8 Fun Facts from Princess Diana and Prince Charles' Royal Wedding

8 BTS Tidbits from Princess Diana and Prince Charles' Royal Wedding

We all remember Princess Diana's iconic fairytale wedding to Prince Charles back in 1981. But behind the scenes, there was some serious royal drama going down! From a perfume mishap staining her dress to Diana accidentally calling Charles the wrong name during their vows, this was one wedding day the blushing bride probably wanted a do-over on. And get this - Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles' infamous mistress, actually scored an invite and attended the whole shebang! But Diana kept her cool, even with those pre-wedding jitters and struggles with bulimia. She was living out her princess fantasy in that lavish gown with its 25-foot train, despite all the crazy behind-the-scenes issues. Let's dive into the juicy deets from the fairytale wedding that wasn't exactly a fairytale.

1. Diana's Wedding Dress Needed Some Tweaks

Diana was apparently dealing with some serious body image issues before her wedding. Her designer, Elizabeth Emanuel, said Diana lost a ton of weight in the weeks leading up to the big day. She went from a 26-27 inch waist down to 23 inches. But years later, Diana opened up about having bulimia at that time. She said it started right after getting engaged to Charles. Apparently, he made an offhand comment about her being "a bit chubby" and it just triggered this whole eating disorder for her. On top of all the pressure she was already feeling about the wedding and Charles' thing with Parker Bowles. Diana didn't like herself and felt ashamed she couldn't cope better. Bulimia became her "escape mechanism" for years.

2. Perfume Mishap with the Wedding Dress

Diana's makeup artist Barbara Daly spilled the tea on what went down before the royal wedding. Apparently, the blushing bride accidentally spilled some Quelques Fleurs perfume on her dress while trying to dab it on her wrists. To cover up the stain, Daly told Diana to just hold that spot on the dress. According to Daly's book, Diana was like, "You think if I just tuck the front in they’ll never notice?" And Daly replied to that, "Yes absolutely—you and every bride in the country has done that" So they popped her in the carriage and she was off to get hitched.

3. The Mystery Behind Two Wedding Bouquets

David Longman spilled on about a little royal wedding tradition back in 2018. Apparently, after the Queen lost her bouquet on her big day, she decided to have two identical ones made for future royal weddings. Just in case, you know? So, when Princess Di was getting hitched to Charles, Longman and his crew had to make two bouquets. One got delivered bright and early to Buckingham Palace with a police escort and everything. Then they whipped up the second one and sent that off too. The Queen wasn't taking any chances after her bouquet blunder.

4. Wedding Day Jitters

Nerves really got to Diana when she was saying her vows. She accidentally called her groom "Philip Charles" instead of "Charles Philip." To be fair, his full name is Prince Charles Philip Arthur George - that's a mouthful! In hindsight, the fact that a nervous Charles straight-up forgot to kiss the bride at the altar could've been a sign of trouble ahead for their marriage. To make up for the missed opportunity, the newlyweds shared a big ol' kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the wedding, with adoring crowds below. This royal balcony kiss tradition actually dates way back to 1858. That's when Queen Victoria's daughter Victoria married the guy who became Frederick III of Germany.

5. 18-Karat Good Luck Charm

Even though you couldn't see it in the photos, Diana's wedding dress had a hidden good luck charm - an 18-carat gold horseshoe studded with white diamonds, as per Smithsonian Magazine. According to biographer Tina Brown, "[The dress] was the fulfillment of her princess fantasy. She was insistent in her demand for its puffy sleeves and floating silk, its twenty-five-foot taffeta train, its nipped waist, and its antique lace embroidered with pearls and sequins." The Emanuels who designed it went all out to make Diana's vision come true. But there was one surprise detail she didn't know about until the big day - that 18k gold horseshoe stitched into the label.

6. Wedding Day Precautions

Diana's dress designer had this genius idea - making a parasol with the same fancy lace as her wedding dress. It even had pearls and sequins embroidered on it by hand. Pretty extra, right? But hey, you gotta be prepared for those unpredictable British weather tantrums. However, luck was on their side that day. The skies were clear and sunny, no rain in sight. Looking back, the designer admitted it was probably for the best. He said, "It was made of such light material that it certainly wasn't waterproof. It wouldn't have done her much good!"

7. The Famous 25-foot Train On Her Wedding Dress

Diana knew that massive 25-foot train on her wedding dress was gonna be a nightmare to handle. So she gave her young bridesmaids a heads up about it. Charles' goddaughter, India Hicks, spilled all the deets later on about her and Diana's niece Sarah Armstrong-Jones being in charge of that crazy train situation as they guided it down the aisle. According to Hicks, when Diana entered the cathedral, she just turned to the girls and was like, "Do your best." That's code for 'good luck with this mess!' Hicks wrote about it, saying they knew exactly what Di meant by that. If they pulled too hard trying to straighten out the material, her whole tiara and veil would shift out of place. But if they didn't pull enough, that gorgeous train wouldn't get the grand flowing effect it was meant for.

8. Camilla Attendance at Diana's Wedding

Even with Charles and Parker Bowles's history of dating, she still scored an invite to the royal wedding. Makes sense though, since her husband Andrew was a big shot in the Household Cavalry. This biography called Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life claims Charles felt forced into marrying Diana. He was still hung up on Parker Bowles, who was married at the time. He even cried over it the night before his wedding, as per Yahoo! Charles and Parker Bowles went through with their scandalous affair while married to other people. After Diana's tragic passing in '97, they went public as a couple. They finally tied the knot in 2005 and Parker Bowles became the Duchess of Cornwall.