Queen Diana's son. Princess Diana: biography, personal life, family, husband, children - photo. Princess Diana's husband - Charles Windsor

home Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana, Princess of Wales), née Diana Francis Spencer (July 1, 1961, Sandringham, Norfolk - August 31, 1997, Paris) - from 1981 to 1996 the prince's first wife Welsh Charles

, heir to the British throne. Popularly known as Princess Diana, Lady Diana or Lady Di. According to a 2002 poll conducted by the BBC, Diana was ranked third on the list of the hundred greatest Britons in history.

Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk to John Spencer. Her father was Viscount Althorp, a branch of the same Spencer-Churchill family as the Duke of Marlborough, and.

Diana's paternal ancestors were of royal blood through the illegitimate sons of King Charles II and the illegitimate daughter of his brother and successor, King James II. The Earls Spencer have long lived in the very center of London, in Spencer House.

Diana spent her childhood in Sandringham, where she received her primary education at home. Her teacher was governess Gertrude Allen, who also taught Diana's mother. She continued her education in Sealfield, at a private school near King's Line, and then at Riddlesworth Hall preparatory school.

When Diana was 8 years old, her parents divorced. She stayed to live with her father, along with her sisters and brother. The divorce had a profound impact on the girl, and soon a stepmother appeared in the house, who disliked the children.

In 1975, after the death of her grandfather, Diana's father became the 8th Earl Spencer and she received the courtesy title "Lady", reserved for the daughters of high peers. During this period, the family moved to the ancient ancestral castle of Althorp House in Notthrogtonshire.

At the age of 12, the future princess was accepted into a privileged girls' school at West Hill, in Sevenoaks, Kent. Here she turned out to be a bad student and could not graduate. At the same time, her musical abilities were beyond doubt. The girl was also interested in dancing. In 1977 a short time

attended school in the Swiss city of Rougemont. Once in Switzerland, Diana soon began to miss home and returned to England ahead of schedule. Princess Diana's height:

178 centimeters.

In the winter of 1977, before leaving for training, I met my future husband for the first time - when he came to Althorp to hunt.

In 1978 she moved to London, where she first stayed in the apartment of her mother (who was then spending most time in Scotland). As a gift for her 18th birthday, she received her own apartment worth £100,000 in Earls Court, where she lived with three friends. During this period, Diana, who had previously adored children, began working as a teacher’s assistant in kindergarten Young England in Pimilico.

The wedding of Charles and Diana, which took place on July 29, 1981, attracted a lot of public and media attention. In 1982 and 1984, the sons of Diana and Charles were born - the Princes and the Princes of Wales, who are next in line to inherit the British crown after their father.

By the early 1990s, relations between the spouses were upset, in particular due to Charles's ongoing relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles (later, after the death of Diana, who became his second wife).

Diana herself had a close relationship with her riding instructor, James Hewitt, for some time, which she admitted in a 1995 television interview (a year earlier, Charles made a similar admission about his relationship with Camilla).

The marriage broke up in 1992, after which the couple lived separately, ending in divorce in 1996 on the initiative of the Queen.

Shortly before her death, in June 1997, Diana began dating film producer Dodi al-Fayed, the son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed, but apart from the press, this fact was not confirmed by any of her friends, and this is also denied in the book of Lady Diana’s butler, Paul. Barrel, who was a close friend of the princess.

Diana was actively involved in charitable and peacekeeping activities (in particular, she was an activist in the fight against AIDS and the movement to end production anti-personnel mines).

She was one of the most popular women of her time in the world. In Great Britain has always been considered the most popular member royal family, she was called the “Queen of Hearts” or “Queen of Hearts”.

On June 15-16, 1995, Princess Diana made a short visit to Moscow. She visited the Tushino Children's Hospital, charitable assistance which she provided previously (the princess donated medical equipment to the hospital), and Primary secondary school No. 751, where she solemnly opened a branch of the Waverly House Foundation for helping disabled children.

On June 16, 1995, a ceremony was held to present Princess Diana with the International Leonardo Prize at the British Embassy in Moscow.

Death of Princess Diana

On August 31, 1997, Diana died in Paris in a car accident along with Dodi al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul. Al-Fayed and Paul died instantly, Diana, taken from the scene (in the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge on the Seine embankment) to the Salpêtrière hospital, died two hours later.

