Princess Diana and King Charles had one of the most captivating and dramatic weddings in the world, but new claims reveal that the fairy tale was cracking before the cake was even cut. King Charles III reportedly wept the night before his 1981 wedding to Princess Diana, not from joy, but because he was still deeply in love with his ex-girlfriend, Camilla. But he wasn’t the only one in tears.“They both cried,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital, adding that Diana, too, was heartbroken and cried the night before her wedding. “Diana was reluctant about marrying Charles, but was told by her sister it was too late. The tea towels with their joint images were already being sold. Charles was given cufflinks with a Camilla insignia, which he wore on his wedding day so that she could be included, which allegedly made him emotional,” Turner added. An affair of the heart—and protocolCharles’ long-standing affection for Camilla has never been royal gossip—it’s a historic record. But the latest wave of commentary underscores just how reluctant he was to marry Diana in the first place. According to People magazine and biographer Sally Bedell Smith, Charles broke down in private the night before the wedding, emotionally torn between personal love and royal obligation.The pressure to marry a “suitable” woman—young, virginal, and of aristocratic blood—was intense. Camilla, divorced and viewed as “unsuitable” by the monarchy and the Church of England, was out of the question.Still, Charles found his own way to keep her close: on the wedding day, he reportedly wore cufflinks engraved with Camilla’s insignia, a silent symbol of defiance or desperation—depending on who you ask.A doomed beginning, a tragic legacyRoyal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News, Charles felt forced into marriage by Prince Philip and other senior royals who wanted him to fulfil his duty. His godmother, Patricia Mountbatten, reportedly warned him against marrying Diana, knowing he was emotionally entangled with Camilla.Even during the honeymoon, tensions simmered. Diana discovered a bracelet Charles had commissioned for Camilla, further fueling suspicions and anguish. The emotional rift widened due to stark age differences, opposing interests, and Diana’s growing mental health struggles, including bulimia.“From the start, the public preferred the princess, though privately she was angst-ridden and bulimic,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News.Camilla’s shadow and Diana’s griefDespite Charles’ emotional turmoil, Diana reportedly entered the marriage with genuine hope. But as she came to understand Camilla’s continuing presence in Charles’ heart—and life—her optimism eroded.Her infamous 1995 BBC interview summed up the tragedy in one piercing line: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”Camilla even attended the wedding, then married to Andrew Parker Bowles and dressed in pale grey, not white as was often rumoured. Her presence was unavoidable, much like her influence on Charles.
