War of the Waleses: Encyclopedia II - War of the Waleses - Background

War of the Waleses - Background

On 29 July 1981, The Prince of Wales and the Lady Diana Spencer were married at St Paul's Cathedral before 3,500 invited guests and an estimated 750 million people around the world. All of Europe's crowned heads attended (except for Juan Carlos of Spain, who was advised not to attend because the couple's honeymoon would involve a stop-over in the disputed territory of Gibraltar). So, too, did most of Europe's elected heads of state, with the notable exceptions of Karamanlis of Greece, who declined to go because Greece's exiled King, Constantine II, a personal friend of the Prince, had been described in his invitation as "King of Greece" (the technically correct description of an exiled monarch who hadn't abdicated), which infuriated Greek republicans, and Ireland's Patrick Hillery, who was advised by Irish Prime Minister Charles J. Haughey not to attend because of Britain's role in Northern Ireland.

By marriage to the heir-apparent, the Lady Diana received both a title (Princess of Wales) and the style of "Her Royal Highness". She was popularly known as Princess Diana, although this form of address is technically incorrect. The couple made their home at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and at Kensington Palace. Almost immediately, the Princess of Wales became a star attraction, chased by the paparazzi, her every move (including every change in hairstyle) closely followed by millions.

However, the marriage soon hit the proverbial rocks. Critics of the Princess of Wales alleged that she was unstable and temperamental; one by one she sacked each of the Prince of Wales's longstanding staff members and fell out with numerous friends (her father, mother, brother, The Duchess of York, Elton John, her own staff — who quit after rows). The Prince of Wales, too, was blamed for the marital troubles. Within five years of the wedding the fairytale Wales marriage was already on the brink of collapse. Ironically, the Prince and Princess of Wales were similar in some respects: Both had had troubled childhoods. Both took their public roles seriously and devoted much of their time to charity work, becoming highly regarded for it. (The Princess of Wales notably devoted much time to helping AIDS sufferers, while The Prince of Wales devoted much effort to marginalised groups in urban centres through his Prince's Trust charity).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Background", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki