The ones that got away
As the most eligible bachelor of the age, Charles did a lot of dating, and even some proposing. Among those who might have been queen are:
Sabrina Guinness Once dubbed ‘The It Girl of her generation’, twin sister of Miranda, Sabrina dated Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Michael Douglas as well as Prince Charles, before marrying playwright Tom Stoppard in 2014.
Lady Davina Sheffield was a serious contender until an ungallant ex-fiance revealed that the two had been lovers — at the time, virginity was still a prerequisite for would-be princesses.
Actor Susan George (she made Straw Dogs with Dustin Hoffman, and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry with Peter Fonda) dated Charles in the mid-1970s. The film critic Leslie Halliwell once unfairly described her career as “British leading lady, former child actress; usually typed as sexpot”. As well as Charles, she dated George Best and American actor/singer Jack Jones.
Charles gave Dale Tryon the nickname ‘Kanga’, which she later used as the name for her fashion label, and described her as “the only woman who ever understood” him. They met while Dale was married to Baron Tryon and rumours of an affair were never substantiated. She died in 1997 after a series of health problems.
Lady Sarah Spencer — Diana’s older sister — dated Charles briefly, once saying that she always called him ‘Sir’. Later, of the engagement to Diana, she said “I introduced them. I’m Cupid”.
Asked by reporters about the possibility of marriage to Charles while the couple were dating in the early 1970s, author and historian Jane Wellesley, daughter of the Duke of Wellington, apparently snapped “Do you honestly believe I want to be queen?”
Amanda Knatchbull’s grandfather, Lord Mountbatten (Charles’s godfather), was very keen on a match between the two. And indeed, Charles apparently proposed to her in the late 1970s on a yacht in the Caribbean. She said no.
Anna Wallace, known as ‘Whiplash Wallace’ for her sharp sense of humour, reportedly was proposed to twice by Charles. Each time she turned him down, then apparently dumped him after he invited her to the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday ball, and ignored her all night.