Charles Spencer to publish memoir of Diana

[OccasionalHope]

Could be interesting.

You have hit nail on the head....I think Charles was the only one thinking all of their compatibility ('whatever love means').

Bloody AI. Prince Arthur went to Wellington. Apparently the first royal was Prince Henry of Gloucester who went to Eton in 1913.

Totally disagree. They obviously get each other. If Charlie boy wasn't the future king, Diana wouldn't have made such an effort.

Yes he barely knew her, 6 or 7 dates. What was he supposed to say, 'I've fancied the pants of her for years'

Charles certainly got it right allowing both William and Harry to have long courtships, and choose their own bride.

But in this case it's a monarchy. Heirs have to be produced, and then there was the press and the public eye to deal with.

If he wasn't future King, Diana's family wouldn't have pushed her into the marriage. His family wouldn't have been so keen he married Granny's pals daughter with a title.

So many things would have been very different for the 4 people involved. And the children from both those marriages.

@Recklessismymiddlename it was 6 or 7 times before the engagement 13 before the wedding, including the rehearsal and planning for the wedding.

She had her doubts after the engagement was announced and was pushed into it because of the memorabilia that had been produced.

What's the queen mum got to do with it?

She was the one who was determined Charles was going to marry one of her friends granddaughters.

Hence Charles dated Diana's older sister before dating Diana

She was also the one who made sure Charles was literally shipped of with the navy when it was becoming clear he had the hots for Camilla. And remember back then communication wouldn't have been easy, physical letters at best.

Yeah, sure

Harry's wasn't exactly a long courtship!

Thats true. It was said that William counselled against him rushing in, wise words indeed!!

He had two very long courtships before Meghan. And I'm sure he met Meghan more than half a dozen times before the engagement was announced.

Even at that his family including William expressed concern that Harry was rushing into things. The rush was coming from Harry and Meghan it wasn't from the rest of the family

That doesn’t chime with anything I’ve read or heard. OK, neither of us know, but I think the last thing Camilla wanted was to be Queen, and Charles’s status would have been a negative for her. They just clicked as young(er) people - they were soulmates, I guess.

Do you honestly think that countrywoman Camilla, with her horses and her garden, really wanted the glitz , limelight and scrutiny of being consort to the King? I don’t. I think she gives it her best shot and does it really well, but I don’t think she enjoys it.

And both Chelsey and Cressida walked away because they could see the horror that would lie ahead for them - they were soulmates appalling press and social media scrutiny.

i imagine that’s why H failed to tell M the full story about what royal life would be like. But M could have done a bit of research herself - it was well-known what Diana and Catherine went through. Remember “Doors to manual”?

I’m sorry- the autocorrect on my iPad is playing up. That “they were soulmates has been repeated in my second post above for some crazy reason.

I know all of this.
I was responding to the length of courtship.

Why? The marriage is lasting.

Despite posters on here saying "I'll give it a year" when they got engaged.

I think they were still wise words in the Dont of allowing M to find out what she was walking into. When the stuff did hit the fan (as in press behaviour) and in finding out how restricted and protocol-bound her royal life would be, she didn’t like it at all.

Frankly, she claims to be a sophisticated, worldly woman and she could have done a bit of research herself on what some of the other women were put through. So H carried some blame but I don’t buy the wide-eyed shock from M when the press got their teeth into her.

Harry was still allowed to choose this own bride and take his time. And encouraged not to rush.
Time will tell if H made the right decision.

Charles wasn't he was pushed into marrying someone who he barely knew, and who barely knew him. 7 dates before engagement FFS.
Charles was pushed into a very bad decision.

CoffeeC .. I was answering Dolly who said it was wise words William used saying don't rush into it.
9 years later....

Yes. I know he was able to choose his own bride.

Yet Harry deems himself to be the expert - talking about how his was a marriage for love blah blah, his concerns for the Wales children. But then he's an expert on everything isn't he? 🙄

So what's your point?

Exactly this.

Camilla didn’t want to marry Charles back in the day. She caught the husband everyone in their set wanted - Andrew Parker Bowles was the big catch. He was the handsome rich man who made ladies swoon (the man has the gift of the gab to a serious level) and could give an amazing lifestyle, but without the stresses that came with royal life.

Charles was turned down by several women because marrying a future King is nowhere near as fun and glamorous as the movies make it seem, and the ones in the inner circles of his set knew that.