Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

Date 29 July 1981; 40 years ago[1]

Venue St Paul's Cathedral

Location London, England

Participants

Charles, Prince of Wales

Lady Diana Spencer

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer took place on Wednesday, 29 July 1981,[1] at St Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom. The groom was the heir apparent to the British and Commonwealth thrones, and the bride was a member of the Spencer family.

The ceremony was a traditional Church of England wedding service. Alan Webster, Dean of St Paul's, presided at the service, and Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, conducted the marriage. Notable figures in attendance included many members of other royal families, republican heads of state, and members of the bride's and groom's families. After the ceremony, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The United Kingdom had a national holiday on that day to mark the wedding.[2] The ceremony featured many ceremonial aspects, including use of the state carriages and roles for the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry.

Their marriage was widely billed as a "fairytale wedding" and the "wedding of the century". It was watched by an estimated global television audience of 750 million people.[2][3] Events were held around the Commonwealth to mark the wedding. Many street parties were held throughout the United Kingdom to celebrate the occasion. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996 after fifteen years of marriage.

Engagement

Prince Charles had known Lady Diana Spencer for several years. They first met in 1977 while Charles was dating her elder sister Lady Sarah.[4] He took serious interest in her as a potential bride in 1980 when they were guests at a country weekend, where she watched him play polo. He invited her for a sailing weekend to Cowes aboard the royal yacht Britannia as their relationship began to develop. This was followed by an invitation to Balmoral Castle, the Royal family's Scottish home, to meet his family.[5][6] Diana was well received at Balmoral by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The couple then had several dates in London. Diana and Charles had been seeing each other for about six months when he proposed on 3 February 1981 in the nursery at Windsor Castle. Diana had planned a holiday for the next week, and Charles hoped she would use the time to consider her answer.[7] Diana accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks.[8] Diana later claimed that the couple had met only 13 times in total before the announcement of their engagement.[9]

The wedding of Charles and Diana commemorated on a 1981 British crown coin

Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981,[10] and the couple gave an exclusive interview.[11] During the public announcement of the engagement, Diana wore a "cobalt blue skirt suit" by the British label Cojana.[12][13] Diana selected a large engagement ring that consisted of 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-carat white gold,[3] which was similar to her mother's engagement ring. The ring was made by the Crown jewellers Garrard. In 2010, it became the engagement ring of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.[14] The Queen Mother gave Diana a sapphire and diamond brooch as an engagement present.[15] A series of photographs taken by the Earl of Snowdon were published in Vogue in February 1981 to mark the engagement.[16][17] Clayton Howard did Diana's make-up and John Frieda did her hair for the official portrait.[18]

Two nights before the wedding, a gala ball was held at Buckingham Palace, and the Queen subsequently hosted a dinner for a crowd of 90 individuals.[19] A reception with dancing for 1,500 people was also held. Among the invitees were the royal household's members and staff.[20] The night before the wedding 150 people, including heads of states and governments, were invited for a dinner with the Queen.[20]

In a series of tapes recorded for her 1992 biography, Diana said that she recalled discovering a bracelet which Charles had bought for his longtime lover Camilla Parker Bowles shortly before their wedding. Due to her suspicions she wanted to call off the wedding but was put off the idea by her sisters.[21]

Wedding

Combined coat of arms of Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales

The wedding took place on 29 July 1981. 3,500 guests made up the congregation at St Paul's Cathedral.[7] Charles and Diana selected St Paul's over Westminster Abbey, the traditional site of royal weddings, because St Paul's offered more seating[9] and permitted a longer procession through London.

The ceremony was a traditional Church of England wedding service, presided over by the Most Reverend Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury,[2] and the Very Reverend Alan Webster, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. Two million spectators lined the route of Diana's procession from Clarence House, with 4,000 police and 2,200 military officers to manage the crowds.[7] The security increased and sharpshooters were stationed due to the potential threat of an attack by the Irish Republican guerrillas.[9][19][22] The security screenings in the airports also increased.[23] The cost of the wedding was later estimated to be $48 million in total (between $70M and $110M when adjusted for inflation), with $600,000 being spent on security.[9][24][25] Regiments from the Commonwealth realms participated in the procession, including the Royal Regiment of Canada.[26]

At 10:22 BST the Queen and the royal family were taken to the cathedral in eight carriages, the Prince of Wales in the 1902 State Landau, which was later used following the ceremony to take the couple back to Buckingham Palace.[20] Lady Diana arrived at the cathedral in the Glass Coach with her father, John Spencer; she was escorted by six mounted Metropolitan Police officers.[7] She arrived almost on time for the 11:20 BST ceremony.[2] The carriage was too small to hold the two of them comfortably due to her voluminous dress and train.[9] As the orchestra played Trumpet voluntary, an anthem by Jeremiah Clarke, the bride made the three-and-a-half minute walk up the aisle.[2][27]

Diana accidentally changed the order of Charles's names during her vows, saying "Philip Charles Arthur George" instead of the correct "Charles Philip Arthur George".[2] She did not promise to "obey" him as part of the traditional vows. That word was eliminated at the couple's request, which caused a sensation at the time.[28] Charles also made an error. He said he would offer her "thy goods" instead of "my worldly goods".[29] In keeping with tradition, the couple's wedding rings were crafted from Welsh gold from the Clogau St David's mine in Bontddu.[27] The tradition of using Welsh gold within the wedding rings of the Royal Family dates back to 1923.[20] Upon marriage Diana automatically acquired the title of Princess of Wales.[30]

Other church representatives present who gave prayers after the service were a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, Cardinal Basil Hume, the Right Reverend Andrew Doig and the Reverend Harry Williams CR.[31][27]

Music

Three choirs, three orchestras and a fanfare ensemble played the music for the service. These were the Bach Choir, the Choir of St Paul's Cathedral, the Choir of the Chapel Royal, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and a fanfare ensemble from the Royal Military School.[32] The choirs were conducted by Barry Rose, the choirmaster at St Paul's. The cathedral's organist, Christopher Dearnley; and its sub-organist, John Scott; played the organ. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra were conducted by Sir David Willcocks, who was the director of the Royal College of Music and of the Bach Choir;[33] Richard Popplewell, the organist at Chapel Royal; and Sir Colin Davis, who was the musical director of Covent Garden.[32][31] Music and songs used during the wedding included the "Prince of Denmark's March", "I Vow to Thee, My Country", "Pomp and Circumstance No.4" and the British National Anthem ("God Save the Queen").[31] New Zealand soprano, Kiri Te Kanawa sang "Let The Bright Seraphim" from G. F. Handel's Samson.[20]

Clothing

Diana's wedding dress was valued at £9,000[34] (equivalent to £35,268 in 2020).[35] The dress was made of ivory silk taffeta, decorated with lace, hand embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls. It was designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel and had a 25-foot (7.6 m) train of ivory taffeta and antique lace.[9] The dress was designed according to Diana's wishes who wanted it to have the longest train in the royal wedding history.[9] The bride wore her family's heirloom tiara over an ivory silk tulle veil, and had her hair styled short crop down by hair dresser Kevin Shanley.[36][37] She wore a pair of low-heeled Clive Shilton shoes "with C and D initials hand-painted on her arches" and decorated with 132 pearls.[9] For the customary bridal themes of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue", Diana's wedding dress had an antique lace "made with a fabric spun at a British silk farm" (the "old"), the Spencer family tiara and her mother's earrings (the "borrowed"), and a blue bow sewn into the waistband (the "blue").[38] The official parfumeur of the royal wedding was Houbigant Parfum, the oldest French fragrance company. Diana chose the floral scent Quelques Fleurs, which featured "notes of tuberose, jasmine and rose".[39] She was reported to have accidentally spilled perfume over a part of her dress which she later covered with her hand during the ceremony.[9] The bride also had a pair of slippers made out of hand-made ivory silk with pearl and sequin embroidery.[40] Barbara Daly did the bride's make-up for the ceremony.[39]

