have-kids-settle-down/
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