The cause of the accident is not entirely clear; there are a number of versions (the driver was intoxicated, the need to escape at speed from being pursued by paparazzi, as well as various conspiracy theories). The only surviving passenger of the Mercedes S280 with the number "688 LTV 75", bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones, who was seriously injured (his face had to be reconstructed by surgeons), does not remember the events.

On December 14, 2007, a report was presented by the ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, Lord John Stevens, who stated that the British investigation confirmed the findings that the amount of alcohol in the blood of the car driver, Henri Paul, at the time of his death was three times higher than the French limit. legislation In addition, the speed of the car exceeded the permissible speed in this place by two times. Lord Stevens also noted that the passengers, including Diana, were not wearing seat belts, which also played a role in their deaths.

Princess Diana was buried on September 6 at the Spencer family estate of Althorp in Northamptonshire, on a secluded island.

Who did Princess Diana interfere with?

Diana was repeatedly called "the most photographed woman in the world" (some sources share this title between her and Grace Kelly).

Many books have been written about Diana in various languages. Almost all of her friends and close collaborators spoke with their memories. There are several documentaries and even feature films. There are both fanatical admirers of the memory of the princess, who even insist on her holiness, and critics of her personality and the pop cult that has arisen around her.

As part of the album Black Celebration (1986) by Depeche Mode, the composition “New Dress” was released, in which the author of the words and music, Martin Gore, played out in an ironic form the extent to which the media paid close attention to the life of Princess Diana.

2. April 23, 1983. Princess Diana holding Prince William at Government House in Auckland New Zealand, during an official visit.

3. September 24, 1985. Princess Diana and Prince Charles introduce their three-year-old son Prince William to kindergarten headmistress Jane Mynors.

4. January 15, 1987. Diana, Princess of Wales accompanies her son William on his first day of school.

5. September 1989: Princess Diana with sons Harry and William during Prince Harry's first day at school, Notting Hill, London.

6. March 1, 1991. Princess Diana and her son Prince William in Cardiff during his first official presentation.

7. September 1995: The Prince and Princess of Wales at Eton College with Principal Dr Andrew Gailey during Prince William's first day at the institution.

8. August 16, 1997. The Prince of Wales and his sons Princes William and Harry at Muick Falls on the Balmoral Estate, Scotland, during the summer holidays.

9. August 31, 1997. Prince Charles and his two sons, Princes William and Harry, leave church on the Balmoral estate after morning service. On this day they learned that Princess Diana had died in a car accident in Paris.

10. September 6, 1997: Princess Diana's sons Prince William and Prince Harry with their father Prince Charles and uncle Earl Spencer outside Westminster Abbey on the day of Diana's funeral.

11. March 24, 1998. Prince William greets the crowd during his visit to a school in Burnaby, Canada. William and Harry visited Canada for a six-day visit, their first official trip since the death of their mother Princess Diana.

12. June 2000. Two photographs to mark Prince William's eighteenth birthday. William was one of Eton's group of "prefects". In total, it consisted of 21 students who were responsible for 1,280 boys at Eton. "Prefects" were allowed to wear any frock coat of their choice. They were responsible for discipline among students. The Institute of Prefects was established at Eton in 1811.

13. August 4, 2000. Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during celebrations of the Queen Mother's centenary. From left to right: Princess Anne, Peter Philips, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, Prince Andrew, Princess Margaret, The Queen Mother, Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie Wessex, Prince William, Prince Charles, Prince Harry.

14. December 7, 2000. Prince William prepares timber to strengthen a bridge during his expedition to Tortel, southern Chile.

15. September 23, 2001. Prince William greets those gathered outside St Andrew's University in Scotland on his first day of study at the institution.

16. April 5, 2002. Prince Charles and his son Prince William follow the Queen Mother's coffin in a funeral procession.

17. June 4, 2002. Princes Harry and William attend Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations Buckingham Palace.

18. June 17, 2003. Stamps featuring Prince William, issued by Royal Mail to mark William's 21st birthday. They went on sale four days before the prince's birthday.

19. June 21, 2003. A man dressed as Osama Bin Laden to celebrate Prince William's birthday in Windsor Castle. British Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered an immediate investigation after an unknown person broke into a closed event at Windsor Castle, where about 300 guests were present.

20. April 9, 2005. Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, the former Camilla Parke Bowles, and Princes William and Harry leave Guildhall in Windsor after Prince Charles's wedding.

21. June 23, 2005. Kate Middleton and Prince William on graduation day from St Andrew's University.

22. October, 2005. HRH Prince William during his army training course at Westbury in Wiltshire. Buckingham Palace has announced that William will join the army next year as a military officer at Sandhurst Military Academy.

