Prince Charles notoriously had trouble staying by his first wife's side, but the popularity
of Diana, Princess of Wales rubbed off on him in ways that affect his reputation to
this day.
Here's why Prince Charles' life was never the same after Diana.
Prince Charles reportedly first met his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, all the way back
in 1970 when the pair were both at the same polo match.
They hit it off quickly and were soon in a relationship.
However, the romance wasn't meant to be at the time, and the pair broke things off when
Charles went away to serve in the Royal Navy for eight months.
When he came back home, Camilla was engaged to the man she had been dating before Charles,
Andrew Parker Bowles.
Charles began dating his first wife, Princess Diana, in 1980, seven years after Camilla
married Andrew Parker Bowles.
Charles and Camilla were still close friends, and both Camilla and her husband were among
the people who reportedly approved of Diana as a suitable partner for Charles.
Though Charles and Camilla both claim they didn't resume their physical relationship
until years later, there's no doubt that Charles spent much of his marriage living a double
life as both Diana's husband and Camilla's lover.
Diana's butler Paul Burrell later shared that he believed she had "every right" to mistrust
her husband, as he reportedly lied to her constantly, as reported by the Daily Star.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
While the relationship between Prince Charles and Princess Diana fell apart rather dramatically,
the beginning of their courtship had plenty of light and fun moments.
In her book "The Diana Chronicles," royal author Tina Brown recalled that Diana told
friends all the way back in 1977, before she and Charles were even an item, that she would
marry him.
The two wouldn't be reintroduced until 1980.
Charles and Diana were interviewed in 1981 following the announcement of their engagement,
and Charles took the opportunity to praise Diana's energy and personality.
"I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was."
For someone who grew up with strained and complicated familial relationships, it's no
surprise that Charles found Diana to be a breath of fresh air.
Royal author Penny Junor has noted that the first few years of the pair's marriage were
playful and light, with visitors to Kensington Palace often glimpsing Diana playing hide-and-seek
with a young Prince William who didn't want to go to bed, or even Charles romantically
running after Diana up the stairs to their room.
When the two reconnected in 1980, it sounds like Prince Charles found someone that he
could confide in with Princess Diana.
After they were both invited to a mutual friend's home, Charles and Diana found themselves talking.
Diana later explained that Charles was reeling from two blows.
The biggest and most consequential was that his great-uncle and close friend, Lord Mountbatten,
had just been killed.
At the same time, Charles was dealing with heartbreak following the breakdown of another
romantic relationship.
Diana later recalled that the combination of the two events left Charles in a pretty
pathetic state, but it opened up the door for the pair to connect.
In the documentary "Diana: In Her Own Words," which included recordings of real discussions
with the princess, Diana explained,
"We were talking about Mountbatten and [Charles'] girlfriend and I said, 'You must be so lonely.'"
This sentence spurred Charles into action, and he reportedly started kissing the woman
who would become his wife.
Despite how their relationship ultimately played out, it seems that early on, Charles
was moved by Diana's willingness to help make him feel better and to be someone he could
trust.
In Andrew Morton's biography, "Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words," Princess Diana
told the author that on her wedding day she believed that all was right in the world and
in her relationship.
As documented in the book, Diana told Morton,
"I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him.
I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world."
Unfortunately for the pair, that energy seemed to shift pretty rapidly.
Author Martin Gitlin later wrote in "Diana, Princess of Wales: A Biography" that the young
princess actually ended up spending most of their honeymoon with the crew on board the
14-day-long cruise the two took, while Charles pursued other activities.
Apparently, the differences between them were already magnified.
Gitlin wrote,
"The clash in personality and interests became apparent during the honeymoon.
So did the vast age difference.
The prince was most comfortable fishing or reading."
"I've come to the conclusion that really it would've been far easier to have had two wives."
There is one major way Princess Diana changed the life of Prince Charles forever, and that's
when the couple had two sons together, Prince William and Prince Harry.
But while Princess Diana's enthusiasm for motherhood was well-documented throughout
her life, Prince Charles' parenting style has been criticized by one of their sons.
