Are Princess Diana's Sisters To Blame for Her Failed Marriage To Prince Charles?
Simone Torn
While multiple factors led to Princess Diana and Prince Charles' divorce, Diana's sisters are partially to blame for their doomed marriage. Although Diana's siblings were incredibly supportive of her throughout her troubled union, they helped convince the Princess of Wales to go along with her wedding to Prince Charles.
Prince Charles marrying Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral, London, 29th July 1981 | Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Princess Diana wanted to call off her wedding to Prince Charles
While there are several reasons as to why Diana wanted to call off her engagement to Charles, the main reason took the form of a living, breathing person. Said person is named Camilla Parker Bowles. Just days before tying the knot with the Prince of Wales, she had overheard him talking on the phone with Camilla, saying, "Whatever happens, I will always love you."
Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles walk out of the Ritz January 28, 1999 | UK Press/Getty Images
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This rightfully destroyed Diana, but it was nothing compared to the expensive bracelet he bought just for Camilla. To Diana's dismay, Charles had gotten his mistress a bracelet with their nicknames (Gladys and Fred) engraved into the gift.
In another incident, Diana was with Charles in his study when the phone started ringing. It was a call from Camilla. Diana stood there in anticipation, waiting to see if he dared to pick up the phone. To her horror, he did.
She recalled the "awful" incident in Morton's biography, stating, "I was in his study, talking to him when the telephone rang. It was Camilla. I thought: 'Shall I be nice, or shall I just sit here?' So I thought I'd be nice so I left them to it. It just broke my heart."
Princess Diana's sisters convinced her to go through with her marriage to Prince Charles
Prince Charles and Princess Diana | Kent Gavin/Getty Images
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Diana confided in her sisters, telling them that she didn't want to go through with the wedding. She wanted to be married to someone who loved her, not somebody else. But according to Diana, her sisters pushed her into it, saying it was "too late to chicken out."
"I can't marry him," she told her sisters. "I can't do this. This is absolutely unbelievable."
"Well, bad luck, Duch," her sisters said, according to Diana's tell-all book. "Your face is on the tea-towels, so you're too late to chicken out."
Princess Diana felt like a total outsider within the royal family
Princess Diana In Melbourne, Australia | Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images
Diana was amazed by how cold everyone in the royal family was to her. And according to the Princess, she felt like an "outsider" and an "embarrassment" within the family unit. She even admits in her biography that she was seen as a "problem" for everyone around her because she couldn't adapt to the royal lifestyle.
She reveals in her book, "I was 'a problem,' and they registered Diana as 'a problem.' 'She's different. She's doing everything that we never did. Why? Poor Charles is having such a hard time.'" And as much as she tried to be grateful for her position, Diana still felt like a miserable princess locked up in a tower.
The Princess of Wales attends a gala recital evening at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981 | Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
"One minute I was nobody, and the next minute I was Princess of Wales, mother, media toy, member of this family, you name it," she said. "It was too much for one person at a time."