Prince Charles Almost Married This Royal Instead of Princess Diana
Though he has been happily married to Duchess Camilla Parker Bowles for years, Prince Charles had a very sordid love-life. The future King of England was rumored to have affairs with various Hollywood A-listers including, Barbra Streisand. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall had actually dated in the ’70s, and the prince desperately wanted to make her his wife then. However, parliament and his family decided that Parker Bowles was an unsuitable choice for a future king. As a result, the prince found himself in a loveless marriage with Princess Diana.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana wed in 1981 and had two sons together, Prince William and Prince Harry before divorcing in 1996. However, the prince did consider marrying another woman of royal blood before settling on the late princess as his bride.
Prince Charles almost married Princess Astrid of Luxembourg
In the 2016 documentary, Prince William: Royalty In My Family it was revealed that Prince Charles very nearly married Princess Astrid of Luxembourg when he was contemplating a bride in the early ’80s. Unlike Princess Diana who was just 20 when she and the Prince of Wales wed, Princess Astrid of Luxembourg was in her late 20s and closer to the prince’s age. At the time, the princess was one of the few eligible women of royal blood that would have been a match for the future king. However, religion and popularity would get in the way.
Forbidden by the Catholic Church
In Royalty In My Family, the narrator explained, “The monarchy reportedly considered Princess Astrid of Luxembourg a suitable match for Charles, even though she was Catholic.” Unfortunately, the Catholic Church had other ideas. Prince Charles is not Catholic, so the couple’s children would not be raised in the Catholic Church. It was rumored that Pope Paul VI forbid the marriage by refusing under Ne Temere to accept that the children of the couple could not be brought up Roman Catholic.
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Princess Diana’s popularity
The match between Prince Charles and Princess Astrid of Luxembourg was never to be anyway — the princess was never as popular as Princess Diana. In fact, in the documentary, it was said that the press decided Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s fate for them. It was, the press who, “pursued Diana as the main romantic interest of Charles.”
Prince Charles and Princess Diana wed July 29, 1981, and Princess Astrid would go on to marry Archduke Carl Christian of Austria in 1982. They are still married today and have five children.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s unhappy marriage
Though Princess Diana was seen as the perfect match for Prince Charles because she was, the “perfect virgin bride” their union was a disaster. They had warring personalities and their marriage imploded in a war of tempers, scandals and extramarital affairs, including the long and lusty affair the prince strick up with his now-wife, Duchess Camilla Parker Bowles. Though they finally separated in 1992 before officially divorcing in 1996, it would be a tragic ending for Princess Diana.
The Princess of Wales was tragically killed Aug. 31, 1997, in a car crash in Paris.
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