Royal Trauma: Why Princess Diana Thought Marrying Prince Charles 'Was Too Abrupt'
Far from the fairytale-like life that everyone imagined, Princess Diana only experienced a stormy relationship with Prince Charles that traumatized her from the beginning until their high-profile divorce.
In November 1977, Princess Diana met the heir to the throne, who happened to be dating her older sister, Lady Sarah. The two saw each other again when she attended Prince Charles' 30th birthday, and their relationship progressed since then.
Despite their almost 13-year age gap, the Prince of Wales proposed to Princess Diana on Feb. 1981 -- only a few months after they started dating.
"I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was," Prince Charles said in a 1981 interview with The Telegraph. "I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything."
Prince Charles saw her as his potential bride, but it was not enough for him to love her wholly, so much so that the relationship even caused trauma to Princess Diana.
Princess Diana's Traumatic Experience
Before they got married, the two appeared in a television interview where they were asked if they were in love. Princess Diana cheerfully responded that they were, at least that was what she believed at that time.
Prince Charles, on the other hand, said he "supposed" to before starting the three-word line which hurt his wife: "Whatever love means."
Princess Diana talked about how she felt in a video from 1992 and 1993. Channel 4 released the said clips in a documentary entitled "Diana: In Her Own Words," where she said that Prince Charles' answer "threw her completely and it traumatized her."
They also released her tapes with her voice coach, Peter Settelen, where she revealed that they only met 13 times before they abruptly got married, including the days they dated.
Emotional and Mental Distress
Even when she knew that the foundation they made was not strong enough, it still surprised Princess Diana to see how Prince Charles instantly changed his behavior after their wedding.
The heir to the throne reportedly set aside her bride even during their honeymoon. Instead of focusing on Princess Diana, Prince Charles spent his time reading and painting on the royal yacht. Moreover, they fought over the cufflinks with intertwining c's on them (for Camilla and Charles), which her husband brought with him.
The cufflinks did not bother her so much, not until their relationship became damaging through the years. It turned to be even more problematic when Prince Charles restarted his romantic entanglement with Camilla.
Even though Prince Charles was never on her side, Princess Diana still tried to save their relationship by talking to her husband numerous times and to Camilla during her sister's birthday party.
For the last time, Diana tried to change Charles' mind before she finally gave up.
In Ingrid Seward's book "The Queen and Di: The Untold Story," the writer mentioned that the two met in Kensington Palace where Princess Diana allegedly asked Prince Charles, "Why did this have to happen?"
She fought for their relationship until they finalized their divorce in 1996.