In 2021, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, sat down for an intimate interview
with Oprah Winfrey in which they collectively peeled back the layers of the monarchy.
At one point, Harry claimed that his father "failed to break the cycle" of repeated trauma
within generations of the royal family.
Royal author Tom Quinn disagreed with Harry's take.
The author of "Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir" spoke in the documentary "Prince Charles
& Harry: Father and Son Divided" about Charles and Harry's relationship, sharing that he
believes Charles has done a wonderful job as a father.
Quinn said,
"Charles made enormous efforts to do a lot more for the boys, to spend more time with
them, to go to various events with them, and that was all to the good I think that worked
very well."
One way Princess Diana changed the lives of Prince Charles and arguably the entire royal
family was that she was truly a breath of fresh air for the monarchy as a whole.
Before Diana joined the monarchy, the royal family often adopted the "stiff upper lip"
as a central personality trait.
For her part, Diana made a point to connect with people in whatever way she could, from
big gestures to small ones, such as never wearing gloves so that she had a direct physical
contact with the people she greeted.
As Diana's popularity as a member of the royal family grew, it shed a positive light on the
institution as a whole.
Enthusiasm for the royals reached far beyond the United Kingdom, and when Charles and Diana
visited Japan in 1986, at least 100,000 people lined the streets as their motorcade traveled
through Tokyo.
Writer Alicia Carroll also noted that the Diana effect swept all the way across the
Atlantic.
Carroll wrote in The New York Times,
"Before she came on the scene in 1980, very few people in the U.S. paid attention to the
royals or could tell you the name of the queen of England."
The affection the public had for Princess Diana during her life has continued following
her death in 1997, and it's a weight that Prince Charles is reportedly still living
under to this day.
As reported by BBC News, in 2017, the number of people who believed Prince Charles was
making positive changes in the monarchy had fallen from 60% to 36%.
As the publication noted,
"Charles's many supporters will argue that Diana's adverse impact on his popularity will
recede with each passing year.
But 20 years on, her influence still registers."
However, the BBC also noted that perhaps public interest in Diana will have slowed by the
30th anniversary of her passing in 2027, and that it's entirely plausible that when Charles
ascends the throne, the public will be more forgiving of his past transgressions.
But for now, Princess Diana is very much a present force for many, and that's something
that Charles may well have to just live with.
The British public grew increasingly frustrated with the royal family for their prolonged
silence following Princess Diana's car crash and death in 1997.
After spending days seemingly isolated at Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth returned to London
to greet mourners.
As Diana's ex-husband and the father of her children, Charles found himself thrust into
unfamiliar and unexpected territory.
In a move that surprised some, Charles flew to Paris and brought Diana's body back home
to England himself.
Over 20 years later, Charles still seems to be impacted by his ex-wife.
In May 2021, it was reported that Charles intends to turn the private homes of the members
of the royal family into publicly accessible spaces.
As a source told "The Sunday Times,"
"The Prince wants to bring people in to connect with the institution.
He recognizes it needs to keep evolving."
Despite the fact that their marriage ended in separation, allegations of infidelity,
and ultimately divorce, many sources have noted that Prince Charles and Princess Diana
were able to co-parent their sons quite well.
Royal expert Emma Cooper told Us Weekly that when it came to co-parenting, the exes just
made it work.
She explained,
"Charles and Diana had no problems bringing up their children together, whether they were
together or apart, and you can see in the sort of deep love that their sons have for
both of them."
Cooper also noted that Harry and William are both quite "balanced," which sheds light on
the kind of parenting they received from each parent.
By putting their sons first, Diana was able to have a strong co-parenting relationship
with her ex-husband for the brief period between their divorce and her death.
As tragic as Diana's passing was, it also seems that the event forced Charles into a
parenting role he might have left to her otherwise.
In "The Queen and Prince Charles: Mother and Son," royal expert Lady Julie Montagu explained
Charles had to learn to be a dad in a new way.
She said,
"He really stepped up in that parenting role when he needed to."
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