A Jezebel Mom Remembers the Wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Di
In DepthOn this day 34 years ago, Charles, Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer in London, at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The couple arrived from Buckingham Palace via horse-drawn carriage while the world—including my Californian mother—lost their minds with excitement.
In 1981, my parents, whose names happen to be Charles and Diane, were stationed at Lakenheath Air Force base in Suffolk, England. The Los Angeles natives had adjusted pretty well to British life after three years in the rainy country and even welcomed a daughter, me, into the world amid the incomparable international public relations monster that is a British royal wedding.
During that time, the royal couple were inescapable as the press trailed them, documenting every stage of their courtship, including Prince Charles’ on-going side relationship with then-Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall.
As for Princess Diana, the world was in love with her. According to my mother, Prince Charles was an old maid of sorts and it was clear that he needed to get hitched or he was going to ruin his chance at producing a male heir to his mother Queen Elizabeth II’s throne.
“It was absolutely the wedding of the century! You saw what it was like when Prince William married Kate, now imagine that but even bigger,” recalls my mother. “You have to know Prince Charles wasn’t a youngster! The idea at the time was ‘Finally he’s chosen a wife!’ even though he was dating Camilla on the side the whole time.”