It is November 14 and King Charles‘s 77th birthday! But just in time for that, an old rumor has resurfaced to haunt his birthday — one that mentions his differences with Princess Diana, and this was the very beginning when he did try to give his marriage the best shot he could. Penny Junor’s book The Untold Story describes how tense things became after Diana discovered Charles was still in love with his former flame, Camilla Parker Bowles, who has, in the course of time, now become Queen Camilla.
In 1981, Charles and Diana started their honeymoon at Broadlands, the Hampshire home of Charles’s late great-uncle, Earl Mountbatten. On top of that, there was a two-week Mediterranean and Aegean cruise, which was followed by a few weeks at Balmoral in Scotland.
King Charles was very different from Princess Diana; he brought art supplies and books for their honeymoon. Diana was flustered by the constant presence of hundreds of security staff, which she felt was already intruding on her marriage — one that would later be overshadowed by Camilla. And how did that happen? Her picture fell out of Charles’s diary when the couple were consulting with each other. Once, Charles was also wearing cufflinks with big Cs on them. So yeah, it was a marriage that was doomed to fail. Naturally, this came up again right before His Majesty tried to ring in birthday number 77.
diana was 16 and charles was 29 when they met btw
she was selected by the royal family, who required that his wife be both high society and a virgin. he was aging and his “eligible bachelor” status was quickly waning. today we’d call this an arranged marriage pic.twitter.com/ohpindLQb7
— matt (@mattxiv) May 7, 2023
In honor of the event, the BBC released a sophisticated new image of the King. However, when the internet points its fingers at a pattern that has shaped the royal family for decades, it can be tricky to project a sense of regal calm. It was almost satirical in timing. Birthdays are intended to restore stability for the monarchy. King Charles got a flashback, though.
The revived story takes readers back to the tense early years of his marriage to Princess Diana. But of course, forces much older and more rooted than Diana had ever imagined influenced the Wales marriage. Also, as King Charles continues his healing process and settles into the second year of his reign, it worsens the public’s relationship with him. However, the King is not new to PR nightmares. The monarchy knows how to keep going forward, and royal birthdays have frequently been overshadowed in the past.
Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles leaving St. Paul’s Cathedral after their wedding rehearsal on 27 July, 1981 pic.twitter.com/sACk8FEFrs
— silvia (@silviaplathx) November 12, 2025
Still, the contrast is noteworthy because, on the one hand, Charles is shown in the new official portrait as being reliable. However, a story pulled from the past becomes an example to the world that his rise to the throne had its share of the most notorious chaos in modern history. King Charles can find solace in the fact that the system often does well by just getting through controversy.
The Crown has endured worse. He’ll likely outlast the news cycle too.
