Why Prince Charles Rushed Into Marriage With Princess Diana

They had only been on a handful of dates prior to their engagement, and now, the reason why Prince Charles decided to enter into marriage with Princess Diana so quickly may have been revealed.

According to a report by Express UK, Prince Charles didn’t want to make the same mistakes as King Edward VIII—who abdicated his throne in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, paving the way for Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI, to become king.

The website quotes Ted Powell, the author of “King Edward VIII: An American Life” in its article, stating that Prince Charles actually didn’t want to risk following the example of his great uncle, who, prior to abdicating, also had a chaotic love life into his forties.

“In his anxiety not to follow Edward’s example, Charles rushed into an ill-judged marriage with Lady Diana Spencer, with disastrous results,” Powell said.

Powell also stated that Prince Charles was reminded of that example throughout his life of what not to do, and in the end, it led to his decision to marry Princess Diana when he did.

“Edward’s abdication has cast a long shadow over the life of Prince Charles. When Charles was a young man in the 1970s, the example of ‘Uncle David’ was repeatedly held up to him as a dreadful warning of how the Prince of Wales should not behave,” he said. “Earl Mountbatten was particularly concerned that he should not make the same mistake of postponing marriage as Edward had done.”

It’s previously been reported that the decision to marry Princess Diana was also fueled by pressure from his own father, Prince Phillip, who allegedly told his son to settle down with his future wife.