Princess Diana felt like a lamb to the slaughter on her wedding day to Prince Charles, former royal correspondent Jennie Bond has revealed.
Speaking in Channel 5’s documentary, Charles & Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting, which aired on Sunday, the former BBC royal reporter said Diana confined to her about her doubts on her big day.
The documentary explored Prince Charles’ early love life, his marriage to Princess Diana and his relationship with his second wife Camilla.
Princess Diana felt like a lamb to the slaughter on her wedding day to Prince Charles, former royal correspondent Jennie Bond has revealed. The couple are pictured on their wedding day in 1981
It revealed how the Duchess of Cornwall went from being ‘the most hated woman in Britain’ after the infamous ‘Camilla tapes’ were leaked showing Charles relationship with her began while he was still married to Diana, to becoming loved by the public.
Ms Bond, who grew close to Princess Diana while working as a royal correspondent from 1989 to 2003, revealed the fairytale appearance of the 1981 royal wedding was very different behind closed doors.
She said: ‘Diana told me much later in one of our private conversations that she had felt like a lamb to the slaughter as she walked up the aisle, which is very sad, but I think she knew that things weren’t quite right.
‘When she saw Camilla in the congregation she was immediately uneasy about it.
Prince Charles is pictured with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on their wedding say in 2005
Ms Bond added that Diana found a bracelet that Prince Charles given Camilla during their engagement, which he had engraved with her initials.
‘She was enraged by it and she wanted to know why he had gifted this to Camilla’.
Charles even wore a set of personalised cuff links, which read C & C, for Charles and Camilla, on the couple’s honeymoon.
Charles and Diana tied the knot in front at St Paul’s Cathedral in front of 2,000 people on July 29, 1981.
Ms Bond, who grew close to Princess Diana while working as a royal correspondent from 1989 to 2003, revealed the fairytale appearance of the 1981 royal wedding was very different behind closed doors. The couple are pictured on their wedding day
In 1992, Prime Minster John Major announced the couple were to separate, but continue living together at Kensington Palace.
They divorced in 1996 and a year later Diana died in car crash in Paris. In 2005 he married Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall.
The documentary also explains how Camilla went from being the most hated woman in Britain, to being loved by the public and the royal family, and being a mother figure to Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle by giving them advice when they joined the royal family.
Victoria Howard, editor of the Crown Chronicles, explained that following his divorce to Diana, Charles lost favour with the public.
The documentary also explains how Camilla went from being the most hated woman in Britain, to being loved by the public and the royal family, and being a mother figure to Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle by giving them advice when they joined the royal family. She is pictured with Meghan at Charles 70th birthday
‘No on would ever think of him as King. He was widely considered unfit to be the monarch of Britain,’ she explained.
The release of an intimate conservation between the couple, which was published while he was still married to Diana, was dubbed ‘incredibly cruel’ by the public and marked the beginning of the public’s hatred toward Camilla, royal expert Carole Malone explained.
Kate Nicholl, Vanity Fair’s Royal Correspondent added that Camilla was spat at on the street and had bread pelted at her in supermarket aisles.
But over many years, and a gradual easing into public life with the Prince of Wales, Camilla and Charles both ended up in the public’s good graces again.
Ms Nicholl also explained how Camilla became a rock for Meghan and Kate when they became engaged to her step-sons.
Experts also revealed how Camilla gives ‘step-motherly’ advice to Kate Middleton, and took her out for lunch before the royal wedding. The pair are pictured at Trooping of the Colour in 2019
‘In the run up to the royal wedding she took Kate out for lunch and gave her some step motherly advice. She has been there for the Duchess of Cambridge,’ he said.
Kate didn’t know how to be royal, so she would have been an outsider, she was pursued by the press and Camilla knew how that felt’ explained Ms Malone.
‘In many ways, Camilla had paved the way for Meghan. Camilla would have been there to tell her not to take any criticism personally, but this is just what happens when you’re an outsider’ she added.