Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer
Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day.
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| Date | 29 July 1981, 11:20 am BST |
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| Location | St Paul's Cathedral, London, United Kingdom |
| Participants | Charles, Prince of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer, Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, The Princess Anne, The Prince Andrew, The Prince Edward, The 8th Earl Spencer, Frances Shand Kydd, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp |
The wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer took place on Wednesday 29 July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, United Kingdom. The ceremony was a traditional Church of England wedding service. Notable figures in attendance included many members of royal families from across the world, republican heads of state, and members of the bride's and groom's families. Their marriage was widely billed as a "fairytale wedding" and the "wedding of the century". It was watched by an estimated global TV audience of 750 million. The United Kingdom had a national holiday on that day to mark the wedding. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
The Prince of Wales had known Lady Diana Spencer for several years. He took serious interest in her as a potential bride when they were guests at a country weekend, where she watched him play polo. He invited her for a sailing weekend to Cowes aboard the royal yacht Britannia as their relationship began to develop. This was followed by an invitation to Balmoral Castle, the Windsor family's Scottish home, to meet his family. Diana was well received at Balmoral by The Queen, Prince Philip, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The couple then had several dates in London. Diana and Charles had been seeing each other for about six months when he proposed on 3 February 1981 in the nursery at Windsor Castle. Diana had planned a holiday for the next week, and Charles hoped she would use the time to consider her answer. Diana accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks.
Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981, after Diana selected an elegant, large £30,000 engagement ring that consisted of 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-karat white gold. Many copies of the ring have been made in well-established jewellery shops and high-street fashion chains worldwide.
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