Princess Diana & Prince Charles' Marriage Had Many "Red Flags

(Image credit: Getty/Anwar Hussein)

published 11 October 21

Royal fans and avid The Crown viewers alike know that Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage wasn't exactly the fairytale love story people hoped it would be, but royal expert Elizabeth Holmes is taking that analysis one step further.

Speaking to Us Weekly, the author of HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style, said that the Wales' marriage was "almost like a business transaction," which sounds about as appealing as wearing wet socks, if you ask me. "Diana just checked so many boxes and sort of slotted right in, and was clearly very eager and willing and wanting to please," Holmes continued.

The expert then address the royal couple's extremely short courtship. "It was so brief," she said. "That sort of speaks to how [Charles] was approaching this and the pressures that he was feeling. … It was sort of like a formality, almost." That's really not sounding any bettter.

"She’s making this huge life decision without stable family behind her [and] much guidance," Holmes said of Diana, who married at only 19 years old. "Looking back in hindsight, it’s very easy to find all the red flags. … It was like, 'We’re marching forth. We’re doing our duty.'"

As Holmes might have predicted had she been on the case at the time, the pair, who are parents to Princes William and Harry, divorced in 1996. Diana tragically died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. As for Prince Charles, he married his long-time love Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.