Per the Queen's orders, two similar bouquets were prepared for the bride by David Longman which contained "gardenias, stephanotis, odontolglossum orchid, lily of the valley, Earl Mountbatten roses, freesia, veronica, ivy, myrtle and trasdescantia".[41]

Charles wore his full dress naval commander uniform.[42] He also wore stars of the orders of the Garter and the Thistle, the Queen's silver jubilee medal, and "the royal cipher of the Prince of Wales in gold on epaulettes on both shoulders."[20] He carried a "full dress sword tassled in gold."[20]

Attendants

The royal couple had seven bridal attendants. Eleven-year-old Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and eight-year-old Edward van Cutsem, godsons of the Prince of Wales, were page boys. Diana's bridesmaids were seventeen-year-old Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, daughter of the Earl of Snowdon and Princess Margaret;[42] thirteen-year-old India Hicks, daughter of David and Lady Pamela Hicks; six-year-old Catherine Cameron, daughter of Donald and Lady Cecil Cameron and granddaughter of the Marquess of Lothian; eleven-year-old Sarah-Jane Gaselee, daughter of Nick Gaselee and his wife; and five-year-old Clementine Hambro, daughter of Rupert Hambro and the Hon Mrs Hambro and granddaughter of Lord and Lady Soames and great-granddaughter of Winston Churchill.[19][43] Princes Andrew and Edward were the Prince of Wales's supporters (the equivalent of "best man" for a royal wedding).[19]

Guests

Main article: List of wedding guests of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

Prime Minister of New Zealand Robert Muldoon and his wife Thea Muldoon attending the royal wedding

All of the governors-general of the Commonwealth realms, as well as the reigning European monarchs, attended, with the exception of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain. (The Spanish king was "advised" not to attend by his government because the newlyweds' honeymoon included a stopover in the disputed territory of Gibraltar).[44] Most of Europe's elected heads of state were among the guests, with the exceptions of the President of Greece, Constantine Karamanlis (who declined because Greece's exiled monarch, Constantine II, a kinsman and friend of the bridegroom, had been invited as "King of the Hellenes"), and the President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery (who was advised by Taoiseach Charles Haughey not to attend because of the dispute over the status of Northern Ireland).[fn 1] First Lady Nancy Reagan represented the United States at the wedding.[45] Among other invitees were the couple's friends and the bride invited the staff of the nursery school in which she had worked to the wedding.[20] Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe were among the entertainers who were invited to the ceremony by the Prince of Wales.[20]

Reception

The couple and 120 guests went to Buckingham Palace for a wedding breakfast following the ceremony.[7] Diana and Charles made a traditional appearance on a balcony of Buckingham Palace at 13:10 BST, and delighted the crowd when they kissed,[2][7] initiating the tradition of kissing the bride on the balcony.[45] Over the night, fireworks were displayed above Hyde Park and 100 beacons were lit up across the country to celebrate the royal wedding.[20]

The couple had 27 wedding cakes.[9] The Naval Armed Forces supplied the official wedding cake. David Avery, head baker at the Royal Naval cooking school in Chatham Kent, made the cake over 14 weeks. They made two identical cakes in case one was damaged. The Prince of Wales's coat of arms and the Spencer family's crest were used in the decoration of the five-foot-tall layered fruitcake which weighed 225 pounds.[9][46] The couple's other wedding cake was created by Belgian pastry chef SG Sender, who was known as the "cakemaker to the kings".[47] Another wedding cake was created by Chef Nicholas Lodge; Chef Nicholas had previously made the Queen Mother's 80th Birthday Cake and also commissioned to create a Christening Cake for Prince Harry.[48] A slice of the couple's wedding cake was later auctioned off by Julien's Auctions in 2018 and was estimated to sell between $800–$1,200.[49] Another slice sold for £1,850 ($2,565) in a 2021 auction.[50]

