Princess Diana and Prince Charles went down in history as one of the most tumultuous marriages in the royal family. The royals got married in 1981 and divorced in 1996. Here’s what the Princess told a couple getting married years after she had left her own married life behind.
Diana and Charles first met at a grouse shooting party at Althorp. She was 16 years old at the time, and the Prince was 29. The couple was introduced to each other by Diana’s older sister, Sarah.
In 1980, the couple crossed paths again as guests at a country weekend. This was when Charles took an interest in Diana. During their engagement interview in 1981, the Prince shared that he found her to be “amusing” and “attractive. He added, “I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything.”
The couple reportedly dated for only 6 months before Charles decided to pop the question. The Buckhigham Palace officially announced the engagement of the Prince and Diana. A young princess was extremely hopeful about her new life and marriage, while she noted that the future seemed “daunting.”
“With Prince Charles beside me, I can’t go wrong,” she added. The couple got married at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Wednesday, 29 July 1981. 750 million people from all over the world tuned in to watch the royal wedding.
A few days before the wedding, a feminist magazine called Spare Rib came out with buttons that read, “Don’t Do It, Di!” Edward White, the author of Dianaworld: An Obsession, reflected on the publication’s stance on the royal wedding in his book.
40 years ago today was the biggest wedding the world has ever seen. Prince Charles and Lady Diana got married. Did you watch it? pic.twitter.com/nTGbH3IAJT
— Miles Commodore (@miles_commodore) July 29, 2021
White notes how the magazine was expressing ” itself aghast and deflated by the public enthusiasm for an event that seemed to glorify a Victorian view of gender relations.” The author shares how each button that was being sold for 20 pence per piece became “exceptionally popular” amongst the people.
The magazine did not stop there. They even produced tea towels that read, “You start by sinking into his arms and end up with your arms in his sink.” The publication took it one step further by mailing these towels to the royal couple as a wedding gift.
White speculates that there was a high chance Diana had caught wind of the popular buttons. The author notes the possibility of writing that the Princess “had been listening” accounting what she did in Sydney.
on this day in 1996, princess diana’s divorce to prince charles was finalized pic.twitter.com/nCW4c4p92d
— б🫧 (@poshdelrey) August 28, 2021
In November of 1996, Diana, who was newly divorced, gave a bride-to-be some advice that sounded similar to the one Spare Rib tried to give her, reports Marie Claire blog. When the Princess of Wales was in Sydney, Australia, she spotted a wedding congregation on the steps of a church.
The late royal rolled her car window down to scream her piece of advice at the people getting married. “As the car drove past, she wound down her window and shouted at the bride, ‘Don’t do it!'” White shared.
