It was a fairytale romance that captured the world's attention — and it did have fantastic
elements to it. A dashing prince sweeps a beautiful young woman off her feet and marries her
in a lavish wedding. When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, the world watched — quite
literally. Citizens from 74 countries across the globe tuned in on their televisions on July 29th,
1981, with the royal wedding watched by 750 million people, according to the BBC.
However, the world eventually learned that the fairytale was just a facade, as England's
32-year-old heir to the throne married a woman who was barely out of her teens after a whirlwind
courtship that consisted of just a handful of dates. Diana had barely seen the world and was
working as a nursery school teacher to make ends meet when Charles met her, according to The Sun.
What Charles reportedly told Diana soon before they wed might have knocked the
rose-colored glasses off Diana's eyes, but she was determined to become the next Princess of Wales,
so she walked down the aisle — followed by a 25-foot train.
The night before their wedding, Prince Charles apparently felt he owed it to his young fiance
to tell her how he really felt before making such a life-altering commitment.
According to a friend, he told Diana that he wasn't in love with her.
The revelation came to light in 2020 when Britain's ITV aired a documentary,
"The Diana Interview: The Revenge of a Princess," which chronicles how Diana's 1995 interview
with Martin Bashir came to be. This is the same interview in which Diana bared
all about her marriage, including the fact that there was always someone else on Charles' mind,
namely Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman the prince married in 2005.
"Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
In the ITV documentary, Diana's astrologer relayed
what the princess confided to her the night before she wed Charles. She said,
"Charles told her that he didn't love her. I think Charles didn't want to go into the wedding on a
false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana. She didn't want
to go through with the wedding at that point, she thought about not attending the wedding."
Of course, Diana did attend the wedding and took her vows,
becoming one of the most famous and beloved women in the world.
As people across the globe watched the royal marriage from the sidelines through the tabloids,
what they saw in the press was not always what was happening in real life.
While Diana gave birth to her first son, Prince William, in 1982, and then a second son,
Prince Harry, in 1984, the pair were far from happily married. Andrew Morton's 1992 book,
"Diana: Her True Story," claims that the time leading up to their second son's
birth was actually a happy time in their marriage, but it didn't stay that way for
long and was quite possibly the last happy period the royal couple shared together.
After explaining that Charles had hoped their baby would be a girl, Princess Diana told Morton,
"Charles and I were very, very close to each other the six weeks before Harry was born,
the closest we've ever, ever been and ever will be. Then, suddenly, as Harry was born,
it just went bang, our marriage. The whole thing went down the drain."
In 1992, after 11 years in a loveless marriage in which Prince Charles and Princess Diana were
barely together except for public appearances and family events, British Prime Minister John
Major announced that the couple's marriage was over. While they stayed married legally
for another four years while Diana performed her royal duties, the divorce was made final in 1996.
On August 31st, 1997, the princess tragically passed away in a car accident at just 36 years
old. Eight years later, Charles finally married that "third person" in his first marriage —
Camilla Parker Bowles, who he had reportedly never fallen out of love with over the years.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more List videos about your favorite stuff are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.