23. Her Majesty the Queen with her grandson Prince William during the parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

24. February 10, 2007. Prince William and Kate Middleton watch a rugby match at Twickenham Stadium in London. The second photo shows them at the Cheltenham Festival, March 13, 2007.

25. July 1, 2007. Prince William and Prince Harry attend a concert in memory of Princess Diana at Wembley Stadium in London, which was held on the late princess's 46th birthday.

26. April 11, 2008. Prince William and Kate Middleton after their graduation ceremony from the Royal Academy air force in Lincolnshire. Twenty-five-year-old William completed an intensive course and received the rank of pilot.

27. June 18, 2009. Princes William and Harry at Shawberry Air Force Base, where they were both trained to fly a helicopter. William trained as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, and Harry trained as a military aircraft pilot.

28. January 18, 2010. Prince William and Sir Paul Reeves, the former Governor-General, greet each other in Maori fashion during the Prince's visit to New Zealand, Prince William's first overseas visit.

29. June 15, 2010. Princes William and Harry hold an African python during a visit to science Center Mokolodi in Gaborone, Republic of Botswana. The princes visited Africa for a six-day visit, visiting Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.

30. November 16, 2010. Prince William's engagement was officially announced at St. James's Palace in London.

Biography, life story of Princess Diana of Wales

Diana Frances Spencer is the first wife of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles of Wales.

Childhood

Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Norfolk on the private estate of the Windsor dynasty Sandringham. The girl's father, John Spencer, was Viscount Elthropa, a member of the Spencer-Churchill family (the same family included the Duke of Marlborough and). Diana's paternal ancestors came from royal families through the illegitimate son of King Charles II and the illegitimate daughter of James II. Frances Rood, Diana's mother, was also from an aristocratic family.

Little Diana spent her childhood years in her native Sandringham Palace. There the girl received her primary education at home. The first grains of knowledge were laid in her by the experienced governess Gertrude Allen, who at one time taught Diana’s mother. A little later, Diana entered the Silfield private school, and then preparatory school Riddlesworth Hall.

In 1969, Diana's parents divorced. The girl remained to live with her father in her home. Diana's sisters and brother stayed with them. The eight-year-old girl was very upset about the separation of those closest to her. Soon John Spencer married for the second time. The new stepmother did not like the children. Living in her own family was becoming harder and harder for Diana every day.

When Diana was twelve years old, she was accepted into a privileged school for girls in Kent. Alas, Diana was unable to cope with her studies; she was never able to finish school. However, teachers noted her unconditional talent for music and dancing.

In 1975, Diana's grandfather, John's father, died. John Spencer automatically became the eighth Earl of Spencer, and Diana herself received the title of Lady. At the same time, the whole family moved to the ancient ancestral castle of Althorp House (Nottroughtonshire).

Youth

In 1977, Diana entered school in Rougemont (Switzerland). Soon the girl began to feel very homesick. As a result, in 1978, she decided to return to her native England. At first, Diana lived in the London apartment of her mother, who at that time spent most of her time in Scotland. Two years later, in honor of her eighteenth birthday, Diana received an apartment in Earls Court as a gift. There she lived for some time with three friends. To earn her living, the hardworking Lady Diana worked as an assistant teacher at the Young England kindergarten (Pimlico, central London). Dina adored children, so work was a joy for her.

CONTINUED BELOW

Diana met her future husband in the winter of 1977. At that time, Prince Charles came to Althrop to hunt. Diana took a liking to the noble young man at first sight.

On July 29, 1981, Diana and Charles were married at St. Paul's Cathedral (London). Diana looked simply magical - her lush silk taffeta dress with huge sleeves, a deep neckline and a long train, decorated with hand embroidery, pearls and rhinestones, became one of the most famous outfits in history. The image of the happy bride was completed by an incomparable tiara, an heirloom from Diana’s family. Three and a half thousand guests were invited to the wedding ceremony, and the wedding process in live seven hundred and fifty million people watched.

In 1982, Diana gave birth to a son. The firstborn was named. Two years later, another child appeared in the family - a son.

In the early 1990s, the relationship between Diana and Charles turned cold. The discord between the spouses occurred due to intimate relationships Prince Charles with Camilla Parker Bowles married woman, whom Charles dated before his wedding to Diana. Diana herself, a prominent and attractive woman, kept in touch for some time with James Hewitt, her own riding instructor. As a result, in 1992, Diana and Charles separated, but decided not to file a divorce. The queen insisted on an official break. In 1996, Diana and Charles signed all the necessary documents.

