20
2007, p. 62). Diana was introduced to Prince Charles in the middle of a ploughed field near Nobottle
Wood on the Althorp Estate during a day’s shooting (Morton, 2010, p. 95). In their own recollections,
neither professed to be overwhelmed by the other (Smith, 2007, p. 62). Prince Charles saw Diana
only as the jolly and bouncy younger sister of Sarah (Brown, 2008, p. 59), but Diana admitted to
trying to attract the attention of
the Prince by being noisy, which he seemed to enjoy (Smith, 2007,
p. 64). Diana later told Morton: “I kept out of the way. I remember being a fat, podgy, no make-up
unsmart lady but I made a lot of noise and he liked that” (Morton, 2010, p. 31). At a dance that night
at Althorp, Prince Charles showed that he was attracted by Diana’s high spirits (Bradford, 2007, p.
40). Prince Charles asked Diana to show him Althorp’s 115-foot-long picture gallery which then
housed one of the finest private collections of art in Europe, and she was about to comply when
Sarah intervened and Diana left them to it: as far as Sarah was concerned Prince Charles was her
domain at that time and trespassers were not welcome (Morton, 2010, pp. 95-96). The next day,
Diana stood next to him during the shoot (Bradford, 2007, p. 40), and he was, according to Diana,
“charm himself” (Morton, 2010, p. 31). It is possible that Diana may have developed a crush on the
Prince that weekend, but there were no evident sparks between them (Smith, 2007, p. 63).
However, once Diana had caught sight of Prince Charles there was no other rival for her heart, and
after the shooting day Diana could not forget him (Brown, 2008, p. 59). When Diana came back to
school after the shooting-party-weekend she was very excited and could not talk about anything
else (Bradford, 2007, p. 41). Prince Charles’s interest in her left Diana with much to think about, as
he was, after all, Sarah’s boyfriend (Morton, 2010, p. 96), and she could not understand why
someone like him would be in any way interested in her (Bradford, 2007, p. 40). However, the
relationship between Sarah and Prince Charles did not last long because Sarah made the mistake of
talking to the press about the relationship, which proved fatal to their relationship, as talking to the
press was a cardinal sin in the eyes of the Royal Family (Bradford, 2007, pp. 43-44).
Even though after Sarah’s faux pas with the press her relationship with Prince Charles ended, she
was still asked to attend his 30
th
birthday party at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1978
(Morton, 2010, p. 97). To Sarah’s great irritation and surprise, Diana was included in the invitation
(Brown, 2008, p. 60). Diana enjoyed herself enormously at the party, but she did not think that
Prince Charles would be interested in a relationship with her, and in any case, Diana’s life at the
time was much too enjoyable to think about steady boyfriends (Morton, 2010, p. 97). Diana later
21
said that she had not been intimidated by the palace, although she did confess to thinking that it
was an amazing place (Smith, 2007, p. 73).
At this point, Prince Charles already had many women in his life, some of which were more suitable
than the others (Morton, 2010, p. 106). One of the unsuitable women, at least according to the
standards of the Royal Family, was Camilla Parker Bowles, née Shand, whose great-grandmother on
her mother’s side, Alice Keppel, had been a mistress of Prince Charles’s great-great-grandfather,
King Edward VII (Bradford, 2007, p. 54). Prince Charles had met and fallen in love with Camilla Shand
when he was twenty-three (Smith, 2007, p. 68). She was to become the love of his life (Brown, 2008,
p. 106).
Camilla was a pretty, witty, confident blonde who was warm and uncomplicated, and most
importantly shared Prince Charles’s love of the countryside, dogs, horses, and hunting (Bradford,
2007, p. 54), as well as his self-deprecatory humour and fondness for the absurd, and she made
Prince Charles feel secure (Smith, 2007, pp. 68-69). Camilla had had a conventional, unchallenging
education with the emphasis on social graces rather than intellectual achievement in much the same
way as Diana had, and her aim in life was to get, please, and keep a man as was the norm for girls
of her background (Bradford, 2007, p. 55). At the time of Camilla’s first encounter with Prince
Charles, she was dating Andrew Parker Bowles, but by mid-1972, Prince Charles and Camilla had
begun a relationship (Smith, 2007, p. 69). Their romance was encouraged by Lord Mountbatten,
Prince Charles’s beloved great uncle, who saw Camilla as ideal mistress material (Bradford, 2007, p.
55). Prince Charles and Camilla began spending time together in London and at the Mountbatten’s
country estate, Broadlands (Smith, 2007, p. 69). However, Lord Mountbatten became aware that
Prince Charles was becoming very attached to Camilla and warned him not to get too fond of her,
because, according to him, she was not sufficiently aristocratic nor virginal to be an acceptable royal
bride (Bradford, 2007, p. 55).
However, three weeks before Christmas 1972, Prince Charles was posted for duty on the frigate
HMS Minerva that later left for Caribbean (Bradford, 2007, p. 56), and that same month Prince
Charles and Camilla spent their last weekend together at Broadlands, where Prince Charles told
Camilla that he loved her, but did not ask her to marry him (Brown, 2008, p. 105). Nevertheless,
Prince Charles would not have been able to marry Camilla, even if he had wanted to, because her