After a whirlwind romance, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married in a fairy-tale 1981 Royal Wedding.
However, after welcoming Prince William and Prince Harry, their marriage became a nightmare, with the Prince and Princess of Wales cheating on each other.
Diana famously said there were three people in their marriage. To hear all about the royal drama and the intrusion of a third party, keep reading!
A Prince Is Born
Prince Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor was born in Buckingham Palace on November 14th, 1948, during the reign of his grandfather, King George VI.
When the reigning king passed away in 1952, his eldest daughter became Queen Elizabeth II, and Charles became first in line to the throne.
Charles became Prince of Wales in 1958, as most heirs apparent had been since Edward II in 1301. He was not invested until he was 21 in an elaborate ceremony at Caernarfon Castle in 1969.
Diana’s Early Years
Diana Frances Spencer was born on Sandringham Estate on July 1st, 1961. Her parents were John and Frances Spencer, Viscount and Viscountess of Althorp.
She was born into nobility, and all four of Diana’s grandmothers were ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.
Diana was also a distant cousin of legendary British wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Around the time Prince Charles became Prince of Wales, Diana’s parents divorced, although she continued to live at Sandringham Estate, which her noble family leased from the royal family.
Bachelor Charles
Prince Charles joined the Royal Navy and, believe it or not, was a bit of a ladies’ man. He dated Georgiana Russell, the daughter of Sir John Russell, who was the British ambassador to Spain, Lady Jane Wellesley, the daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington, Davina Sheffield, and Camilla Rosemary Shand, whom he was besotted with.
Camilla was the love of his life, but he returned from a naval posting to find out she had married Andrew Parker Bowles, becoming Camilla Parker Bowles.
More on her later…
Prince Charles Meets Lady Diana
In November 1977, 29-year-old Charles was dating Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah Spencer. When he visited Sarah at their Althorp Estate family home, he was rather smitten with Diana, a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
Diana later admitted, “We sort of met in a plowed field […] I made a lot of noise, and he liked that, and he came up to me after dinner, and we had a big dance.”
Charles joked, “I remember thinking what a very jolly, amusing, and attractive 16-year-old she was.”
Major James Hewitt
Another man Diana had an affair with was red-headed Army Officer Major James Hewitt. They first met when the military man gave the Princess of Wales private horse-riding lessons.
They claim they didn’t begin their five-year affair until 1986, but that didn’t stop the rumors…
For decades, people have speculated that Princess Diana’s former red-haired lover, James Hewitt, is Prince Harry’s biological father.
That would certainly explain the red hair and why Prince Charles was so aghast!
Secret Recordings
Diana’s friend, Dr. James Colthurst, said – “She was becoming increasingly incensed by what was going on and the fact that the whole organization, as she saw it, was helping to support the relationship between Camilla and Prince Charles.
She would have moments of extreme anger and wanting to bash the mattress with the tennis racquet.”
Colthurst and Diana devised a cunning plan to record tapes detailing Prince Charles’s and the monarchy’s mistreatment.
Those tapes ended up in the hands of royal biographer Andrew Morton.
Diana: Her True Story
In 1992, Andrew Morton released Diana: Her True Story, shocking the world with revelations about Charles’ affair, Diana’s jealousy, her eating disorder, self-harming, and attempts to take her own life.
The Queen and Prince Philip wrote letters and called meetings between Charles and Diana to try to reconcile their relationship.
However, it was clear their marriage was doomed – another royal divorce was looming on the horizon.
Squidgygate
In August 1992, leaked telephone recordings of Diana and her friend James Gilbey were published. The scandal became known as “Squidgygate,”
as Gibley had referred to Diana as Squidge and Squidgy. Then, in October 1993, she wrote to her loyal butler, Paul Burrell, saying she believed Charles was in love with Wills’ and Harry’s former nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke.
Diana’s letters alleged the royals were “planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury to make the path clear for Charles to marry.”
Camillagate
The same November, intimate details of Charles’ affair were leaked to The Daily Mail. In the recorded “Camillagate”
phone call, Charles joked he’d like to be a pair of his mistress’ underwear! In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced Charles and Diana had separated.
Now, Charles finally believed he and Camilla could finally be together. But two things stood in their way.
Charles and Camilla were still married, and no one knew if British law would permit a divorced and remarried Prince to become King.
Two Divorces
Across town, Camilla filed for divorce in January 1995. After exhausting every avenue, Queen Elizabeth II urged Charles and Diana to divorce.
The Prince and Princess of Wales finally divorced in August 1996. The New York Times wrote, “Buckingham Palace wrote the unhappy ending today to a storybook marriage gone badly wrong.”
“The Prince has formally declared that he will no longer foot his ex-wife’s bills, leaving her to pay all her expenses out of a lump-sum divorce settlement said to be at least $22.
5 million.”