An estimated 750 million people watched the ceremony worldwide,[2] and this figure allegedly rose to a billion when the radio audience is added in, although there are no means of verifying these figures.[7] The event was broadcast in 50 countries with near 100 television companies covering it.[20] The wedding ceremony was positively received by the public,[51] and according to The New York Times symbolised "the continuity of the monarchy" in the UK.[27] A number of ceremonies and parties were held at different places by the public to celebrate the occasion across the United Kingdom.[52][53][54] The wedding was widely broadcast on television and radio in many countries, and news channels covered the ceremony in different languages.[55] Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom John Betjeman released a poem in honour of the couple.[52]

A group of people left London and travelled to France and Ireland in protest to the wedding. Others released black balloons over London amidst the wedding procession.[27]

Gifts

1981 Royal Wedding Stamp (New Zealand)

The couple received gifts from foreign officials including "an engraved Steuben glass bowl and a handmade porcelain centerpiece by Boehm" from the US, a set of antique furniture and "a watercolor of loons" by Canadian Robert Bateman for Prince Charles, together with "a large brooch of gold, diamonds and platinum" for Diana from Canada, handcrafted silver platters from Australia, an "all-wool broadloom carpet" from New Zealand, "a matching diamond and sapphire watch, bracelet, pendant, ring, and earrings" from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and a "small oil painting by the American artist Henry Kohler of Prince Charles playing polo", and a clock in Art Deco style by Cartier's chief designer, Daniel Ciacquinot.[9][56] The Edinburgh District Council was among the organisations that made a charitable donation in honour of the couple's wedding and donated $92,500 to the Thistle Fund, "a charity for the disabled".[56] The Greater Manchester Council offered engineering apprenticeships for a small number of unemployed young people, and Cambridge University sent "a spare copy of The Complete English Traveller" by Robert Sanders.[56] The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London presented the couple with gloves made out of leather, silks and cotton. A number of these gifts were displayed at St. James's Palace from 5 August to 4 October 1981.[56]

Honeymoon

A "just married" sign was attached to the landau by Princes Andrew and Edward.[27] The couple was driven over Westminster Bridge to catch the train from Waterloo station to Romsey in Hampshire to begin their honeymoon.[2] The couple left from Waterloo station in the British Royal Train + 975025 Caroline. They travelled to Broadlands, where Prince Charles's parents had spent their wedding night in 1947.[42] They stayed there for three days,[42] then flew to Gibraltar, where they boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia for an eleven-day cruise of the Mediterranean, visiting Tunisia, Sardinia, Greece and Egypt.[27] Then they flew to Scotland, where the rest of the royal family had gathered at Balmoral Castle, and spent time in a hunting lodge on the estate. During that time, the press was given an arranged opportunity to take pictures.[57] Despite their happy appearance, Diana's suspicion over Charles having an enduring affection for his former lover Camilla grew as Camilla's photographs fell out of his diary and Diana discovered that he was wearing cufflinks that were given to him by Camilla.[21][58] By the time the couple returned from their honeymoon, their wedding gifts were displayed at St James's Palace.[20]

Notes

Rubik's cube v3.svg 1980s portal

Crown of Saint Edward Heraldry.svg Monarchy portal

 The period when the advice was given coincided with a change of government. Traditionally Irish presidents and British royalty did not meet publicly because of the Northern Ireland issue.

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Dimbleby, Jonathan (1994). The Prince of Wales: A Biography. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-12996-X.

Morton, Andrew (1997) [1992]. Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-85080-X.

External links

Order of Service for the wedding

"Wedding of Charles and Diana". Times Online. Times Newspapers. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009.

The Royal Wedding Cakes Classic Celebration Cakes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.

