Jemima and Lily’s movie dig at Charles and Diana over ‘arranged marriage’
IT’S A thorny question that refuses to go away: was Charles and Diana’s marriage arranged?
Diana always flatly denied it, but her close friend Jemima Khan has revived the debate in a scene in her new film.
In new romcom What’s Love Got To Do With It?, which is written by Khan, the two lead characters discuss the question about the 1981 Royal Wedding.
The film follows a film-maker called Zoe, played by Lily James, as she navigates the modern dating world, while her neighbour and childhood friend Kaz Khan, played by Shazad Latif, is about to embark on an arranged marriage with a bride from Pakistan.
In the scene Zoe says to Kaz of his forthcoming marriage: ‘I can’t believe you said, “Whatever love means.” That’s what Prince Charles famously said when he got engaged to Diana.’
Kaz replies ‘I thought that sounded familiar’, to which Zoe responds sarcastically: ‘They basically had an arranged marriage. That worked out really well…’
Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, who was 12 years his junior, famously went on only 12 dates before they married at St Paul’s Cathedral in front of tens of millions around the world, prompting the question: was it arranged?
The late Princess tried to shut down the speculation and told Royal commentator Ingrid Seward: ‘It was Charles and I who decided on the marriage. Not the Queen. Us. No one else.’
Despite this, her confidante Khan, who was married to Pakistani cricket legend turned politician Imran Khan for nine years until 2004, said of Charles and Diana in a promotional interview on Sky News for the movie: ‘Their marriage was essentially arranged. It used to happen here, even with our Royal Family.’