‘He even cried’: Charles was totally forced to marry Diana, and the cufflinks prove it

The troubled relationship between King Charles III and the late Princess Diana has been well known for years, but new details highlight just how sad their marriage really was. Reports from Fox show that the prince felt enormous pressure to marry someone who fit royal standards, and his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer was filled with private grief.

Far from a happy fairytale, the 1981 royal wedding was a moment of deep sadness for both of them. One, a pair of cufflinks, stands as a clear sign of the king’s conflicted heart. According to royal experts, the night before the wedding, Charles cried because he was still in love with Camilla, who was already married to someone else at the time.

British royals expert Hilary Fordwich said, “In covering the king’s coronation [in 2023], I was live on set with Sally Bedell Smith. I asked her about him crying the night before his wedding, which she confirmed.” Charles wasn’t the only one upset; the late Princess Diana also cried, and her sister reportedly told her it was too late to change her mind because their faces were already being printed on souvenirs like tea towels.

King Charles and Princess Diana just weren’t in love

The shared sadness before the wedding was a sign that their marriage was doomed from the start. The reason for the marriage was said to be a battle between royal duty and personal happiness. Prince Philip supposedly pushed his son to marry Diana to follow royal tradition, not because of love. As the future king, Charles was expected to marry a “proper, untouched bride” who could one day be queen.

At the time, Camilla was considered completely unacceptable because she had been in other relationships and was already married. The Church of England would not allow the heir to the throne to marry a divorced woman. Even Charles’ godmother, Patricia Mountbatten, reportedly saw that he was making a mistake but believed he was too far into the process to stop.

This emotional struggle was on display during the wedding in a very personal and heartbreaking way. Charles supposedly wore cufflinks on his wedding day that had a symbol linked to Camilla. This small choice was said to be his way of including her in the day, and it reportedly made him emotional. People Magazine claimed, “He even cried over it the night before his nuptials.”

This quiet but powerful symbol showed that he still had strong feelings for Camilla, even if their relationship was no longer physical. Diana, who had truly loved Charles at first, grew more and more upset as she realized how deeply connected he still was to Camilla, which likely led to the divorce.