FROM THE ARCHIVES
WE LOOK BACK ON A MEMORABLE ROYAL ENGAGEMENT
Prince Charles’ marriage choice
Excitement and speculation has long followed the royals when it comes to an engagement. And while the rules are now much more relaxed, as seen with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the engagment of his father Prince Charles and mother Princess Diana was heavily scrutinised, as Sandra Jobson wrote in 1981.
With royal marriages in trouble around him, Prince Charles is now known to have thought long and hard before popping the question to Lady Diana Spencer.
Charles knows the importance of choosing the right future Queen. He has already seen his Aunt Margaret’s marriage fall apart and he is also aware of the difficulties that have beset the marriage of his sister Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips.
Little wonder then that the prince took his time after his name was first romantically linked with that of Diana, a kindergarten teacher, when she took her holidays with the royal family at Balmoral in
Scotland less than a year ago.
Diana, herself the child of a broken marriage, has told her friends that if there is one thing she wanted out of life, it was a happy marriage.
Originally, Diana wanted to wait until her 20th birthday before marrying, but pressure from some members of the royal family on Charles – notably from his grandmother, the Queen Mother – brought the engagement announcement forward somewhat.
Charles and Diana were rarely seen together before their engagement, adding to speculation that events pushed them into marriage because of their long-standing friendship, rather than a whirlwind romance.
If all the requirements for a bride for Charles had been fed into a computer, however, Diana must surely have come up as the answer.
The 19-year-old, who grew up with the prince, is all that the Queen could wish for in a daughter-in-law. She is pretty, Protestant, too young to have a past, is able to stand up to media pressure – some say even better than Charles himself – loves children and seems to be loved by everyone in return.
So when the engagement was announced at Buckingham Palace on February 23, nobody was really surprised.
At 32, an experienced man of the world, Charles has somehow managed to keep his feet on the ground romantically, despite some flamboyant liaisons. He might have a penchant for dizzy blondes, but he also has the sense to see the superior qualities of a young, innocent, shy girl like Diana.
He has been encouraged by his closest friends, Lady Tryon and Camilla Parker Bowles, to look for a wife amongst the younger, fresh generation of aristocratic, well-bred girls, where the chances of finding one with an unblemished record is more probable.
To some extent, the inevitable beginning of Charles’ romance with Diana was carefully calculated. But it was not long before Cupid stepped in.
Fanning the fire which began to burn between them were the fond hopes of the Queen and the Queen Mother that he had at last found the right girl. Charles himself was beginning to feel left out as the only unmarried man in his circle.
So far, the public has caught only brief glimpses of Diana, but right from the start, the omens looked propitious.
She is beautiful in a Grecian, classical way, rather than being stunningly glamorous like some of Charles’ earlier flames, and her beauty is the kind that lasts. At 19, she looks grave, innocent, gentle and very, very nice. At
50, she will have lost none of her grace and charm, but her features will have an elegant dignity befitting a queen.
One of the first qualities of this very private and unshowy girl, which became public property via the press, was her humbleness. After an early visit to Balmoral, she was stopped at the airport by a security guard who demanded to know what was in the small box she was carrying. Blushing, she whispered, “They’re my jewels.” She stood there uncomfortably while her “jewels” were examined. They turned out to be a simple string of seed pearls.
Indeed, the very innocence of her expression, haloed by sunshine, gave a particular blend of purity and glamour that was extremely appealing and memorable. She need never be ashamed of those pictures.
Beyond her appearance is Diana’s lifestyle. Unlike most other girls of her class and upbringing, she didn’t “come out” and do the circuit of debutante balls. Nor does she talk with a plum in her mouth, like some titled ladies. Instead, she has a direct, friendly manner and a clear voice, unencumbered by any overpowering accent.
She took a part-time job at a kindergarten in London’s Pimlico after leaving her Kent public school, where her former schoolmates all agree she was friendly, unassuming and particularly kind to the younger girls. But nobody should get the wrong impression from her simplicity and unassuming normality that Diana Spencer is unsuited to the role of queen.
Meanwhile, Diana has coped magnificently with all the recent exposure to international reporters, photographers and
TV. They have camped outside her door, eaten sandwiches from her car bonnet, rung her phone ceaselessly and asked her the most intimate questions. Her child-bearing potential has been discussed in detail.
But such a barrage of publicity is something a future queen of England must learn all about. And so far, Diana has coped with it all in a right royal way.