In the days leading up to her nuptials, Diana reportedly expressed doubts about her relationship with King Charles.
Published on July 29, 2025 11:00AM
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Key Takeaways
- On July 31, 1981, Princess Diana and King Charles were married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
- Years later, Diana called her wedding "the worst day of my life."
- Much of this was attributed to her discomfort over Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, who received an invitation to the event.
When Princess Diana and King Charles tied the knot on July 31, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, it was a grand and opulent affair. The couple said "I do" in front of 3,500 ceremony guests—and millions of fans who watched the occasion on television. The cost of the celebration underscored the importance of it: The total bill was estimated to be $48 million, equivalent to $140 million today, making it one of the most expensive royal weddings in modern history. However, even though Diana smiled and waved to members of the public as she departed the church and headed to Buckingham Palace, it was later revealed that the princess was anything but happy. In a 2017 documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words, the royal identified her nuptials as "the worst day of my life."
In the documentary, Diana's hesitations about tying the knot are made clear. "I went upstairs, had lunch with my sisters who were there, and I said, 'I can't marry him. I can't do this. This is absolutely unbelievable,'" she said in one recording, according to Today. "And they were wonderful and said, 'Well, bad luck, Duch. Your face is on the tea towel, so you're too late to chicken out.'" It appears that most of her doubts stemmed from Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. In the days following her wedding, the princess learned of cufflinks given to her husband by Camilla—and decided to confront him about it. "So I said, 'Camilla gave you those, didn't she?," Diana said in the documentary. "He said, 'Yes, so what's wrong? They're a present from a friend.' And, boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy. And it was such a good idea, the two C's. But it wasn't that clever."
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Why Camilla Parker Bowles Was at the Wedding of Princess Diana and King Charles
Instead of staying away from the wedding of Charles and Diana, Camilla attended the occasion as a guest, likely creating even more discomfort for the bride—and the groom. According to People, Camilla received an invitation due to her husband's position in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, a military unit tasked with ceremonial duties. And even though Charles had proposed to and decided to marry Diana, he still felt conflicted about his love for Camilla, even crying about it on the eve of his nuptials, reported Sally Bedell Smith in her biography, Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.
After he said "I do" to Diana, Charles stayed in contact with Camilla, and the duo began having an affair in 1986. On August 31, 1996, 15 years after tying the knot, Charles and Diana finalized their divorce. Two years later, on July 10, 1998, Charles and Camilla confirmed their romantic relationship. They eventually made their public debut as a couple at a birthday party for Camilla's sister in 1999.