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Charles, Prince of Wales

14 November 1948 (age 73)

Titles

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Diana, Princess of Wales

1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997

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(1981–1996)

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Charles, Prince of Wales (former husband)Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (elder son)Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (younger son)John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (father)Frances Shand Kydd (mother)Lady Sarah McCorquodale (sister)Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes (sister)Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (brother)

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Film and

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The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982)Spitting Image (1984–1996)Willi und die Windzors (1996)Diana: Her True Story (1993)Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess (1998)Diana: The Rose Conspiracy (2005)Whatever Love Means (2005)The Queen (2006)Diana: Last Days of a Princess (2007)The Murder of Princess Diana (2007)Diana (2013)The Crown (2020–)Spencer (2021)

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Diana, Princess of Wales (Bryan Organ portrait)"Diana" (Bryan Adams song)

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British royal weddings

19th century

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (1840)Princess Victoria and Prince Frederick (1858)Princess Alice and Prince Louis (1862)Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra (1863)Princess Helena and Prince Christian (1866)Princess Louise and John Campbell (1871)Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (1874)Prince Arthur and Princess Louise Margaret (1879)Prince Leopold and Princess Helena (1882)Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry (1885)Princess Louise and Alexander Duff (1889)Prince George and Princess Mary (1893)Princess Maud and Prince Carl (1896)

20th century

Princess Mary and Henry Lascelles (1922)Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1923)Prince George and Princess Marina (1934)Prince Henry and Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott (1935)Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson (1937)Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten (1947)Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones (1960)Prince Edward and Katharine Worsley (1961)Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy (1963)Prince Richard and Birgitte van Deurs (1972)Princess Anne and Mark Phillips (1973)Prince Michael and Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz (1978)Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (1981)Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson (1986)Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence (1992)Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones (1999)

21st century

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles (2005)Prince William and Catherine Middleton (2011)Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (2018)Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank (2018)Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (2020)

Category Category

Categories: Charles, Prince of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesWedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer1981 in British television1981 in LondonBritish royal weddingsJuly 1981 events in the United KingdomMarriage, unions and partnerships in EnglandParades in LondonRoyal weddings in the 20th centurySt Paul's Cathedral

The Prince of Wales, eldest son of The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace at 9.14pm on 14th November 1948, weighing 7lb and 6oz. 

A proclamation was posted on the Palace railings just before midnight, announcing that Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth had been safely delivered of a son who had been named Charles Philip Arthur George. 

On 15th December, the young Prince Charles was christened in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher.

The Prince's mother was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 25, when her father, King George VI, died aged 56 on 6th February 1952. On The Queen's accession to the throne, Prince Charles - as the Sovereign's eldest son - became heir apparent at the age of three.

The Prince, as Heir to The Throne, took on the traditional titles of The Duke of Cornwall under a charter of King Edward III in 1337; and, in the Scottish peerage, of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

The Prince was four at his mother's Coronation, in Westminster Abbey on 2nd June 1953. Many who watched the Coronation have vivid memories of him seated between his widowed grandmother, now to be known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and his aunt, Princess Margaret.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh decided that The Prince should go to school rather than have a tutor at the Palace and so The Prince started at Hill House school in West London on 7th November 1956.

After 10 months, the young Prince became a boarder at Cheam School, a preparatory school in Berkshire. In 1958 while The Prince was at Cheam, The Queen created him The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. The Prince was nine-years-old.

The Prince of Wales - 1958 to 1968

In April 1962 The Prince began his first term at Gordonstoun, a school near Elgin in Eastern Scotland which The Duke of Edinburgh had attended.

The Prince of Wales spent two terms in 1966 as an exchange student at Timbertop, a remote outpost of the Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.

When he returned to Gordonstoun for his final year, The Prince of Wales was appointed school guardian (head boy). The Prince, who had already passed six O Levels, also took A Levels and was awarded a grade B in history and a C in French, together with a distinction in an optional special history paper in July 1967.

The Prince went to Cambridge University in 1967 to read archaeology and anthropology at Trinity College. He changed to history for the second part of his degree, and in 1970 was awarded a 2:2 degree.

The Prince of Wales - 1968 to 1978

He was invested as Prince of Wales by The Queen on 1st July 1969 in a colourful ceremony at Caernarfon Castle. Before the investiture The Prince had spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, learning to speak Welsh.

