22
previous affairs were known in society and at court, and even though everybody liked her, she was
not, in those days, considered aristocratic enough for Prince Charles, and her reputation would have
prevented the marriage (Bradford, 2007, p. 56). In addition, it is not known whether Camilla would
have married Prince Charles at that point, even if he had asked, because while her relationship with
Prince Charles had been fun, she herself was as much in love with Andrew as Prince Charles was
with her (Brown, 2008, pp. 106-107). Prince Charles did not ask Camilla to wait for him, and while
he was at sea they did not correspond even though Prince Charles did write about her in his journal
from time to time (Smith, 2007, p. 69). While Prince Charles was away at sea, Camilla went back to
Andrew, and they got engaged on 15 March 1973 (Bradford, 2007, p. 57) and married in a huge
society wedding on July 4 in London at Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks (Brown, 2008, p. 106).
Even after her wedding, Camilla continued to be a part of Prince Charles’s life (Bradford, 2007, p.
57). However, their relationship was mostly platonic until on August 27, 1979, Prince Charles’s
beloved great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, died, and his death threw Prince Charles’s life into chaos
and revived his affair with Camilla (Brown, 2008, p. 109). Even before Mountbatten’s death Camilla
had been a close adviser of Prince Charles, but her influence on Prince Charles’s life increased even
further after Mountbatten’s death, and she played a dominant role in his choices (Bradford, 2007,
pp. 61-62). It was at this point that Camilla and Prince Charles both truly fell in love with each other,
and when Andrew left later that year for a six-month posting in Rhodesia, Prince Charles and
Camilla’s relationship became intimate again (Smith, 2007, p. 72). The Queen knew about the affair,
but she was determined to continue her policy of not intervening in her children’s lives if possible
(Bradford, 2007, p. 61).
However, according to Brown (2008), by 1980, members of the Royal Family had begun to think that
Prince Charles’s obsession with Camilla was no longer merely acceptable entertainment but was
preventing his marriage, because by then it was clear that the reason Prince Charles had not married
anyone yet was that he was in love with a married woman. He was now thirty-one, past the age of
thirty when he always promised he would marry. A suitable bride for Prince Charles had to be found
relatively quickly, but there were few women still single that fitted the Royal Family’s criterion of
the time (p. 113). However, Diana perfectly fitted all the criteria for a royal bride: she was very
23
young, tall, blonde, and curvy with a clear English-rose complexion, and she had no scandal attached
to her name (Bradford, 2007, p. 63). In addition, the Spencers, as one of the leading aristocratic
families in England, were perfectly positioned to be royal in-laws (Brown, 2008, p. 114).
After Prince Charles’s 30
th
birthday ball, Diana started to receive invitations from the Palace to
theatre parties where Prince Charles was in attendance, and those invitations increased as Prince
Charles persisted in his affair with Camilla (Brown, 2008, p. 115). After several casual encounters
with Diana, Prince Charles began to consider her as a potential bride for him, although his feelings
towards her had not changed that much since their meeting at Althorp (Smith, 2007, p. 76). The
more Prince Charles fell in love with Camilla, the more pressing it was for the Palace to find someone
to replace her, and because of that Diana’s role in Prince Charles’s life was linked with Camilla from
the start (Brown, 2008, p. 115).
However, it was not just the Royal Family who saw Diana as a good wife for Prince Charles, but also
Camilla (Bradford, 2007, p. 63). It suited Camilla well that Prince Charles would marry Diana (Brown,
2008, p. 115), because Diana came across as a shy young girl, and it was in Camilla’s interest that
Prince Charles choose a wife that would pose no threat to her position in Prince Charles’s heart and
mind (Bradford, 2007, p. 63). Camilla thought that Diana would be quiet, passive, and obedient, and
would not pose trouble for her (Brown, 2008, p. 116). As a result, Camilla later befriended Diana
and encouraged Prince Charles towards her, because Camilla believed that Diana truly was the best
choice available (Bradford, 2007, p. 63). It is unclear precisely when Prince Charles and Camilla
ended their intimacy, but it has been said that their affair had ended when Prince Charles started
seriously courting Diana, although Camilla remained “his best friend” (Smith, 2007, p. 88).
Diana’s future as Prince Charles’s bride was sealed at a house party that both she and the Prince
attended in July 1980 at Petworth (Bradford, 2007, pp. 63-64) at the Sussex home of Robert de Pass
(Smith, 2007, p. 76). What she did not know was that the invitation was more than a mere
coincidence, as it had been planned beforehand by either the Queen Mother or Prince Philip who
both knew the couple that arranged the party (Brown, 2008, p. 118). During the weekend, Diana
24
watched Prince Charles play polo, but the press did not yet link her with the Prince (Smith, 2007, p.
76), even though they took pictures of her just in case because she seemed to be a part of the royal
party (Brown, 2008, p. 119). At the de Pass’s barbeque following the polo match, Diana and Prince
Charles sat together on a bale of hay (Smith, 2007, p. 76). According to Bradford (2007), Diana spoke
with Prince Charles about the death and funeral of Lord Mountbatten, who he had been close to.
She told him that he had looked very sad walking up the aisle and that it had been the most tragic
thing she had ever seen. She also said that she had thought that he should be with somebody who
would look after him. Her words touched Prince Charles very deeply and he asked Diana to come to
London with him the next day, but she refused. The fact that Diana turned him down was what
fascinated him in addition to the way Diana had shown concern for him at a time that he was sad
and needed consolation (pp. 63-64).
After that night, Prince Charles’s and Diana’s relationship began to develop (Morton, 2010, p. 110),
and Prince Charles himself asked Diana to be invited to different functions which he was to attend
and in effect began to court Diana (Bradford, 2007, p. 64). It was during that summer that Prince
Charles essentially decided that he wanted to marry Diana (Smith, 2007, p. 88). According to
Bradford (2007), Prince Charles thought that because of Diana’s open and easy manner, her warmth,
her enthusiasm for rural life, and her background through which she knew a little of his family she
would have few fears marrying into the Royal Family. However, as an insider, Prince Charles seems
to have had little conception of what marrying into the Royal Family actually meant, and never
properly understood the pressures Diana underwent when she entered the royal circle (pp. 64-65).
In September, the Queen invited Diana to Balmoral Castle to watch the Braemar Games (Brown,
2008, p. 121). Diana’s sister Jane and her husband Robert Fellowes were also invited (Bradford,
2007, p. 65). That weekend, Prince Charles was surrounded by his closest friends, including Camilla
and Andrew Parker Bowles (Smith, 2007, p. 78). To be asked to Balmoral for the Braemar Games
when the Queen was in residence was a great honour (Brown, 2008, p. 122). Diana was terrified and
wanted desperately to behave in the appropriate manner (Morton, 2010, p. 111). With the
immediate Royal Family all in residence, Balmoral was a social minefield because there were strict
social rules to which everyone had to adhere (Brown, 2008, p. 123). Those who were successful in
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