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navigating this social minefield, were accepted by the Royal Family and those that were unsuccessful
were quietly but swiftly left out of the royal circle (Morton, 2010, p. 111). According to Brown
(2008), even though Balmoral might have been daunting for Diana, she did have the fortune of
proximity to Prince Charles. She could join him at a moment’s notice whenever he wanted and they
could be alone. At Balmoral, Diana could show her appreciation of the royal way of life and the great
outdoors and display her domestic skills and team spirit. The Queen found Diana charming and
appropriate, and her guests were as charmed by Diana as Prince Charles. Diana was said to be an
uncomplicated, jolly, and easy-going young girl (pp. 124-125). Prince Charles’s friends liked Diana
because she was happy and because Prince Charles seemed attracted to her (Bradford, 2007, p. 65).
During this period, Diana came across as mature and level-headed, and she made no secret of her
devotion to Prince Charles (Smith, 2007, p. 88). However, there were not only the friends of Prince
Charles that Diana had to worry about, there was also the press.
By the time Diana came to the scene, Prince Charles was the most interesting member of the Royal
Family and the media was focusing on his love life and the women he was seen with in the hopes of
unveiling who he was dating at the time (Brown, 2008, pp. 88-89). Prince Charles had declared that
he would settle down and marry when he turned thirty (Morton, 2010, p. 109), and once he passed
his thirtieth birthday, the reporters became obsessed with the ultimate scoop of who Prince Charles
would marry, although by 1978, Prince Charles had given no indication to who that might be,
although over the years Prince Charles had established a set of principles for his ideal bride (Smith,
2007, p. 70). He acknowledged that as the heir to the throne finding a wife would be problematic
because he had a particular responsibility to ensure that he would make the right decision, as the
last thing he could possibly entertain was getting divorced: for him “marriage was about much more
important business than falling in love” (Morton, 2010, p. 109). Prince Charles could not envision an
equal partnership, but at the same time he wanted a soulmate and a wife who was committed to
duty and willing to mould herself to him and the royal way of life (Smith, 2007, p. 79). Prince Charles
wanted his decision to be ruled by
his head, not his heart, and, as a result, marriage in his eyes was
primarily the discharge of an obligation to his family and the nation: in his pragmatic search for a
partner to fulfil a role, love and happiness were secondary considerations (Morton, 2010, p. 109).
Because Prince Charles had not yet given the press any indication as to who his ideal bride could be,
any girlfriend of Prince Charles was the immediate subject of press harassment (Brown, 2008, p.