On 11th February 1970, His Royal Highness took his seat in the House of Lords.

On 8th March 1971 The Prince flew himself to Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell in Lincolnshire, to train as a jet pilot. At his own request, The Prince had received flying instruction from the RAF during his second year at Cambridge.

In September 1971 after the passing out parade at Cranwell, The Prince embarked on a naval career, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and both his great-grandfathers.

The six-week course at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was followed by service on the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and two frigates.

The Prince qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes. On 9th February 1976, The Prince took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last nine months in the Navy.

The Prince of Wales - 1978 to 1988

On 29th July 1981, The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral who became HRH The Princess of Wales.

The Princess was born on 1st July 1961, at Park House on The Queen's estate at Sandringham, Norfolk. She lived there until the death in 1975 of her grandfather, the 7th Earl, when the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.

Lady Diana's father, then Viscount Althorp and later the eighth Earl Spencer, had been an equerry to both George VI and The Queen. Her maternal grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a close friend and lady in waiting to The Queen Mother.

The Prince and Princess of Wales had two sons: Prince William, born on 21st June 1982; and Prince Harry, born on 15th September 1984.

The Prince of Wales - 1988 to 1998

From the time of their marriage, The Prince and Princess of Wales went on overseas tours and carried out many engagements together in the UK.

On 9th December 1992, The Prime Minister, John Major, announced to the House of Commons that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate.

The marriage was dissolved on 28th August, 1996. The Princess was still regarded as a member of the Royal Family. She continued to live at Kensington Palace and to carry out her public work for a number of charities.

When The Princess was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997, The Prince of Wales flew to Paris with her two sisters to bring her body back to London. The Princess lay in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace until the night before the funeral.

On the day of the funeral, The Prince of Wales accompanied his two sons, aged 15 and 12 at the time, as they walked behind the coffin from The Mall to Westminster Abbey. With them were The Duke of Edinburgh and The Princess's brother, Earl Spencer. 

The Prince of Wales asked the media to respect his sons' privacy, to allow them to lead a normal school life. In the following years, Princes William and Harry, who are second and sixth in line to the throne, accompanied their father on a limited number of official engagements in the UK and abroad.

On 9th April 2005, The Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles were married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor.

After the wedding, Mrs Parker Bowles became known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were joined by around 800 guests at a Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

The Service was followed by a reception at Windsor Castle hosted by Her Majesty The Queen.

The Duchess supports The Prince of Wales in his work. Through the years, His Royal Highness developed a wide range of interests which are today reflected in The Prince of Wales's Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is Patron or President.

These interests are also reflected in the list of more than 400 organisations of which His Royal Highness is Patron or President.

The Prince's interest in fields such as the built environment, global sustainability, youth opportunity, education and faith have been elaborated over many years in a large number of speeches and articles.

The late Diana, Princess of Wales was born The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961 in Norfolk. She received the style Lady Diana Spencer in 1975, when her father inherited his Earldom.

Lady Diana Spencer married The Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981. 

During her marriage the Princess undertook a wide range of royal duties. Family was very important to the Princess, who had two sons: Prince William and Prince Henry (Harry). After her divorce from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal Family. 

Diana, Princess of Wales, died on Sunday, 31 August 1997, following a car crash in Paris.

There was widespread public mourning at the death of this popular figure, culminating with her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 September 1997.

Even after her death, the Princess's work lives on in the form of commemorative charities and projects set up to help those in need.

Childhood and teenage years

Diana, Princess of Wales, formerly Lady Diana Frances Spencer, was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House near Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the youngest daughter of the then Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, now the late (8th) Earl Spencer and the late Hon. Mrs Shand-Kydd, daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Until her father inherited the Earldom, she was styled The Honourable Diana Spencer.

Viscount Althorp was Equerry to George VI from 1950 to 1952, and to The Queen from 1952 to 1954. Lady Diana's parents, who had married in 1954, separated in 1967 and the marriage was dissolved in 1969. Earl Spencer later married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth in 1976.

