Princess Diana Once Revealed What the Days Leading Up to Her Wedding Were Really Like: ‘I Sobbed My Eyes Out’
Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a complex, sometimes messy relationship. On the outside, their lives seemed glamorous. But behind the scenes, neither wanted to go through with the wedding. And Diana once revealed how much she “sobbed” in the days leading up to tying the knot.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles hardly dated before he proposed
When Charles returned from serving in the British Navy, Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he wanted to be with, was already married. With that, Charles knew he needed to tie the knot — back then, it was a bad look that the future king was 30 and still without his queen. Charles had met Diana when she was only 16 after briefly dating her older sister, Sarah Spencer. When he realized Diana could potentially be his bride, he jumped on it.
Charles had always liked Diana, and there was an attraction between the two at first. However, it didn’t stop him from spending time with Camilla. Still, Charles needed to wed, and he proposed to Diana after only 12 dates. Diana revealed in her recordings for biographer Andrew Morton that she laughed in shock when the prince proposed.
Diana revealed that she ‘sobbed’ prior to marrying the prince
After Charles and Diana were engaged, she realized that things between him and Camilla went far beyond friendship. Two days before their wedding, Diana learned that Charles had paid Camilla a visit and gifted her a bracelet. And in that moment, she realized she was making a mistake by marrying the prince.
“We got married on a Wednesday, and on that Monday we had gone to St. Paul’s for our last rehearsal… And I sobbed my eyes out,” Diana said. “Absolutely collapsed… The Camilla thing rearing its head through our whole engagement.” Diana tried to be “mature” in dealing with the affair but said she “couldn’t even talk to anyone about it.”
Diana’s sisters wouldn’t let her call off the wedding
Once Diana learned of Charles’ meeting with Camilla, she no longer wanted to get married. However, the entire world was anticipating the future king to be married two days later, and it seemed too much to call off. Diana’s sisters told her she had to go through with it.
Diana revealed in her recordings that, upon hearing the news, she went upstairs and told her sisters that she “can’t marry him.” Their response suggested they didn’t care about her personal feelings toward the situation, saying, ‘… Your name is on the tea towels, so you’re too late to chicken out.” Diana said that after hearing those words they all “made light of it,” and she went through with the wedding.
Diana had a ‘bad fit of bulimia’ the night before the wedding
It was clear from Diana’s words years later that she was not fine with marrying Charles, though she didn’t have much of a choice. She went on to reveal that she “had a bad fit of bulimia” the night before saying marrying him and that she “ate everything I could possibly find.”
Diana struggled with bulimia throughout her marriage, too, and certain bouts were triggered by her husband. She later referred to the bulimia as “such an indication of what was going on.”
