Queen Elizabeth Wanted Princess Diana to Marry Another Member of the Royal Family Instead of King Charles, Books Claims
For years it was thought that both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were instrumental in Charles’ decision to propose to Princess Diana. But now questions are being raised about whether it was more Prince Philip than the queen who pushed for then-Prince Charles to ask for Diana’s hand in marriage.
That’s because, according to a new book, the late Queen Elizabeth actually wanted Diana to marry another royal instead of her oldest son. Here’s more on that.
Author says Queen Elizabeth wanted Diana to marry someone else
As Express noted, the claim that the late queen wanted the late princess to marry another member of her family instead of Charles was made in the biography My Mother and I by Ingrid Seward. According to the book, Queen Elizabeth would have preferred Diana to marry Prince Andrew, who was only one year older than the princess.
Seward wrote: “[The queen] wondered whether anyone that young could differentiate between the man and the prince. And she couldn’t help thinking that the Spencer girl would be far better suited to her younger son, Andrew.”
This isn’t the first time such a claim has been made about people thinking Diana should have married Prince Andrew because at 20, the princess was closer in age to him than the 32-year-old future king.
In the Amazon Prime documentary The Diana Story, the Spencer’s former housekeeper Betty Andrews said “We thought she’d be with Prince Andrew” simply because of their ages. But Andrews made it clear that while she and others may have expected Diana to marry the Duke of York, that wasn’t something the princess ever talked about.
Why Princess Diana almost called off her wedding after attending Prince Andrew’s party
Seward’s book also relayed a story about how shortly before her wedding, Diana almost ended things with Charles after she attended Prince Andrew’s 21st birthday party. While Andrew turned 21 on Feb. 19, 1981, his big party was delayed months due to his Royal Navy training and therefore was held on June 19, 1981.
As Seward explained “a month to go until she married the heir to the throne” in July 1981, Diana had doubts about the wedding. During the party, which was held at Windsor Castle, Charles “spent the entire evening dutifully working the room and making sure he spoke with as many people as possible. But Diana was hoping to dance with her fiancé.
“Diana was in despair. Her fiancé had been away in America for most of the previous week, yet he clearly had no desire to dance with her. Feeling emotionally drained, she threw herself into dancing frantically with one man after another — and finally just dancing by herself.”
Some staffers recalled Diana “looking exhausted and lost in her thoughts yet still moving in slow, rhythmic time to some tune in her head.”
After the event concluded in the early morning hours, Diana traveled to her father’s home in Northamptonshire. It’s believed that she spoke to him about what to do and he talked her out of making “hasty decisions.”
