The Many Red Flags That Plagued Charles And Diana's Marriage
You get couples who seem like polar opposites on the outside (he loves hiking, she's more of a couch girl), but end up enjoying long and happy lives together. Then you get couples who seem perfectly matched, but crash and burn faster than you can say "acrimonious divorce." The most famous example of a "perfect on paper, disaster in reality" has to be the doomed coupling of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. At first, Diana's youth and own aristocratic background made her a promising candidate to be by Charles' side when he eventually became king, but their time together wasn't meant to last.
The royal pair's whirlwind romance gripped the world in the 1980s, with many who considered it a fairytale come to life. After all, what young girl hasn't dreamt about being swept off her feet by a handsome prince? But the fairytale quickly became less Disney and more gritty HBO interpretation, with their mutual unhappiness becoming more and more apparent in their 15 years of marriage.
It's glaringly obvious today that Charles and Diana were never meant to be. But, as hindsight is always 20/20, what about back when their romance was fresh? Were there any warning signs that forever was not in their future?
Charles and Diana's marriage was doomed from 'day one'
Though red flags can be easy to miss, we can all probably agree that for a marriage to work, both partners should at least want to get wed. According to a royal biographer Ingrid Seward (via Us Weekly), Prince Charles was pressured by his father, the late Prince Philip, to marry Diana, who was just 19 at the time. (Charles was 32.) Another royal expert, Elizabeth Holmes, pointed out to Us Weekly that the union was "almost like a business transaction," based more on duty than actual love.
Charles and Diana's relationship also moved at warp speed, with the couple tying the knot a mere six months after they started dating, Town & Country noted. According to the outlet, it was later revealed that the pair had only met in person a mere 13 times before marrying — not much time to get to know the person when you're supposed to be sharing eternity together. Diana clearly struggled with the pressures of living in the public eye — not to mention she was relentlessly scrutinized by the British tabloids. Newspaper editor Sir Max Hastings even claimed, per People, that she felt the marriage was "hell from day one."
As we all know, the fairytale did not have a happy ending, with the couple separating in 1992 and divorcing in 1996 (with both having affairs during their marriage). But, while their parents suffered a union dictated by obligation and pressure, at least Princes William and Harry enjoyed more freedom in their romantic choices — and seem all the happier for it.