It was July 29, 1981, when a shy woman in her early twenties Diana Spencer walked down the nave of St Paul Cathedral. In an ivory taffeta and silk dress with a seven meter long train. Waiting for her at the altar, the prince Charles Philip Arthur George, heir to the throne of Great Britain. To watch them, over 750 million viewers worldwide and 600,000 subjects flocked to the streets of the British capital. The first royal wedding worldwide, the most important wedding of the century.
Lei, beautiful and very excited, he, the perfect incarnation of prince charming. Complete with a crystal carriage. A fairytale that, at the time, foreshadowed the tragic end only on a deeper look. In front of the fairytale, behind the “too crowded wedding”. The two were officially engaged on February 24 of the same year. Lady D had chosen a white gold ring with a diamond crown arranged around it a blue sapphire. The same jewel that today shines on the finger of Kate Middleton, wife of her eldest son William.
The bride and groom had only seen each other 12 times before. They were very different, and nothing united them. Between ups and downs, of which any detail (true or alleged) has been told, the marriage will last just over 10 years. To then lead to Queen Elizabeth’s worst nightmare: a divorce request, formalized in 1995. Shortly before the “sad princess”, mother of the two heirs to the throne, William and Harry, had released the famous scandal interview to the BBC. “There were three of us in this wedding, a little too crowded» Diana said, alluding to Camilla Parker Bowles, with her head down and her eyes helpless. A little less than two years later, in August 1997, there was the terrible and deadly crash in the Alma tunnel in Paris.
But let’s get back to that July 29, 1981. The public tale, the private nightmare. As the royal biographer told Sally Bedell Smith in the CNN documentary, entitled The Windsor. the Princess of Wales, walking down the aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral, la he saw immediately, Camilla Parker-Bowles was present at the ceremony. E “She was shocked”: «From which moment, he could concentrate only on the image of Camilla“. And no wonder. Shortly before the wedding, Diana had discovered a gift from Camilla to Carlo: a pair of cufflinks engraved with the letters “G” and “F”, initials of “Gladys” and “Fred”, the nicknames that lovers used in intimacy.
The marriage, on the other hand, had been preceded by two declarations by Prince Charles that did not bode well. Privately, he confided to a friend that he was doing “the right thing for the country,” which was that his marriage to Diana was in fact a duty. In public, to journalists who asked him if he was in love, the prince replied: “Yes, whatever “love” means“. Behind the scenes, both Carlo and Diana they were thinking about it: he, the day before the wedding, wept at the Buckingham Palace window. She confessed to her sisters that she no longer wanted to marry, but they said to her, “Good trouble, it’s full of cups with your face printed on them.”
And the wedding was 40 years, to teach us then how badly a fairy tale can end.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
