by The Crown’s fifth season is about to drop, and it seems safe to assume that then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s relationship will take up a lot of screen time. And if you find yourself in need of a quick refresher on how these two met, we’ve got you covered. Especially since the true story is literally nooooooothing like what happened on The Crown. And speaking of, ahem:
Quick Reminder on How Charles and Diana Meet in The Crown
The Crown shows Prince Charles driving over to meet Diana’s older sister Sarah Spencer for a horse riding date (sexy)—when he randomly runs into Diana, who’s inexplicably dressed as a tree from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Charles then randomly runs into Diana again, they have a pretty instant/flirty connection, and we eventually see him call up Sarah to ask if she’s cool with him dating her sister. Wild times! But…did this chain of events actually happen? Not so much, and the true story is even messier.
Here’s What Actually Happened
According to a Daily Times newspaper report from 1981, Diana met Charles in November 1977. He was visiting the Spencer family home in Althorp for a pheasant shoot, as one does, meaning that whole Midsummer Night’s Dream costume thing didn’t happen. Charles and Diana spoke about the meeting themselves during an incredibly awkward engagement interview, when Charles noted what a “very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old” Diana was ( 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐), adding she was “great fun and bouncy and full of life and everything.”
Meanwhile Diana said “yes, I certainly can,” when asked if she could recall their first meeting, saying, “It was 1977. Charles came to stay as a friend of my sister Sarah’s for a shoot. We sort of met in a plowed field.” She also noted he was “pretty amazing.”
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
So, Did Charles Really Date Diana’s Sister?
Yep! In fact, here they are together at a polo match in 1977:
And here she is leaning on his car that same year:
Anwar HusseinGetty Images
AND here they are on a ski holiday together in 1978:
Anwar HusseinGetty Images
But turns out Sarah just wasn’t into Charles. According to Sarah Bradford’s biography Diana, she told a magazine, “I’m not in love with Prince Charles. I’m a whirlwind sort of lady, as opposed to a person who goes in for slow-developing courtships. I can assure you that if there was to be any engagement between Prince Charles and myself then it would have happened by now. I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love, whether it was the dustman or the King of England.”
Got it!
Charles and Diana Didn’t Start Dating for Years
Well, just two years. According to that same Daily Times newspaper report, they connected while Diana was visiting Balmoral in 1979. In fact, she was “lunching with the Queen” when the royals found out that Lord Mountbatten had been killed and Diana was “drawn intimately into the family web.”
Diana herself talked about their romance during a controversial conversation used in Diana: In Her Own Words, saying she comforted Charles about Mountbatten’s death and told him “you need someone beside you,” at which point he started kissing her and was “all over me for the rest of the evening, following me around, everything, [like] a puppy.”
Diana and Charles obviously ended up marrying, but sadly things didn’t exactly work out between them…in part because Charles carried on an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Consort Camilla) throughout their marriage. And their timeline? A whole equally wild saga involving some intense love triangles, so go ahead and dive in below:
#LittleKnown #Story #Prince #Charles #Princess #Diana #Met #Pretty #Wild
