It's hard to think of Prince Charles without thinking of Princess Diana or Camilla Parker-Bowles, but as it turns out, the Prince of Wales has quite the intense romantic history. While everyone seems to think that Prince Harry was the royal playboy, his dad has actually had a lot of high-profile romances over the years.
In fact, Prince Charles's first love was who he wanted to marry, but because of the royal rules he would be unable to do so. Her name was Lucia Santa Cruz, and she was the daughter of a Chilean ambassador to Britain.
Santa Cruz had a short romance with the prince, one that was said to be filled with passion and love. They were introduced while studying at Cambridge University in 1969, but before they could get too serious he was reminded that they would never be allowed to marry.
Lucia Santa Cruz was restricted from marrying into the royal family because of her religion. She was a Roman Catholic, and law stated that Charles was only allowed to marry a Protestant. However, even though they couldn't be together, she would have an enormous impact on the future of the royal family thanks to her connections.
When it became clear that their relationship wasn't going to last, Santa Cruz decided to introduce Charles to a friend of hers. In 1972, Charles and Santa Cruz attended a polo match, where a certain woman whom we all know now was introduced to the prince. That woman was Camilla Shand, now known as Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Santa Cruz lived in the same apartment complex as the 25-year-old Camilla, and while Charles seemed to hit it off with her, their history is obviously a little bit complicated.
They didn't end up getting together right away. Camilla married Andrew Parker-Bowles, a military officer, and was divorced in 1995. Obviously, we all know that Charles married Diana, and they divorced in 1996.
When Diana divorced Charles, she stated that there were "three people in the relationship" which people assumed to be referencing Camilla.
Now, Camilla and Charles are happy together, having been married for 13 years. As for Lucia Santa Cruz, she remains friends with the royal family to this day, and is thought to have been invited to their wedding in 2005.
Imagine how different the royal family would be now if Prince Charles had married his first love?