Diana's age at time of marriage.

[Peedoffo]

I'm in my 20s so I really don't remember Diana. I did more reading on the subject and I can't believe the establishment thought it was ok to marry a 19 year old off to a man 13 years older than her who had no interest in her. No wonder she struggled this was the 1980s as well not the Victorian times! Could anyone around then tell me , why did her family back/support the marriage? Was there any concerns from the public ? I would be horrified at the thought of marrying my DD off at 19 to a much older man who wasn't really interest.

At the time it was said she had to be a verified virgin and had a medical examination.

There is no examination that can verify virginity.

I was 10 when she married and from another country but I do seem to recall she was 'verified' as well and being really upset by it.

This could only be because my various older female relatives would have been, I assume because I would not have understod it otherwise.

I know. But an examination can suggest virginity.

There are plenty of examinations that have been done in the past and indeed into this day all over the world that state the hymen is intact, which is all that is meant in the context of this discussion.

No. It wasn’t.

There isn’t a test for virginity. They didn’t want an ex going to the papers about their sex life.

@PinkTonic How old are you?
I and others remember that being confirmed and that Diana had undergone a medical examination. We remember it because even back then, it was pretty gobsmacking.

Post-event examination of sheets by the religious leader are very common in several cultures. Non-educated girls would 'marry' when they are under 20, often at 18 or 19. If they have stayed on in education, they 'marry' the same summer as their university graduation, probably not much later. The 'marriage' itself may be a two stage process spread over a year.

@TerraNostra All my immediate circle of friends either went to university or nurse training. I don't know what percentage of the year that was, but way higher than the 7% I've seen quoted elsewhere in this thread. We were a proper comprehensive - one person in my year came from a titled family and a couple came from farm worker cottages which didn't have plumbed in baths. But there wasn't a "rough" area as such in the town.

DH (who is the same age as me) went to a similar state comprehensive in a generally middle class area and loads of his classmates went to university.

Confirmed as a test for virginity by who?

My mum used to say this as fact, but then it turned out that no one can name or even find out who confirmed it was a test for virginity.

Since there isn’t a conclusive way to test, it’s seems likely it wasn’t a test for virginity. Even Diana never said that happened.

The palace at the time said she had a medical examination to confirm virginity. They did not say who had carried it out. This was before most people were on the internet so we had newspapers nad TV news and little way to find out information beyond that.
It may be hard to understand if you are younger as these days rumours would be circulating online. But back then the palace said something, the papers printed it, and questions remained unanswered.
And your mum remembers it because it was reported at the time.

Diana did not say she did not have a medical examination for virginity.

She’d definitely had one or two boyfriends before William - she was with one in her first year at university but they have all been very very discreet about if they shagged her or not. William is the only bloke she ever lived with, only really serious long term relationship so you’ve got as close to a virgin bride as you’d get in modern Britain I think.

There was an appreciation that he had to marry a virgin.

I've never understood why she had to be a virgin, but he didn't.

I don't believe she ever had an examination. There's absolutely no evidence. Her uncle announced she was a virgin to a press conference but that was just his belief based on what Diana said. It was just tittle tattle at the time - more crap to fill the tabloids.

Sure, Kate had two non-serious boyfriends. She inevitably seems chaste when compared to her SIL.

WTAF. Are you shaming a woman now for having a previous life?

Errr, no? Just stating facts. Do you have a problem with facts (Oh , yes obviously)

The palace at the time said she had a medical examination to confirm virginity.

No, they never did. The press gossiped about it but there was never any confirmation.
She might have had an exam by the Queens gynae to see if there was any obvious reason why she couldn't have children, but even that has never been confirmed.

I have already said that Meghan is probably more interesting than Kate because she has had many relationships. I'd rather invite her to a dinner party over Kate.

Me too!

The press at the time said the Palace had said this.
This was before Royal Family websites so I don't know what the Palace said, but it was before the press started making up awful things, so I think it was true.

There is a lot of work to rewrite Royal Family history.

My recollection was that most of the reputable newspapers remarked that she had some kind of medical examination and I remember it was rare in those days (except for some cultures) to do those kinds of checks but perfectly understandable around that time if someone was to produce the future monarch.

On age of marriage the statistics have been given on the thread but there would not have been as many second marriages then as now so the age at marriage is probably the age at first marriage on the whole. I was 21 and married after my degree and then my post grad year and felt a pretty mature 21 year old. Most girls in my class at school did not go to university. We were middle class girls and I was the first to marry which probably surprised some of my school friends who waited a bit longer.

What is appropriate in one time or century is often not in another. Things change back and forth over the years and centuries. It is certainly interesting contrasting life. I think when I was born male homosexual acts were a crime. Suicide was a crime - if you didn't quite manage it you could be prosecuted. There was not so much sex outside marriage (although there was certainly some) and couples tended to marry not live together. In 2022 I tihnk we have now moved to more babies born out of wedlock than in (just about) and my daughters who married and then had children are now not the norm - something not expected likely to happen in the early 1960s when I was born.

England has also decided to change the age for marriage (but not for sex) from 16 to 18 which is a bit unfair on religions and cultures where you cannot have sex until marriage as until now the age was the same for obvious reasons (if parents consented). Things change.

Women used to have to be virgins especially where big inheritances are concerned so there is no chance that the offspring and heirs could be from someone else’s bloodline.

There was a time when there were even witnesses in the bed chamber to confirm the marriage was consummated.

Gross. Bet Kate’s glad that tradition was over and she didn’t have to have Uncle Andrew and Edward in the room on her wedding night.

Found this. It was reported at the time.

"Several magazines and newspapers reported at the time that the soon-to-be Princess Di was examined by Dr. Pinker, surgeon-gynaecologist to the Queen, to ensure that she had an intact hymen (which, btw, isn't always a sign of virginity). In fact, many theorise that Queen Elizabeth chose Diana for Prince Charles because she was as "innocent" as can be."

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2018/05/199326/royal-wedding-premarital-sex-virginity

I do get fed up of younger people rubbishing things that happened that older people remember happening. It feels like 1984 at times around here. And at the time I only read newspapers my parents bought, so it would not have been a tabloid. Most likely The Times.