In 1997, information appeared in the press that Lady Diana began a whirlwind romance with Dodi Al-Fayed, a successful film producer and the son of an Egyptian billionaire. However, neither Diana herself nor her close friends confirmed this fact. It is likely that these were just rumors without any basis.

Social activity

It was not for nothing that Lady Diana was called the “Queen of Hearts” - the woman was famous for her tender attitude towards the people, her care for those who were much less fortunate in this life than herself. Thus, Diana was quite actively involved in charity work, was an activist in the fight against AIDS, was engaged in peacekeeping activities and opposed the production of anti-personnel mines.

In 1995, Princess Diana of Wales visited Moscow. On June fifteenth of that year, Diana visited the Tushino Children's Hospital. Diana donated expensive equipment to the medical institution. The next day, Diana went to primary school No. 751, where a kind-hearted British aristocrat opened a branch of the Waverly House fund for helping disabled children.

Awards and prizes

Princess Diana of Wales was awarded the Queen's Royal Family Order.

In 1982, in the Netherlands, Diana received Grand Cross Order of the Crown. That same year, in Egypt, the princess was awarded a special class of the Order of Virtue.

Death of Princess Diana

On August 31, 1997, Diana, Dodi al-Fayed, Trevor Rhys Jones (bodyguard) and Henri Paul (driver) were involved in a car accident in a tunnel under the Alma Bridge (Seine embankment, Paris). Dodi and Henri died on the spot. Diana was taken to the Salpetriere hospital. For two hours, doctors fought for the life of the “queen of hearts,” but the injuries she received turned out to be incompatible with life. Lady Diana died on hospital bed. Trevor Rhys Jones managed to survive, but his face had to be reconstructed.

The cause of the accident is still unknown. Trevor was unable to reconstruct the chain of events. Journalists put forward several versions of the disaster: Henri Paul's drunkenness, speeding in the hope of breaking away from the paparazzi, and a conspiracy theory against Diana.

In 2007, former Scotland Yard commissioner Lord John Stevens published his report, which stated that alcohol was indeed found in the driver's blood, the car was moving at speeds exceeding the permitted speed, and the passengers were not wearing seat belts. All this together led to the accident.

Princess Diana of Wales was buried on September 6 at Elthrop Estate, Northamptonshire.

Lady Diana and her influence on culture

Many books have been written about Diana in different languages.

In 1986, the British rock band Depeche Mode included the song New Dress in their album, which talks about the too close attention of reporters to Diana’s personal life.

In 1997, the Soviet and Russian rock group "

Camilla Parker Bowles, now Duchess of Cornwall, for a long time was perceived only as a destroyer of the family hearth of Elizabeth's eldest son and a tormentor of the beloved Princess Diana. And Charles himself was considered a heartless traitor. And only now, when 15 years have passed since the death of Lady Di and passions have subsided a little, it became clear that in fact this story was not as clear-cut as it seemed before.

Camilla met Charles back in 1970. Or, more precisely, Charles's ex-girlfriend brought them together. By that time, the beautiful Lucia Santa Cruz, the daughter of the Chilean ambassador in London, had become a little bored with the company of the Prince of Wales, then still a student at Cambridge. On the one hand, Lucia did not feel any shortage of gentlemen, but on the other, it was clear that the crown prince would not marry her. So she brought one of her socialite friends to Charles and introduced her: “This is Camilla Shand, she’s exactly the kind of girl you need!”

The prince accepted the “retirement” that Lucia gave him relatively easily. Charles had more than enough girls at that time. He followed the advice of Lord Mountbatten, his favorite relative and uncle to Charles's father. “While you are young and free, you need to have fun to the fullest, since you can have as much fun as possible with big amount beauties. And then settle down and marry a suitable girl, preferably a virgin!” – he repeated to his nephew more than once. As a result, Charles managed to flirt with the daughter of the British ambassador to Spain, Georgiana Russell, and with Princess of Luxembourg Marie-Astrid, and with the aristocrats Lady Jane Wellesley and Lady Tryon, and with the model Fiona Watson, and with the actress Susan George... So Charles easily switched to new novel– with Camille Shand. At that time, the prince could foresee that this would not be just another affair, but the love of his life.

The novel began very intriguingly, just like in a romantic movie. “You know, my great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather Edward VII. Maybe you and I should try too?” – at the first meeting, Camilla stunned the prince with her proposal. And they tried...

