vendredi 18 août 2017
Prince Charles May Never Have Married Diana If This Hadn't Happened
Image Source: Getty / Anwar Hussein
On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a royal wedding watched by 750 million people. Charles and Diana would go on to have an unhappy marriage filled with scandal, including Charles's widely reported affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. We all know how it ended: Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. Diana died tragically in 1997. And by 2005, Charles and Camilla had made things official and married.
But this whole saga may have been avoided, if it weren't for Camilla's shady father. Almost a decade before his wedding to Diana, Charles had already fallen for Camilla. In the Summer of 1972, the two began spending lots of time together. Camilla's longtime on-again-off-again boyfriend Andrew Parker Bowles was out of the country on army service, and she struck up a romantic relationship with Charles. According to the new biography Prince Charles by bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith, Charles felt at ease around Camilla, and they would spend evenings dancing at London nightclubs or have dinners together at Camilla's flat. That Fall, Camilla would stay with Charles at his uncle's estate so they could have "privacy" - and they became even closer.
Prince Charles and Camilla after a polo match during the Summer of 1972. Image Source: Getty / Hulton Deutsch
At 24, Charles worried he was too young to settle down. And since Camilla didn't at least "appear virginal," he hesitated to propose. At the time, anyone who "had a history" was not considered marriage material for royals. Yet in early January 1973, when Charles set sail for the Caribbean for naval duty, he still had strong feelings for her. Meanwhile, Camilla's former beau Andrew was back in London. That's when Andrew's brother and Camilla's father conspired to make them marry. Here's what Bedell Smith writes:
They intervened by publishing an engagement notice in The Times on March 15. His hand publicly forced, Andrew proposed to his girlfriend of nearly seven years.
By publishing an untruthful engagement notice, Camilla's father may have changed the course of history. When Charles was back in port a few days later, he heard the news of Camilla's engagement and was understandably shocked. According to Bedell Smith, "he couldn't understand how 'such a blissful, peaceful, and mutually happy relationship' had ended so abruptly, after such a promising start." If Andrew hadn't been forced to propose, Charles may have married Camilla first - instead of carrying on a disastrous affair with her during his marriage to Diana. Then again, we wouldn't have Prince William and Prince Harry or unimpressed Prince George and adorable Princess Charlotte.
Related Posts:
Ed Sheeran Isn't the Only Celebrity Making a Cameo on Game of Thrones Season 7 Game of Thrones has it all - dragons, zombies, epic kingdoms, and even celebrity cameos. As Arya continues on her long-awaited return to Westeros in the season seven premiere, she runs into none other than Ed Sheeran as a La… Read More
16 Iconic Photos of Elvis Presley That Prove He Was the Ultimate Heartthrob Elvis Presley was an icon for so many reasons - he knew how to sing, he knew how to dance, and he knew how to make girls go crazy with that smile. Like so many other greats before him, the musician and actor, famous for song… Read More
Everything We Already Know About Game of Thrones Season 8 We're still in the midst of the seventh season of Game of Thrones, but we're already setting our sights on what's going to happen in season eight. A little premature? Maybe. But the good folks at HBO have graciously been dro… Read More
21 Reasons Louis Tomlinson Is the Hot Brit Who Should Be on Your Radar It's hard to sum up my love for Louis Tomlinson, who I more affectionately call King Louis most of the time, because he's a talented man who deserves to be celebrated as such. Louis, formerly of One Direction fame, has gradu… Read More
Breakup to Makeup: 34 On-Again, Off-Again Celebrity Couples Sometimes giving it a second chance is worth a shot, and other times, the third time may not be the charm. While some celebrity couples, such as Kate Middleton and Prince William, have proven that a break is necessary to str… Read More
0 comments:
Enregistrer un commentaire