Prince Charles and Diana speak following engagement in 1981
Diana and Charles’ marriage was fraught with problems as revealed by tapes featured in a controversial Channel 4 documentary ‘Diana: In Her Own Words’, earlier in August.
The explosive tapes, recorded by Princess Diana’s voice coach Peter Settelen, shed new light on what was happening behind the closed doors of Kensington Palace.
In the videos, Diana claims Prince Philip advised Charles to give his marriage five years and then go back to his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, if it didn’t work out.
In the footage filmed between the end of 1992 and mid-1993, Diana also confirms that she met Charles just 13 times before their lavish wedding in 1981.
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The very first cracks in the fairytale facade appeared during the couple’s engagement interview. Asked if they were in love, Prince Charles replied: “Whatever ‘in love’ means.”
Diana later told Mr Settelen: “That threw me completely. I thought that a strange question and answer. God, absolutely traumatised me.”
Nevertheless the royal nuptials charmed the nation, as did the arrival of Prince William in 1982 and Prince Harry in 1984.
As the royal marriage fell apart, it emerged that Charles’ true love was Camilla Parker-Bowles who had a brief relationship with him in the 1970s.
There were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowded
When Diana confronted Prince Charles over Camilla, she said he replied: "I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales who never had a mistress."
Distraught with her failing marriage, Diana said she went to the Queen for advice but the monarch replied: “I don’t know what you should do, Charles is hopeless.”
Despite being dismayed by Charles' unfaithfulness, Diana also had affairs and later admitted to a five-year affair with ex-captain James Hewitt.
The couple finally separated in 1992. That year there was yet more controversy over the emergence of a bedtime phone call between Charles and Camilla in 1989.
The scandal, dubbed ‘Camillagate’, accelerated the divorce proceedings, as did Diana’s famous 1995 Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.
Asked if she had an affair with Hewitt, Diana said: "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down."
On whether Camilla was a factor in the breakdown of her marriage, Diana said: “There were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowded.”
Soon after the couple separated, the Queen sent personal letter to her son and daughter-in-law advising that they end the marriage with a divorce.
The split was finalised on August 28 1996. Following the divorce, Charles famously stated that his relationship with Camilla was "non-negotiable”.
A year later, Diana died in a tragic car crash in Paris on August 31 1997. Prince Charles and Camilla got married at Windsor Guildhall in Berkshire, in 2005.