Lord Mountbatten always claimed to be a mentor in Charles' life. Noticing that this time the prince was carried away much more seriously than he had advised, and was even thinking about marrying Camilla, he became seriously worried. He had his own plans for the future of the heir. And besides, the lord considered Miss Shand a completely unsuitable bride.

With Camilla’s origins, everything was not bad - after all, maternal line she was the granddaughter of Lord Ashcombe. The father, although he could not be considered an aristocrat, was a very wealthy man accepted at court. But the reputation of Camilla herself, from Mountbatten’s point of view, left much to be desired.

The girl, who grew up in a family mansion, has never been denied anything since childhood. On Milla’s fifth birthday – that’s what everyone called her then – she was given her own pony. And she, while still very young, was allowed to hunt foxes on horseback, where, following the adults, the girl rushed through the forest on her faithful pony.

Milla loved hunting. She was not yet 13 years old when she received her “baptism of fire.” According to tradition, her cheek was smeared with the blood of a fox killed that day - it was something like a rite of passage to become a hunter. The girl was so proud of the honor bestowed upon her that she had to be forced to wash her face the next morning.

Milla did not shine at school, but not because she was incapable of studying. Unlike Diana, who failed her matriculation exams twice, she passed the necessary tests with varying degrees of success. But all her thoughts were occupied with various kinds of pranks - like an idea to secretly climb onto the roof of the school to smoke. It is not surprising that Milla's classmates admired Milla's daring and courage. Boys always swarmed around Camilla, although there were girls in the class much more beautiful than her. But she was the funniest and the most witty, and her risky bathroom jokes often made even the guys blush. And even then it was clear that she simply had a fiery temperament.

Camilla said goodbye to innocence when she was 17 years old. She did it in such a way that everyone she knew knew about it. Her “number 1” was 19-year-old Kevin Burke, the son of an aircraft industrialist. She met him at the Debutante Ball. With Kevin, Camilla openly drove around London and the surrounding area in his bright yellow Jaguar (she called the luxury car an “egg”), not missing a single party. But it was all over pretty quickly. “We had fun, I thought we had - real love, but Camilla left me!” – admitted the wounded Kevin, who considered himself a real playboy. She met the brilliant cavalry captain, handsome heartthrob Andrew Parker-Bowles, and became seriously infatuated - or so it seemed to her at the time. But for Andrew, Camilla became just one of his many girls.

She met Charles just when she was trying to forget about Andrew. And she succeeded - Camilla and Charles fell seriously in love with each other.

Concerned Lord Mountbatten reminded his nephew main principle of a real man: “Never marry someone you’ve already slept with!” But the suggestion did not help, and he decided to act by cunning, getting Charles recalled on a long campaign as a naval officer.

When the ship set sail with the prince on board, Andrew Parker-Bowles came into play again. Now he saw Camilla as not just one of his “exes”, she was a girlfriend crown prince. The girl became a desired “prey” for him. Wresting away Charles's mistress was a task worthy of a real womanizer. Andrew proposed to Camilla and she accepted! What could she do? In the end, Camilla once liked Andrew, but the prince sailed to distant lands, he did not offer her his hand and heart, he did not even swear eternal love..

When Charles returned from a hike and found out that his girlfriend was getting ready for the wedding, he was shocked “I can only hope that the unbearable emptiness in my soul will be filled with time!” – the prince wrote to Mountbatten. And he offered an excellent cure for Charles’s wounded heart: he introduced the prince to his granddaughter Amanda Knatchbull, whom, as it turned out, he had been secretly preparing for a long time to be the bride of the heir to the throne. The only problem was that Amanda was too young, she was only 17. Charles agreed to wait: he had lost Camilla, and he didn’t care who he married... But then fate intervened in Mountbatten’s plans - he fell victim to an explosion caused by the Irish terrorist. And Amanda decided to refuse the prince - after all, in that terrorist attack she lost not only her grandfather, but also her grandmother and younger brother. Now the thought of intermarrying with the royal family did not seem attractive to her at all.

Charles, who was constantly under pressure from his parents, simply needed to get married. Queen Elizabeth was especially worried - the prince was already 32 years old, and he still did not have a legal heir. And then the prince remembered 19-year-old Diana Spencer. He had known Earl Spencer's youngest daughter since he was courting her. older sister Sarah. He proposed to Diana - and made the biggest mistake of his life. They say that Camilla herself approved the candidacy of the young Lady Di.

