Carlos and Diana: from the sit-in of the kings of Spain to the drama of the night before

Forty-one years have passed since one of the most mediated and remembered links of all time. The wedding of Prince Charles and Diana of Wales was for many the finishing touch of a fairy tale, but the reality was very different. As Diana herself revealed years later, her marriage involved three people. For Charles of England, despite social pressures and the need to conform to a stereotype, Camilla Parker was always his true love. Time has proven the couple right and today they are one of the most established and well-matched marriages on the international royal scene. Moreover, even Queen Elizabeth has been able to see the important role of her daughter-in-law – whom she rejected for a while – and gave her one of the most precious gifts: her approval to become queen in the future.

Despite the many stories written about the wedding of the Princes of Wales, the truth is that it only had the facade of a fairy tale. A very young Diana was engaged to an adult Prince Charles, perhaps without even noticing what was written on her. Clear proof of this is what happened the night before the link.

A night marked by nerves and doubts, in which Carlos made an unexpected confession to his then-fiancée. According to Penny Thornton, an astrologer consulted by Diana, Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son told her he didn’t love her, which shocked the princess. Apparently, the heir just wanted to be honest with his future wife and not get married in the middle of a lie. However, this was devastating to her, so much so that she even considered not showing up at St. Paul’s Cathedral the next morning.

Information confirmed by a friend of Diana’s, the doctor James Colthurst: “I remember her growing outrage at what was happening and the fact that the whole organization, as she saw it, was helping to improve the relationship between Camilla and Prince Charles. to keep. . I had moments of extreme anger and wanted to hit the mattress with the tennis racket and things like that,” he said.

Furthermore, the connection was not without problems. Diana’s own dress, which marked an entire era, didn’t look as good as expected because the fabric wrinkled easily. It should be added that the princess had to see the “beloved” of her future husband among the attendees of the wedding, since Camilla did not miss the appointment.

In addition, the wedding took place amid a high-profile controversy with Spain and did not include the presence of Kings Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía. A ‘sit-in’ motivated by Gibraltar. As it turned out, a few days before the wedding, Felipe VI’s father found out that the Princes of Wales would be stopping at the Rock of Gibraltar during their honeymoon, at a time when the situation in Gibraltar had sparked a discussion between Spain and The United Kingdom. Don Juan Carlos himself offered the Britannia an eventual Spanish port to stop at, but Buckingham’s refusal made the kings decide not to attend the wedding. In fact, according to what is said, Don Juan Carlos has even refused to teach English in the past and has used the conflict over the sovereignty of Gibraltar as an excuse.

Following the news, the Spanish government went so far as to formally protest to the British authorities over this stopover on the journey in Gibraltar. A stop that many saw as inconvenient and very negative for relations between the two countries. In London, however, they argued that it was a private matter for the couple and ignored the matter. In addition, some Windsor’s visits to the Rock remain a source of controversy even today.