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It’s no secret that Prince Charles and Princess Diana had an unconventional relationship.
They first met when Charles was dating Diana’s sister, and had a rather large age gap when they tied the knot.
And apparently, according to a new book, there’s even more to the story of their courtship.
Sally Bedell Smith, the author of the biography Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, has revealed that the pair had only been on 12 dates before Charles popped the question, and he wasn’t in love when he did.
“He was obviously anguished, and he said she was someone I could learn to love,” Bedell Smith has told People. “He looked to his grandparents, which wasn’t a love match at the outset and thought if they can do it and build a good marriage then I can do it too.”
“I was stunned when I combed over the chronology they had only been together 12 times [before their engagement]. After they got engaged, he went away for six weeks. He was dutifully plunging ahead with his schedule and she wanted him to be around and available and support her,” she continued.
Bedell Smith claims that 31-year-old Charles felt pressure to marry, before deciding to propose to 19-year-old Diana.
“I don’t see him as a cynical person, he thought he could learn to love Diana as his grandmother and grandfather learned to love each other and had a great marriage. But because of their fundamental incompatibility and the age gap and her emotional turmoil, it was doomed before they walked down the aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral.”
This article originally appeared on InStyle.
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