A fairytale romance, or a disaster waiting to happen?
How did royal engagement photos forecast a very public split?
And what did Princess Diana say about her wedding day?
Keep watching for details.
The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was one of the most-watched television
events in history, with 750 million people around the world tuning in to witness the
nuptials.
Before the couple said "I do," however, both expressed doubts about the union.
Diana was especially dismayed to discover that on the week of their 1981 wedding, Charles
had given a gift to Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom she had a strained relationship.
She reportedly told her sisters that she wanted to call off the wedding but was told it was
too late.
The prince also confided in friends that he was feeling confused and anxious.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward said in a 2019 documentary,
"Prince Charles kept saying 'I want to do the right thing by my country.
I want to do the right thing by my family.'"
"In his heart, I think he knew that they just had nothing in common."
Of course, they went through with the nuptials and later welcomed sons Prince William and
Prince Harry.
But the relationship between Charles and Diana always seemed strained; they eventually divorced
in 1996.
Diana even called her wedding day the worst day of her life, adding,
"If I could write my own script, I would have my husband go away with his woman [Camilla]
and never come back."
One body language expert has pointed out that there were signs of discord from the start.
Behavioral expert Darren Stanton told Express,
"Looking back at Prince Charles and Princess Diana's official engagement photos from 1981,
it's clear to see that, right from the outset, Diana displayed moments of doubts when it
came to her relationship with Charles.
Charles is seen standing behind Diana with his hand on her shoulder — a gesture that
is very revealing on many levels.
It's not as intimate as one would expect for a newly engaged couple and instead appears
quite formal."
Charles's comments during the announcement also caught many by surprise.
"And I suppose in love?"
"Of course."
"Whatever 'in love' means."
While their engagement photos forecasted trouble ahead for Prince Charles and Princess Diana,
the Prince of Wales' actions shortly after the couple's betrothal didn't help.
Right after his proposal, Charles left on a five-week trip to Australia and New Zealand
— without his bride-to-be.
Of course, the two went ahead with the wedding and had two much-loved sons.
However, Charles and Diana seemingly couldn't find happiness with one another, which allegedly
led both to be unfaithful during their marriage.
Diana is rumored to have struck up an affair with James Hewitt, while Charles revealed
to his biographer that he rekindled his romance with Camilla Parker Bowles in 1986.
One year later, rumors of Charles and Diana's marital woes were all over the press.
Journalist Georgina Howell wrote in Vanity Fair,
"She was the love object of everyone in the world except her husband.
She was faced in her mid-twenties with something she found chilling to contemplate: a fairy-tale
marriage that had cooled into an arrangement."
The pair made one last official trip together to South Korea in 1992, and they appeared
so unhappy that the media dubbed them "the Glums," according to The New York Times.
One month later, it was announced that Charles and Diana were separating, and their divorce
was completed by August 1996.
After their divorce, Princess Diana continued her charity work and struck up a romance with
film producer Dodi Al Fayed — the son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Sadly, the two were killed in a car accident while being chased by paparazzi in Paris in
1997.
She was only 36 years old.
Her death left people around the world — as well as her two sons — devastated.
Prince William said in the HBO documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy,
"There's nothing like it in the world.
There really isn't.
It's like an earthquake has just run through the house and through your life and everything.
Your mind is completely split.
And it took me a while for it to actually sink in."
"They always live with you, people, you know, you lose like that, and my mother lives with
me every day."
Prince Charles went on to marry Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, and the two appear to be happy
together.
In fact, ahead of her Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth announced that she would like Camilla
to be named queen consort when Charles ascends to the throne.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more List videos about the royal family are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.