As an eligible young bachelor, next in line for the throne, Prince Charles had his pick of women to be the Cinderella to his Prince Charming.
Lady Diana, idolized by the world for her fresh-faced beauty and humble approach to being a royal, was a real-life Disney princess who like Cinderella, once worked as a cleaning lady for her big sister Sarah, the first Spencer to date the prince.
The storyline that’s shared in Netflix show The Crown, which is steeped in fiction but sprinkled with some truths, suggests that Charles had a storied past with the Spencers, and fans are wondering what to believe.
Keep reading and learn what really happened between King Charles III and the Spencers!
When Prince Charles married the beautiful Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, the archbishop officiating the ceremony said, “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made–the prince and princess on their wedding day.”
As if he prophesized the tragic ending, that we all are now aware, the officiant strayed from the storybook ending of “they lived happily ever after.”
The young Prince of Wales had a history of playing the field, including an on and off again relationship with Camilla Shand, who due to antiquated royal traditions was not considered fit to be a princess.
Hopelessly in love with Camilla, who married cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles, the prince’s trysts and search for another love led him to Sarah Spencer, whose family is a close ally of the royals.
Born in 1955, Sarah, a beautiful redhead, is the eldest of three Spencer girls, Jane (born 1957) and Diana, who was born in 1961. John, the youngest sibling, was born in 1964 and is the 9th Earl Spencer.
In the late 1970’s, speculation surrounding Charles’ engagement plans placed Sarah right in the middle.
The rumors of Sarah becoming the next Princess of Wales ended in 1978 after a ski trip at the Swiss resort Klosters, with the heir to the British throne as her escort.
After being spotted together and interrogated by media, the redhead said it was a “marvellous holiday but there’s no question of an engagement.” Sarah, 22 at the time, continued, “There is no chance of my marrying him. I’m not in love with him. And I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love whether he were the dustman or the King of England…If he asked me I would turn him down. I would only marry for love.”
Sarah went on to marry Neil Edmund McCorquodale in 1980 and introduced Charles to his future bride, her younger sister Diana, a sweet woman who worked as a nursey teacher’s assistant.
Diana, who at 17 did in fact work as a cleaning lady for Sarah, was 19 when she met the future king at Althorp House, the Spencer’s childhood home.
According to royal biographer Penny Junor, Diana and Charles were sitting on a bale of hay after a polo match, and the young woman expressed her sympathy for Charles over the loss of his beloved great-uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA the year before.
Mountbatten was an important figure in Charles’ life and he was emotionally fragile when he first met the blonde-haired, doe-eyed Diana.
Speaking with History Extra, Junor shared that Diana won over Charles by saying “My heart bled for you when I watched the funeral; I thought, ‘It’s wrong, you’re lonely–you should be with somebody to look after you.” Junor continued, “Diana really touched a nerve in Charles, she said just the right thing to him, at the right moment, and he was moved by her.”
Diana’s lineage, and virginity, appealed to the senior royals and the pair married in 1981.
“I introduced them. I’m Cupid,” said Lady Sarah before Diana and Charles wed.
The Prince and Princess of Wales share two sons, William–the heir to the throne–born in 1982, and Prince Harry of Wales (born 1984). As a nod to the late Lord Mountbatten, Prince William and his son Prince George have Louis as a middle name.
Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who was frequently seen with her sister on official visits as one of her ladies-in-waiting, kept close ties with the couple.
To this day, Lady Sarah and sister Lady Cynthia Fellowes are very close to nephews William and Harry.
Camilla Shand, who became Camilla Parker-Bowles after her marriage, was out of the spotlight until Diana and Charles split started making headlines.
Diana, Princess of Wales died at 36 on August 31, 1997, one year after her 15-year marriage to Charles dissolved, and King Charles III married his queen Camilla in 2005.
After Diana’s death, Lady Sarah, 68, became the president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund before it closed in 2012.
It’s hard to imagine what the royal family would look like today if Lady Sarah married the then Prince Charles!
We all miss Lady Diana and wonder what she’d have to say about the drama happening with her sons and the royals!
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