It is even alleged that Charles proposed marriage to his bride in the garden that belonged to the Parker Bowles. Camilla and Diana had known each other for a long time, meeting at receptions and parties. Camilla liked that Diana was so young and inexperienced. Mrs. Parker-Bowles thought that the young naive countess would become an obedient wife, behind whose back she could continue her relationship with Charles.

Milla herself did not remain faithful to Parker-Bowles for long. Less than a couple of years later, her affair with Charles broke out with new strength. He baptized Camilla and Andrew's son and since then regularly visited their home as a godfather. But he didn’t behave like a relative. He often came in secret, sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the guests to go home and the legal spouse to go to sleep in his room.

Did Diana know about Charles and Camilla's affair before her marriage? Probably yes. In any case, she was aware that just a couple of days before his wedding he gave Mrs. Parker Bowles a gift. A bracelet engraved with his and Camilla's initials (more precisely, the first letters of the joke nicknames they came up with for each other - Gladys and Fred, characters from a radio show in the 50s). And in letters to her stepmother, written during the time of Charles’s marriage, Diana mentioned a certain dangerous lady threatening her relationship with the prince.

During the TV show, where Diana and Charles were invited after the engagement was announced, an unpleasant incident occurred. The host asked a seemingly trivial question: do they love each other? Diana replied: “Of course, yes!” But the groom, after a pause, mumbled: “It depends
in what sense do you understand the word “love”…” He simply could not lie publicly. So, not yet getting married, Charles disgraced Lady Di. She could have called off the engagement. Apparently, it was worth doing - both for her and his benefit...

In the mid-80s, when scandals began in the family of Charles and Diana, everyone unanimously condemned him and sympathized with her. After all, Diana was so beautiful, bright, talented.

No one liked Charles at that time, no one wanted to notice either his suffering or the fact that he was not a gray mediocrity! By the way, Charles became the first heir to the throne in the entire history of England to successfully graduate from Cambridge, where he studied history and archeology. The prince performed on the stage of the student theater, not without success, and played the piano and trumpet beautifully. And as a cellist he performed with a symphony orchestra. Charles has a wonderful voice - a sonorous bass; he has repeatedly participated in choral concerts where complex classical music was performed. And his talent as an artist, in the end, had to be recognized even by his most ardent ill-wishers. After all, only lithographs made from landscapes painted in watercolor last years sold out for four million pounds. And all these funds went to charities Charles! He was involved in charity no less than Diana, but he did it without making a fuss and without inviting photographers.

As for his love for Camilla, no obstacles could stop this passion. He met his beloved in secret - either at his Highgrove estate, which Diana did not like and where she visited extremely rarely, or at the house of their mutual friends Van Cutsem, or even at the mansion of Camilla herself - especially when her husband was away.

Besides love, they had so much in common - they both loved hunting, rural life, classical music. They often drew together: as it turned out, Camilla was also not without talent.

They suited each other perfectly - as they say in Britain, like pepper and salt. In addition, Camilla knew how to cheer up the melancholic Charles and, most importantly, was always on his side in everything. And he appreciated her support. After all, since childhood, Charles was deprived of the love of his parents - his strict father considered him a “spineless wimp,” and Elizabeth did not want to contradict her husband, relying on him to raise their children.

And what letters Camilla wrote to her beloved! It was them who were later found by Lady Di, which served as the reason for breaking off her relationship with Charles. “My precious one, do not torment yourself with guilt for your betrayal of Diana. You are not to blame for anything, be above her attacks. My love will be with you forever...” Camilla called Diana in her letters “a ridiculous creature.” And she called Mrs. Parker Bowles nothing more than “Rottweiler.”

The two rivals clashed openly only once. At one of the receptions, Diana asked to be left alone with Camilla. “I know everything about you and Charles, don’t take me for an idiot!” - Diana shouted. “You have everything, all the men on the planet are in love with you. What else do you need? - Camilla answered. “I need my husband, give me back my husband!” – Diana did not let up. But did she love Charles? Rather, she fought for her legal rights...

After death ex-wife Charles decided to talk to his mother about a possible marriage to Camilla. By then she had also divorced her husband. “I don’t want to hear about this vicious woman, much less have anything to do with her!” - said the queen.

This time Charles had the tenacity to insist on his own. He began to take Camilla out into the world as his constant companion and even dared to kiss her in public.

Seven years later, Elizabeth had to admit defeat. She could not allow the heir to compromise the royal family by demonstrating to the whole world that he was living with his mistress. The Queen gave her consent to the marriage. After 35 years since the beginning of their romance, they finally became husband and wife.

