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Princess Diana was first introduced to viewers of The Crown, a Netflix series, after three fantastic seasons. The fourth season of The Crown, which debuted two years ago, focused on the marriage of the late princess and the then-Prince Charles (now King Charles), including how and when they first met, Diana’s subsequent integration into the royal family, and how Camilla Shand (currently the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom) fits into their timeline.
With a few deviations connected to Princess Margaret, Prince Charles’ aunt, and the couple’s previous marriage, the season mostly accurately captures the dynamics of Charles and Diana’s relationship. Sally Bedell Smith, a royal historian, asserts that Charles and his aunt did not have a close relationship as is implied throughout the season. However, ironically, Margaret was one of the few royals who had been kind and welcoming to the late princess in real life, Smith added. In another scene, Margaret expresses her disapproval of Prince Charles’ marriage to Diana on the grounds that she knows he still loves Camilla.
However, the chronology of significant occasions and encounters between Charles and Diana over the season is largely accurate. Following Camilla Shand’s (Emerald Fennell) entrance from Season 3 as she first meets the Prince of Wales (Josh O’Connor) at a polo match, which supposedly did occur in the early ’70s, actress Emma Corrin joins the program as the well-known late royal princess. The royal couple’s marriage breakdown and the chilly media mind games that followed will be explored in Season 5 of The Crown, which is now available to stream on Netflix. Here’s a quick recap of how one of the most well-known couples in history got their start.
According to The Telegraph, 29-year-old Charles first met 16-year-old Diana Spencer at the Spencer family’s Althorp residence in 1977.
“We sort of met in a plowed field,” the real Lady Diana previously said in an interview following their engagement in 1981, four years after their first encounter, adding that her first impression of Charles was that he was “pretty amazing.”
“I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was,” Charles also recalled in the interview. “I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything.”
Charles was invited when Diana Spencer’s sister, Sarah Spencer, who was already one of his pals, organized a shooting party with him as one of the attendees. Diana subsequently described how Charles approached her and requested her to show him the gallery after there had been dinner and dancing.
“For a 16-year-old, for someone like that to show any attention was just so, sort of amazed,” she said in private tapes that were made public in the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words. “Why would anyone like that be interested in me?”
When Charles’ 30th birthday party rolled around, the Spencer sisters were both invited, and they just briefly crossed paths again during that event.
However, when Diana accepted an invitation to spend the night at her friend Philip de Pass’s house while the Prince of Wales was also there, things heated up once more. When the two had some time to themselves, Diana expressed sympathy for Charles, remembering how dejected he appeared during the funeral of Lord Mountbatten (Prince Philip’s “Uncle Dickie”).
They didn’t spend much time together before getting engaged, despite the fact that they frequently spoke on the phone and that Charles encouraged Diana to go out with him and the royal family.
“We met 13 times and we got married,” the princess revealed in the footage.
Finally getting married in 1981, Charles and Diana had two sons (Prince William and Prince Harry) before divorcing in 1996. The ill-fated love story of the former couple may already be known to royal aficionados and the majority of the general public, but The Crown’s fourth season brings it to life. And in the recently released Season 5 of the program, there is still more to come on the relationship’s eventual demise.
