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The wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana went down in history.
By the end of the day, she’d become a princess.
By 1992, the couple had officially separated (viaHistory).
While the show is somewhat fictionalized, it does give an insider look at the dysfunctional marriage.
So we finally know whyPrince Charles and Princess Diana divorced.
I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world" (viaOprah Magazine).
In fact, they’d only met a handful times before tying the knot.
Additionally, in these 13 meetings, Charles and Diana were rarely alone.
Whenasked if they were in love, Charles infamously replied, “Whatever in love means.”
Diana was, after all, insanely young at the time of her marriage.
According toReader’s Digest, the 12-year gap meant that their personalities were poorly suited for one another.
In fact, it’s widely believed to be one of the most significant factors in their eventual divorce.
As Diana once said to E!
That pressure eventually contributed to her divorce from Prince Charles.
Notably, Prince Charles had dated Camilla Parker Bowles in the early ’70s.
However, by 1973, Camilla was engaged to Andrew Parker Bowles.
Not surprisingly, the couple later divorced.
If you hadn’t clued in, the two Cs were said to have stood for Charles and Camilla.
Sad as it was, it truly seemed as though Diana and Charles were destined for ruin.
And that triggered off something in me."
Within months of getting married, Diana’s mental health deteriorated further.
“I was about to cut my wrists,” she revealed.
“I came [back to London] to seek treatment.”
She saw multiple psychiatrists who reportedly put her on high levels of medication.
Reportedly, Charles didn’t deal with Diana’s mental illness well.
According to theDaily Mail, he didn’t understand her emotional outbursts and tried to seek out help.
She recalled one instance: “I was sad and desperate and I was crying my eyes out.”
When Charles ignored her, she threw herself down the stairs.
“Charles went out riding,” she said.
As she recalled, there were often over 30 photographers waiting outside her home.
“I got no support from Charles or the press office,” she revealed.
“They just said, ‘You’re on your own” (viaThe Times).
“Di-mania” gripped the nation, and even the world.
As Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, explained toTime, her fame was astronomical.
“No one in the Royal Family had experienced it before,” she proclaimed.
Eventually, Diana became known as the “People’s Princess.”
She also explained that Charles couldn’t share her happiness at being loved by the public.
In fact, he made it hard for her to enjoy any of the public affection.
“With the media attention came a lot of jealousy,” she continued.
“A great deal of complicated situations arose because of that” (viaMarie Claire).
Of course, one of those situations was their eventual divorce.
In 1986, Charles reportedlybegan an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
As she revealed in private interview taps for Andrew Morton,Diana once confronted Camillaat a party.
“I do know what is going on,” Diana recalled saying.
“Don’t treat me like an idiot” (viaReader’s Digest).
Charleseventually admitted the affair in 1994.
Eventually, the damage brought on by the affairs led to Diana and Charles divorcing.
In fact, she often felt actively excluded.
Diana even felt that she wasn’t included in the pictures.
It felt to Diana as though she was merely there to feed and comfort the baby in between pictures.
No wonder the princess felt that her role in the royal family was unsustainable.
And no wonder she ended up divorcing her husband.
“Diana was tormented by feelings of emptiness and detachment,” she said.
Charles’ upbringing left him similarly unsuited to open up to Diana in private and form a deeper understanding.
Karen Mooney, an ex-employee of the royal household, described their mismatched personalities toThe Sun.
She reportedly even “banished” many of his old friends.
Surprisingly, the couple had been going through a relatively calm period prior to Harry’s birth.
As she put it, “The whole thing went down the drain.”
After that, it seemed divorce was imminent.
Diana explained that she was convinced that Charles had been disappointed not to have a daughter.
“He wanted two children and he wanted a girl,” she continued.
It’s clear that Harry’s birth marked a turning point for the worse in the marriage.
So it seemed like a fairly natural next step.
“The book was revolutionary for its day and still stands as a testament to Diana’s candidness.
“The pressure was for us to sort ourselves out in some way.”
However, 1993 marked an exceedingly embarrassing moment for the heir and his then-wife.
His choice of language, however, was a bit … out there.
“I’ll just live inside your trousers or something.
It would be much easier,” the prince was recorded saying.
“Or, God forbid, a Tampax.
Just my luck!”
Yeah … we don’t know what to say either.
So what did Diana do in response to her then-husband’s public admission of infidelity?
She busted out the revenge dress.
Did the move contribute to her divorce?
Possibly, but she looked great while doing so.
That is not what Diana chose to do that night.”
“They talked about their philanthropies.
And she had accepted Camilla,” Brown wrote (viaElle).
Sadly, this new friendship didn’t last.
As she told theDaily Mail, he “only realized he loved her after she died.”
