In reality, Diana accepted right away, and together the couple gave all the appearances of soon-to-be-wedded bliss. "She had planned to go to Australia quite a long time before anyway with her mother and I thought 'well I'll ask her then so that she'll have a chance of thinking it over when she's away and saying I can't bear the whole idea-or not, as the case may be,'" Charles told BBC Radio after the announcement. In February of 1981, the royal couple announced their engagement, revealing that Charles had popped the question three weeks prior. Anwar Hussein - Getty Images They announced their engagement in 1981. Though they had a very brief courtship, Charles and Diana announced their engagement in early 1981. Most of their courtship took place over the phone they reportedly only met in person 13 times before Charles proposed marriage. And he was all over me for the rest of the evening, following me around like a puppy.”ĭespite some apparently mixed feelings, the couple started dating soon thereafter. "We were talking about Mountbatten and his girlfriend and I said, ‘You must be so lonely.’ I said, ‘It’s pathetic watching you walking up the aisle with Mountbatten’s coffin in front, ghastly, you need someone beside you.’ Whereupon he leapt upon me and started kissing me and I thought, urgh, this is not what people do. I said it would be nice to see him." Diana later said to her speech coach on a tape used in the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words. “He’d just broken up with his girlfriend and his friend Mountbatten had just been killed. Once Charles's relationship with Sarah fizzled, the prince and Diana did not see each other again until 1980, when both she and Charles were invited to stay at Philip de Pass's house in Sussex. Tim Graham - Getty Images Charles and Diana didn't start dating for several more years. At that time they released a statement, which read in part: "Throughout our marriage we have always tended to follow rather different interests, but in recent years we have led completely separate lives," according to The Washington Post.Ĭharles and Diana started dating after reconnecting while staying with mutual friends. Camilla ultimately married Parker Bowles in 1973, though the couple divorced in 1995. The two had dated in the early '70s and Charles had intended to propose, but a combination of Camilla's on-again-off-again relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, the interference of her and Parker Bowles's parents, and a feeling within the royal family that Camilla wasn't a suitable match for the heir to the throne caused friction. However, it's widely accepted that Charles was still in love with Camilla Shand (later to become Camilla Parker Bowles, and eventually Camilla, Queen Consort) at the time. I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything." In her later years, she recalled the incident somewhat differently, telling author Andrew Morton for his 1992 book Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words that her first thought upon meeting the Prince of Wales was, “God what a sad man.”Ĭharles, meanwhile, recalled that first meeting in a 1981 interview with The Telegraph: "I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was. While her big sister may not have been head-over-heels, 16-year-old Diana (there was a 12 year age difference between her and Charles) evidently had a different impression, telling her friends that one day she was going to marry Charles and laughing that he was, “The one man on the planet who is not allowed to divorce me,” according to The Diana Chronicles. I thought, 'What a strange answer.' It traumatised me.Princess Diana’s sister, Sarah, dated Prince Charles briefly in the late ’70s and was the one to introduce the future royal couple. "And this ridiculous said, 'Are you in love?' I thought, 'What a thick question.' So I said, 'Yes, of course, we are,' and Charles turned around and said, 'Whatever love means.' And that threw me completely. In the documentary 'Diana: In Her Own Words', Diana said: "We had this ghastly interview the day we announced our engagement. Signs all was not well between the two began to emerge here. On February 24, 1981, they announced their engagement. Three years later in 1980 is when the two seemingly got together for the first time, there relationship remaining a secret until September of the same year. Charles and the Spencer's did remain in the same social circles, however. "I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything."Ĭharles was dating her older sister Sarah at the time but their relationship did not last long. In a 1981 interview with the Telegraph, Charles said: "I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was. At the time, Charles was 29 and Diana just 16. The two first met in 1977 at Althorp House, Diana's country estate in Northamptonshire. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
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