Featured Image Credit: Fox Photos / Stringer / Anwar Hussein / Contributor / Getty Images
Topics: Princess Diana, Royal Family, King Charles III, UK News
Mia Williams
Topics: Princess Diana, Royal Family, King Charles III, UK News
Princess Diana chose to remove one word from her wedding vows to Charles after going through emotional agony before the big day.
It’s no secret to anyone that Princess Diana was one to go against the grain and break tradition.
She was the nation's sweetheart, and everybody loved the elegance yet normality she brought to the Royal Family.
And her attitude was no different when it came to her wedding day, marrying the now King Charles.
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Just 20 years old, she married Prince Charles on 29 July 1981 - nearly 43 years ago.
However, she actually chose to take one key word out of her vows.
Royal brides that came before her such as Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, and Princess Anne, all vowed to ‘obey’ their husbands during the ceremony, but Diana steered clear of this promise.
Instead, she said during the widely-watched ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral that she would ‘love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health’ - but not obey…we’re with you girl!
The New York Times reported that Charles and Diana held some ‘very serious’ discussions about including (and, ultimately, excluding) the word, with none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Dr. Robert Runcie.
Dr. Edward Carpenter, the Dean of Westminster Abbey, reported that he was actually ‘delighted’ with the modern approach.
He said: “Marriage is the kind of relationship where there should be two equal partners, and if there is going to be a dominant partner, it won’t be settled by this oath.
“I think this is much more Christian.”
At the same time, Diana was going through personal heartbreak and almost called the wedding off altogether.
Diana admitted in Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story that she had growing concerns about Charles having an emotional affair with his now wife, Queen Camilla.
She reportedly discovered Charles had bought Camilla a personalised bracelet prior to the wedding.
In a bombshell admission, Diana actually wanted to call the whole thing off entirely, but her sisters, Lady Sarah and Lady Jane, talked her out of it.
She also noted that on their honeymoon, her new husband wore cufflinks that were given to him by Camilla.
The absolute audacity…
Charles and Diana separated in 1992, and finalised their divorce in 1996.
Tragically, one year and three days later, Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris at just 36 years old, leaving behind her two boys, William and Harry.