The queen did not pay any attention to the wedding ceremony, but at the post-wedding banquet she said: “Well, I’m glad that my son has finally united with the woman he loves!” And as a sign of her final reconciliation with her son’s choice, this year she awarded Camilla an unprecedented honor: during the celebrations - the celebration of her diamond jubilee - it was Charles’s wife who was next to Elizabeth. And in the queen’s landau, and during the parade of ships on the Thames, and at the anniversary concert...

The only question that still remains unresolved is when Charles inherits the throne, will Camilla become Queen of Great Britain? For now, she resolutely refuses the title, declaring that she would prefer to be called princess consort - solely out of respect for the memory of Princess Di, who was supposed to become a real queen, but, unfortunately, did not. And who knows what will happen next...

The wedding took place on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Prince Charles of Wales and lady Diana Spencer. This celebration, which cost the treasury almost 3 million pounds, was dubbed the “wedding of the century” in the press. Diana, in her wedding dress with a long train and tiara, looked like a princess from a fairy tale marrying the heir to the throne. The question of whether this marriage was concluded for love or whether Diana was at that time the most suitable candidate for the role of the wife of the future king remains open, and the history of the relationship between Prince Charles and Lady Di ended sadly. Having been married for 15 years, the couple officially divorced - a year before tragic death Diana in a car accident. AiF.ru recalls how the short-lived relationship between Prince Charles and Lady Diana began and developed, who, without becoming the Queen of Britain, forever remained the “queen of people’s hearts.”

The Prince of Wales met his future bride in 1977, when she was only 16 years old. At that time, Charles was in a relationship with Diana's 22-year-old sister Sarah. There is a version that this romance came to an end after the girl, having met two reporters in a restaurant, carelessly shared with them the details of her personal life, including her addiction to alcohol, weight problems and numerous affairs, as well as the fact that She has already started collecting clippings from newspapers and magazines that talk about her “royal romance” to show her grandchildren. The article was published, and Charles, as you might guess, found his lover’s behavior unacceptable and stupid, immediately ending the relationship and turning his attention to the younger Spencer. Despite the fact that many considered the wedding of Diana and Charles to be the reason for the cooling of relations between the sisters - allegedly Sarah never forgave her sister for not marrying the prince - Lady Di's biographer insists that Sarah was one of the few , whom Diana trusted completely, and besides, the sisters often appeared together at special events.

Wedding of Prince Charles and Diana. 1981 Photo: flickr.com / Laura Loveday

By the time she met the heir to the British crown, Diana Spencer, the daughter of a viscount, who came from the same family as Winston Churchill, and was a paternal carrier of royal blood through the illegitimate children of kings Charles II And James II, has already received the title “lady”. It was granted to her as the daughter of a high peer when her father became 8th Earl Spencer in 1975. Diana's family moved from London to the family castle of Althorp House in Notthrogtonshire, where the royal family came to hunt. Diana received a good education first at home, then in private schools in England and Switzerland. All this, coupled with her aristocratic upbringing, musical abilities, the girl’s external attractiveness and, as everyone initially thought, a meek character, made her an ideal candidate for the role of the prince’s bride.

A serious relationship between Charles and Diana began in 1980: the young people spent a weekend on a cruise aboard the yacht Britannia, and then Charles invited Diana to the royal summer residence, Balmoral Castle, where he introduced his chosen one to the family. Charles had already turned 30 by that time, it was fitting for him to choose a life partner, so even his mother, the Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for the wedding, although she considered Diana not ready for life in the palace.

On February 3, 1981, after six months of official relations, Charles proposed to Diana, to which she accepted. However, the engagement was kept secret for some time, until February 24, when the future wedding was publicly announced. Diana appeared in public wearing a ring made of 14 diamonds and a huge sapphire, which cost the groom £30,000. He gave the same jewelry, which he inherited from his mother, to his bride Kate Middleton for the engagement of the son of Charles and Diana - Prince William.

