A young Diana Spencer became a princess 44 years ago today as she married Prince Charles in St Paul’s Cathedral, but the night before the wedding, the late Diana became incredibly sick just hours before walking down the aisle
On July 29th 1981, 44 years ago today, a young Diana Spencer became a princess as she tied the knot with the then Prince Charles in St Paul’s Cathedral in London. And while the momentous wedding was a joyous occasion for royal fans everywhere, it appears Diana was struggling with her reality behind the scenes.
At the time of her wedding, Diana had only recently celebrated her 20th birthday, and as she admitted ten years later to journalist Andrew Morton, she became incredibly sick the night before the big day, as she suffered “a very bad fit of bulimia” just hours before walking down the aisle.
Between 1991 and 1992, Diana recorded tapes for Morton, which were the main source of his best-selling authorised biography, Diana: Her True Story. In the tapes, Diana revealed the extent of her secret health battle.
“I ate everything I could possibly find, which amused my sister, and nobody understood what was going on there,” said Diana. “It was very hush-hush. I was as sick as a parrot that night. It was such an indication of what was going on.”
When Diana found it hard to sleep the night before the big day, she recalled going downstairs at Clarence House where she spotted a bicycle belonging to the Queen Mother’s Steward, William Tallon.
Diana leapt on it and cycled around in circles, ringing the bell and singing: “I’m going to marry the Prince of Wales tomorrow!” Despite her excitement the evening before her nuptials, her mindset had changed when morning broke.
“I was very, very calm, deathly calm,” said Diana. “I felt I was a lamb to the slaughter. I knew it and couldn’t do anything about it. My last night of freedom was with Jane at Clarence House.
“I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was going to look after me. Well, was I wrong on that assumption? I realised I had taken on an enormous role but had no idea what I was going into – but no idea.”
Diana’s pre-wedding illness wasn’t the only thing the bride-to-be was contending with the night before the big day, as according to a friend of Diana’s, she was left devastated by a confession by Charles as he “did not want to go into the marriage on a false promise”.
Speaking on ITV documentary The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess, she said: “One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding Charles told her that he didn’t love her…
“I think Charles didn’t want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana. She didn’t want to go through with the wedding at that point, she thought about not attending the wedding.”
The wedding went ahead as planned, although in a book about Camilla called The Duchess: The Untold Story, royal author Penny Junor claims Charles believed the wedding was a mistake but knew it was too late to pull out.
She writes: “Charles was not convinced he was doing the right thing in marrying Diana but there was no way out and, bolstered by the hope that things would be different once they were married, he put a brave face on it.”
Charles and Diana married in front of 3,500 guests at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with a record-breaking 750 million people in 74 countries across the globe tuning in to watch the event on television. They then separated in 1992 before finalising their divorce in 1996.