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Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles‘ royal wedding was dubbed the “wedding of the century.” The affair took place on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in front of more than 3,000 attendees. Millions more tuned in from around the world to watch the pair say “I do.”
The wedding had all the makings of a fairy tale. But as we know, the two did not live happily ever after.
In her secretly-recorded tapes to journalist Andrew Morton, Diana revealed so much about her marriage, including why she had second thoughts leading up to the big day and what Charles wrote in a letter he sent to her the night before they tied the knot.
Prior to her wedding Diana confessed that she wasn’t sure if she could go through it
There were a few reasons Diana could have been nervous about her wedding. After all, most brides are nervous just before their big day. Not only that, but Diana was 20 years old at the time and marrying the future king of England, so there was enormous pressure on her.
As the day approached, Diana wasn’t sure she wanted to go through with everything and expressed her doubts to her sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes.
“I went upstairs, had lunch with my sisters who were there, and I said, ‘I can’t marry him. I can’t do this. This is absolutely unbelievable,’” Diana is heard saying via her audio recordings in the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words. “They were wonderful and said, ‘Well, bad luck, Duch. Your face is on the tea towel, so you’re too late to chicken out.’”
The encouraging note Charles sent the princess the night before they tied the knot
Charles was also aware of the pressure on Diana and how big an event their wedding was going to be. So the night before they got hitched, he sent his bride-to-be a note of encouragement for what she was about to take on.
According to journalist Andrew Morton’s book Diana: In Her Own Words, the princess shared that her soon-to-be husband “sent me a very nice signet ring the night before to Clarence House, with the Prince of Wales feathers on and a very nice card that said: ‘I’m so proud of you and when you come up I’ll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look ’em in the eye and knock ’em dead.’”
Diana, however, wasn’t totally focused on Charles as she walked up the aisle towards him on her wedding day. She admitted in her tapes to Morton that she was looking around the church for Camilla Parker Bowles, who she knew was in attendance.
“So walking down the aisle, I spotted Camilla, pale gray, veiled pillbox hat, saw it all, her son Tom standing on a chair,” Diana recalled. “To this day you know — vivid memory.”
Princess Diana and Charles separated in 1992. Their divorce was finalized in 1996, one year before Diana’s tragic death. On April 9, 2005, now- King Charles married Camilla.
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