Together with her two elder sisters Sarah (born 1955), Jane (born 1957) and her brother Charles (born 1964), Diana continued to live with her father at Park House, Sandringham, until the death of her grandfather, the 7th Earl Spencer. In 1975, the family moved to the Spencer seat at Althorp (a stately house dating from 1508) in Northamptonshire, in the English Midlands.

Lady Diana was educated first at a preparatory school, Riddlesworth Hall at Diss, Norfolk, and then in 1974 went as a boarder to West Heath, near Sevenoaks, Kent. At school she showed a particular talent for music (as an accomplished pianist), dancing and domestic science, and gained the school's award for the girl giving maximum help to the school and her schoolfellows.

She left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, which she left after the Easter term of 1978. The following year she moved to a flat in Coleherne Court, London. For a while she looked after the child of an American couple, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Young England School in Pimlico.

Marriage and family

On 24 February 1981 it was officially announced that Lady Diana was to marry The Prince of Wales. As neighbours at Sandringham until 1975, their families had known each other for many years, and Lady Diana and The Prince had met again when he was invited to a weekend at Althorp in November 1977. 

They were married at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981, in a ceremony which drew a global television and radio audience estimated at around 1,000 million people, and hundreds of thousands of people lining the route from Buckingham Palace to the Cathedral. The wedding reception was at Buckingham Palace. 

The marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Runcie, together with the Dean of St Paul's; clergy from other denominations read prayers. Music included the hymns 'Christ is made the sure foundation', 'I vow to thee my country', the anthem 'I was glad' (by Sir Hubert Parry), a specially composed anthem 'Let the people praise thee' by Professor Mathias, and Handel's 'Let the bright seraphim' performed by Dame Kiri te Kanawa. The lesson was read by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr George Thomas (the late Lord Tonypandy).

The Princess was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for 300 years (when Anne Hyde married the future James II from whom The Princess was descended). The bride wore a silk taffeta dress with a 25-foot train designed by the Emanuels, her veil was held in place by the Spencer family diamond tiara, and she carried a bouquet of gardenias, lilies-of-the-valley, white freesia, golden roses, white orchids and stephanotis. She was attended by five bridesmaids, including Princess Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (now Lady Sarah Chatto). Prince Andrew (now The Duke of York) and Prince Edward (now The Earl of Wessex) were The Prince of Wales's Supporters (a Royal custom instead of a Best Man).

The Prince and Princess of Wales spent part of their honeymoon at the Mountbatten family home at Broadlands, Hampshire, before flying to Gibraltar to join the Royal Yacht HMY BRITANNIA for a 12-day cruise through the Mediterranean to Egypt. They finished their honeymoon with a stay at Balmoral. 

The Prince and Princess made their principal home at Highgrove House near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, with an apartment in Kensington Palace as their London home.

They had two sons. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry (Harry) Charles Albert David on 15 September 1984, both at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in London. The Princess had 17 godchildren.

In December 1992 it was announced that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The Princess based her household and her office at Kensington Palace, while The Prince was based at St James's Palace and continued to live at Highgrove.

In November 1995 The Princess gave a television interview during which she spoke of her unhappiness in her personal life and the pressures of her public role. The Prince and Princess were divorced on 28 August 1996.

The Prince and Princess continued to share equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. The Princess continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal Family. 

The Queen, The Prince and The Princess of Wales agreed that the Princess was to be known after the divorce as Diana, Princess of Wales, without the style of 'Her Royal Highness' (as The Princess was given the style 'HRH' on marriage she would therefore be expected to give it up on divorce). The Princess continued to live at Kensington Palace, with her office based there.

Public role

After her marriage, The Princess of Wales quickly became involved in the official duties of the Royal Family.

Her first tour with The Prince of Wales was a three-day visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983 she accompanied the Prince on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they took the infant Prince William with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry, again joined The Prince and Princess of Wales at the end of their tour to Italy in 1985. 

