“He followed me like a puppy”: where actually King Charles III. met his first wife Diana Spencer

A previous season of The Crown presented this version of events: the handsome and proud Prince Charles rode (and what else would a prince ride?) to Sarah Spencer, Diana’s sister. And nearby he met the future mother of his sons, who, for greater effect, did not train on a mare, but showed off in the costume of the heroine of a Shakespeare comedy.

Diana is believed to have met Charles in November 1977. At Sarah’s invitation, he came to the Spencers at Althorp Manor to hunt pheasants. Such hunting is not done on horseback, so the phenomenon on horseback is definitely an invention of the screenwriters. And it is unlikely that a performance will be arranged for the prince’s visit.

Charles and Diana talked about their first impressions of each other in an engagement interview. The prince noted that he found the girl (Diana, note, was only 16) “cheerful, funny and attractive”, and the royal bride herself recalled that Charles “was invited by her sister” and he turned out to be “a wonderful person. .”

Despite both studiously avoiding the subject, Sarah Spencer cannot be left out of the equation. And she really did have an affair with the prince – that’s why he came to Althorp. And that was far from their only appearance together: Charles and Sarah were repeatedly published together as a couple. But what prevented the development of their romance? According to Lady Sarah, a completely banal matter: she did not love the Queen’s son. He was also “too slow”.

After their first meeting at Althorp, Diana and Charles did not see each other for two years. And then they met at a reception at Balmoral Estate (yes, the same one where Elizabeth II died in September 2022). Charles was extremely upset by the death of Lord Mountbatten – his own uncle Louis, brother of Prince Philip. Louis was shot dead by Irish Republican Army soldiers: a royal relative unaware of the assassination attempt was sailing on his own ship.

The heir to the throne had a very close relationship with the lord – it was said that he literally stood in for Charles’ father, which always greatly irritated Elizabeth’s husband.

It was Louis who encouraged Charles’ romance with the married Camilla Parker-Bowles, and also advised his nephew to find a “pure and sweet bride that people will love”. Well, the prince fulfilled all his uncle’s instructions!

Fun fact: Shortly after Lord’s funeral, Charles proposed to Louis Mountbatten’s granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull, in disorder. But the girl apparently made a reasonable assessment of the situation – and refused. Then the prince went in search of another “pure and sweet”.

When Diana Spencer gave Charles words of comfort about the death of his beloved uncle at the Balmoral reception, he pounced on her with kisses and “walked like a puppy all evening” – Diana herself said about this after the divorce.

Thus began this strange romance. Charles and Diana married in July 1981 when Diana was 20 years old. What happened next, you know.