As for Diana not having support, from all that I have read, she pushed away all 'help'. It's a pretty complicated story, fraught with multi-layered motivations. She seemed quite happy not being meddled with (supported) while she conducted her own affairs.
Exactly her letters to Raine prior to her marriage proves she had plenty of help. Her letters to Raine, IMO, are clearly written about Frances (and not Camilla as the media wants to sell.) Diana had spent Christmas at Althrop and then was planning to visit Australia to visit her mother. It appears from the letters when she was getting along with her mother she hated Raine and vise versa. At the time of her engagement she was close to Raine but needed her mother for the wedding or just for appearance’s sake.
In many ways, Charles was not in a position to make such life decisions then. He needed space and protection from such pressure, none of which he got. He was easy prey.
Definitely.
I really don't know how etched in stone it was back then in the early 80s that Charles' bride would have to be a virgin. Only thing that I can recall reading is that before the wedding, Diana did visit a gynecologist but that was mostly to determine whether or not she could bear children.
This is what I also recall. The rest is just an urban myth.
Charles WAS Diana's first steady boyfriend. And she was a very young 19.
This is not true. Diana had several boyfriends prior to Charles. Her first steady boyfriend was at 17.
This according to several people and the restaurant owner where Diana frequented.
Some list four pre-Charles as serious/steady relationships and several others she dated.
I think the RF did think it would look bad, if Charles went out for a long time ... and then gave her the push after say a year.
Perhaps from the moment the media first found out who she was and started stalking her, it was all over. Charles couldn't dump her or he'd be callous and cruel and she would be damaged goods....
And I believe that the RF were concerned that Diana might suffer to an extent if the relationship dragged on any longer. I think if he'd dated her for a year, and then said in effect "I've realised she's not suitable" I think he'd have been attacked in the tabloids as a heartless older man toying with the affections of a much younger woman. ..
Denville and XeniaCasaraghi I agree with your comments.
They actually dated for more than a year. It is in Dimbleby’s book. According to Diana they were only alone 13 times before they married but that does not include the times they were together at Sandringham, Balmoral etc.
I believe the reason for Prince Philip’s letter was because the media was in a rush for the wedding and if the wedding was not announced then they would go on digging for reasons for the delay. The media needed to keep busy and sale stories, if no royal wedding story and all the trappings then backgrounds into Diana and the Spencers and the Fermoys. Most of the media sidestepped Diana’s background and her family’s background.
Just looking back I question what was the rush? Why rush them to get married, why rush having a baby?!
She was 20...why rush? Let her ease into things and then throw away the birth control.
Read Stephen Barry’s book. He’ll give you the answer.
I think the Family thought the hoopla with Diana would die off after they got married ...it just increased.
I also think the Family realized after the disaster of tossing Diana into the deep end (even if not done intentionally) there were some mistakes made and this is a big reason. Long time developing the relationship and then after marrying a long slow entrance into royal life/duties etc.
Crowds of more than 100,000 in Brisbane alone. On one engagement in Australia on walk-about, Diana shook an estimated 6,000 hands That time has passed. Also there is an advantage in being heir to the heir. Charles, as Prince of Wales, HAD to have a wife who hit the ground running from the beginning.
This is a myth. Diana was not thrown to the wolves or in the deep end nor hit the ground running.
Her first overseas tour was not until 1983. Her third year into the marriage. See Stephen Barry’s book or old copies of the CC or O’Donovan.
The reason for the large crowds was they wanted to see the wife of the Prince of Wales. It had been over 80 years since a future monarch and spouse last visit Australia.
In fact, after meeting her, I believe Camilla called her a "mouse".
This is actually part of the Diana myth.
Camilla never called Diana a mouse.
In February 1985, Andrew Morton wrote a favorable article about Charles in the Daily Star after C&D had a public argument in Liechtenstein and used the phrase the ‘mouse that roared’ about Charles.
In October 1985, Tina Brown rewrote Andrew Morton’s article and made it about Diana using the same phrase to describe Diana. Tina’s version was published in Vanity Fair.
(This is on page 134 of Diana: Story of a Princess by Tim Clayton, Phil Craig.)