Other official overseas visits undertaken with the Prince included Australia (for the bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada, Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for the enthronement of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to South Korea in 1992. 

The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the State funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February 1984, when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was Patron. The Princess subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nepal. 

Although the Princess was renowned for her style and was closely associated with the fashion world, patronising and raising the profile of younger British designers, she was best known for her charitable work. 

During her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100 charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids.

In December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more private life'. 

After her separation from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to appear with the Royal Family on major national occasions, such as the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory over Japan) Days in 1995. 

Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other patronages, and relinquished all her Service appointments with military units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity), English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and of the Royal Marsden Hospital. 

In June 1997, the Princess attended receptions in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number of dresses and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds going to charity. 

The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July 1997 attending the Tate Gallery's 100th anniversary celebrations. Her last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit). 

In the year before her death, the Princess was an active campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January 1997, she visited Angola as part of her campaign. in June, the Princess spoke at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18 June to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she also met Mother Teresa in the Bronx, New York). The Princess's last public engagements were during her visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica. 

It was in recognition of her charity work that representatives of the charities with which she worked during her life were invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St James's Palace to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral.

Charities and patronages

After her marriage, The Princess of Wales quickly became involved in the official duties of the Royal Family.

Her first tour with The Prince of Wales was a three-day visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983 she accompanied the Prince on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they took the infant Prince William with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry, again joined The Prince and Princess of Wales at the end of their tour to Italy in 1985. 

Other official overseas visits undertaken with the Prince included Australia (for the bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada, Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for the enthronement of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to South Korea in 1992. 

The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the State funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February 1984, when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was Patron. The Princess subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nepal. 

Although the Princess was renowned for her style and was closely associated with the fashion world, patronising and raising the profile of younger British designers, she was best known for her charitable work. 

During her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100 charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids.

In December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more private life'. 

After her separation from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to appear with the Royal Family on major national occasions, such as the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory over Japan) Days in 1995. 

Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other patronages, and relinquished all her Service appointments with military units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity), English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and of the Royal Marsden Hospital. 

In June 1997, the Princess attended receptions in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number of dresses and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds going to charity. 

The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July 1997 attending the Tate Gallery's 100th anniversary celebrations. Her last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit). 

In the year before her death, the Princess was an active campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January 1997, she visited Angola as part of her campaign. in June, the Princess spoke at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18 June to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she also met Mother Teresa in the Bronx, New York). The Princess's last public engagements were during her visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica. 

It was in recognition of her charity work that representatives of the charities with which she worked during her life were invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St James's Palace to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral.

Death

The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales occurred on Sunday 31 August 1997 following a car accident in Paris, France.

The vehicle in which The Princess was travelling was involved in a high-speed accident in the Place de l'Alma underpass in central Paris shortly before midnight on Saturday 30 August.

The Princess was taken to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, where she underwent two hours of emergency surgery before being declared dead at 0300 BST. The Princess's companion, Mr Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the vehicle died in the accident, whilst a bodyguard was seriously injured.

The Princess's body was subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom in the evening of Sunday 31 August by a BAe 146 aircraft of the Royal Squadron. The Prince of Wales and the Princess's elder sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, accompanied The Princess's coffin on its return journey.

Upon arrival at RAF Northolt, the coffin, draped with a Royal Standard, was removed from the aircraft and transferred to a waiting hearse by a bearer party from The Queen's Colour Squadron of the RAF. The Prime Minister was among those in the reception party.

From RAF Northolt the coffin was taken to a private mortuary in London, so that the necessary legal formalities could be completed. Shortly after midnight, it was moved to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, where it lay privately until Friday 5 September, when it was taken to Kensington Palace for the last night before the funeral on Saturday 6 September, in Westminster Abbey. The Princess's family and friends visited the Chapel to pay their respects.

Following the funeral service, the coffin then was taken by road to the family estate at Althorp for a private internment. The Princess was buried in sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake.