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Prince Charles's Wedding Proposal To Diana Hinted At How Their Marriage Would Unfold

PEOPLE

With the news of the next generation of royal weddings plaguing the media, some people are reminiscing on the nuptials between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

They tied the knot on July 21, 1981 in front of millions of people around the world, which was dubbed a "fairy tale wedding."

While the couple appeared to be the epitome of martial bliss while in the limelight, things were vastly different behind closed doors.

Their "love story" began after Diana met Charles in 1977, who at the time was dating her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale. The pair would begin dating in 1980, despite Charles still pursuing his current wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Following a quick courtship, Diana would give birth to two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who were described as her pride and joy.

However, emerging details of a rift in the marriage became prevalent as their marriage progressed.

In an interview with BBC's Martin Bashir in 1995, the princess revealed several intimate details of her relationship with Charles, which included wedding doubts, depression, jealousy, and multiple affairs.

Eventually Queen Elizabeth II had enough and made an unprecedented move in 1995 when she formally ordered the unhappy couple to divorce.

But perhaps their struggling marriage could have been foreseen by the way Charles proposed.

After a mere 12 dates, 31-year-old Charles decided to propose to 19-year-old Diana on February 24, 1981, which would change the course of British monarchy history.

During an interview for the now infamous biography, Diana: Her True Story, the royal told author Andrew Morton how Charles asked her to become his wife.

"[Charles] said, 'Will you marry me?' and I laughed," Diana said. "I remember thinking, 'This is a joke,' and I said, 'Yeah, OK,' and laughed. He was deadly serious. He said, 'You do realize that one day you will be queen?' And a voice said to me inside, 'You won't be queen, but you will have a tough role . . .'

"'Yes,' I said, 'I love you so much, I love you so much.' He said, 'Whatever love means.' . . . and so he ran upstairs and rang his mother," Diana added.

The bizarre proposal wouldn't be the only time Diana would hear Charles utter "whatever love means," as he would it again during their first post-engagement interview.

Did you think Charles and Diana's marriage would last?

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