Princess Diana Called Prince Charles By the Wrong Name on Their Wedding Day
Prince Charles and Princess Diana married in a lavish ceremony in 1981. At the time, the affair was dubbed “the wedding of the century” with an estimated 750 million people around the world who tuned in to see the prince wed his beautiful bride.
Most thought their royal wedding resembled something out of a storybook. However, there were a few miscues at the alter that much of the global audience and those in attendance missed including the fact that Diana actually called the Prince of Wales by the wrong name. Here’s what the princess called him instead of Charles and which royal couldn’t help but tease her over the blunder.
The name she called him instead of Charles
While reciting their vows the young bride called Charles by a different name when she accidentally said his middle name, Philip.
“During the ceremony, Diana agreed to take the hand of ‘Philip Charles Arthur George’ when she got her words twisted by mistake,” the princess’ biographer Andrew Morton recalled.
A BBC article detailing the event that day noted that the cause was likely due to nerves.
“Wedding day nerves were apparent during the ceremony,” it read. “Diana mixed up the prince’s names, calling him Philip Charles Arthur George, rather than Charles Philip.”
Who teased her about that mistake?
According to Morton, Charles’ younger brother, Prince Andrew, caught Diana’s slip and decided to have a little fun with her for calling Charles by his dad’s name.
“It was the wedding of the decade when Charles married Lady Di and Andrew carried the ring to the marriage ceremony televised around the world from St Paul’s Cathedral,” Morton wrote. “At the Buckingham Palace reception afterwards clown Prince Andrew was on his best form, teasing his new sister-in-law and telling the new Princess of Wales: ‘You married my father.’”
Morton said that another big moment from that day occurred thanks to Andrew’s urging.
“On the palace balcony later, it was Andrew who was responsible for That Kiss,” the author revealed. “As bride and groom waved happily to the hundreds of thousands thronging outside the Palace, Andrew urged Charles: ‘Go on, give her a kiss.’ Big brother obliged, to the delight of the nation.”
A few other miscues during their vows
Diana changed up their wedding vows in another way as well, however, it was intentional as she refused to say that she would “obey” her husband. While that choice was met with controversy at the time it was deemed appropriate when Kate Middleton decided to omit the word as well when she married Prince William 30 years later.
As for other errors, Charles had a small one of his own. The prince said “thy goods” rather than “my worldly goods” at another point during their vows.
Read more: The Sad Reason Princess Diana Lost So Much Weight Before Her Wedding
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