Preparations for the wedding took 5 months. It was decided to hold the celebration in the Cathedral of St. Paul, and not in Westminster Abbey, where, as a rule, representatives of the British royal family were married, but where it was not possible to accommodate all the invitees, and they eventually numbered more than 3,500 people. Kings, queens, princes and princesses from all over the world, as well as representatives of the English aristocracy and other high-ranking guests, arrived in London for the ceremony. The procession through the streets of London was watched by a crowd of citizens who welcomed the procession, which consisted of the carriages of Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, members of the royal family, Prince Charles with his brother Andrew. The bride and father were the last to travel to the wedding venue, in a special glass carriage. About 750 million people watched the ceremony broadcast on TV, and they were all waiting for one thing - the bride’s exit from the carriage, when they could finally see her dress in all its glory. And the wait was worth it: Diana’s outfit is still considered the most chic wedding dress in history. A huge silk fluffy skirt, decorated with lace and pearls, puffed sleeves and a 25-meter train - fragile Diana almost got lost in this abundance of expensive colored materials Ivory, but at the same time she looked like a fairy tale heroine come to life. The bride wore a tiara that belonged to her family on her head.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana. 1984 Photo: flickr.com / Alberto Botella

The vows given by the bride and groom in front of the altar were heard (thanks to the speakers) far beyond the cathedral - however, there were some overlays that were later called prophetic. So, Lady Diana could not correctly pronounce the long name of her future husband - Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor - and he, in turn, instead of “I promise to share with you everything that belongs to me,” said “I promise to share with you everything that belongs to you.” " It is also interesting that for the first time the word “obey” was removed from the marriage vows of the spouses.

The family happiness of Diana, who became Princess of Wales, and Charles was short-lived, but in their marriage they had two sons: in 1982, the first-born William was born, and two years later - the youngest, red-haired Henry, who is more often called Harry. According to Diana herself, these years, the first after the birth of their children, were the happiest in the life of their family - Charles and his wife spent almost all their time in the company of each other and their sons, whom they took with them even on official trips. “Family is the most important thing,” Lady Di, who was still with teenage years She adored children and even worked at one time as a teacher in one of the London kindergartens. During this same period, the character of the princess also emerged, who not only chose the names of William and Harry herself, but also hired her own nanny, refusing the royal services, and later, despite a busy schedule of meetings and official visits, tried to pick up her sons from school on her own.

In the mid-80s, Charles resumed his affair with his longtime mistress Camilla Parker Bowles- recordings of telephone conversations confirming adultery were leaked to the press. Diana, in turn, either out of resentment, or in revenge, or out of loneliness, became close to the riding instructor James Hewitt. Journalists' attention to the details of married life royalty forced them to give explanatory interviews - it was impossible to avoid questions. None of them, of course, went into details, but Diana still allowed herself a comment that spread around the world: “There are too many people in my marriage.”

Princess Diana with her sons Harry and William. 1989 Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The princess meant not only Charles’ mistress, who after her death would still become the prince’s legal wife, but also the entire royal family, who took an active part in the life of their young family. Which in itself is quite logical, given Charles' status as a potential future king of Great Britain. Elizabeth II was outraged by the attention of the press that Diana brought upon them with her behavior - the whole world was closely watching her, because the princess was active social life, devoting a lot of time to charity, visiting orphanages, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. She herself walked through a minefield, supporting the campaign to ban the use of anti-personnel mines, donated family money to fight AIDS, attracting numerous famous friends, artists and musicians as sponsors. Her subjects and residents of other countries adored her, and she declared that she wanted to be, first of all, the “queen of people’s hearts,” and not the queen of Britain. Of course, Charles and his affair were out of favor with the people, he was made the main culprit of the unhappy marriage - but his mother and the royal family were, of course, on the side of the heir and could not allow Diana to further spoil his reputation.

To everyone's relief, Diana and Charles officially divorced in August 1996, and Diana ceased to be Her Royal Highness. However, how ex-wife crown prince and mother of the pretenders to the throne, still had to follow protocol. Diana did not stop her charitable activities, and the attention of the press to her person did not wane. It is known that after breaking up with Charles, who no longer tried to hide his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, Lady Di first started an unsuccessful affair with a surgeon of Pakistani origin Hasnat Khan, for whose sake she almost converted to Islam, and later with an Arab multimillionaire Dodi Al-Fayed. It was in his car on the way from a Parisian restaurant that Diana crashed on the evening of August 31, 1997. For Charles, as for the little princes, her death was a blow, despite previous disagreements. Even Queen Elizabeth, seeing how the nation mourned the disgraced princess, filling the square in front of Buckingham Palace with flowers, made an official televised address, expressing her grief at the death of the mother of her grandchildren. As for Charles, he married for the second time only 8 years after Diana’s death - the wedding with Camilla Parker-Bowles was not solemn; they registered their long-standing relationship with the municipal department of Windsor. And, despite the blessing from the royal family, Elizabeth II was not present at the wedding.