After five months and just a dozen meetings, Diana and Charles were married. Photo / Getty
After five months and just a dozen meetings, Diana and Charles were married. Photo / Getty
Their romance captured the world's imagination and was seen as a true fairytale. But the reality was that Prince Charles and his bride Diana Spencer barely knew each other, having met just 12 times before they walked down the aisle, according to a new documentary about the late royal, which airs in the UK tonight.
Susan Zirinsky, senior executive producer of Princess Diana: Her Life, Her Death, The Truth explained in an interview teasing the show: "The thing that surprised me most is they had only been out 12 times before they got married.
"They had only been together 12 times and at one point Prince Phillip pressured his son and said, "You have to do the right thing."
The Prince and Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, 29th July 1981. Photo / Getty
If the claims are accurate, it would mean that the couple, who got engaged in February 1981 and married in July that year, would have only seen each other a handful of times in the five months before the big day.
The two-hour special also features the late royal's friend Lana Marks who said that towards the end of her life, Diana told her: "I really have only loved one man, and that's Charles."
The documentary is one of many that will mark the 20th anniversary of the Princess' death in Paris in August 1997.
Camilla was always a presence in Diana's marriage. Photo / Getty
In the recently aired The Life and Death of Princess Diana: A Dateline Investigation her close confidante James Colthurst revealed how she feared being ousted by Camilla after her divorce from Charles.
"Her big fear was that this is not a substitute mother for the boys. That they would try to sideline Diana and that Camilla might use her post," she explained.
Princes William and Harry are also set to open up about their intimate memories of Princess Diana in a documentary for HBO and ITV to mark the anniversary.
The pair will speak openly about how her influence shaped their lives in the Oxford Films produced programme, as well as her charity and humanitarian work in many fields, including landmines, HIV and homelessness.
Diana's greatest fear following her divorce was that Camilla would assume her position with William and Harry. Photo / Getty
ITV's Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual, said the film would shed new light on Diana's life through rare insight from her son's and friends who have been before been interviewed.
"This new ITV film will offer viewers a fresh and revealing insight into Princess Diana through the personal and intimate reflections of her two sons and of her friends and family, many of whom have never spoken before, to bring together a definitive portrait of a unique person who touched the lives of millions," she explained.
Executive producer, Oxford Film and Television's Nick Kent added: "This film will show Princess Diana in a way she has never seen before, through the eyes of two people who know her best."
Ashely Gething, who was responsible for The Queen At 90, to mark the monarch's landmark birthday last year, will direct.
Back in 1997 Princess Diana was staying in Paris with her then boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, following a summer holiday to the South of France, while her children were with the Queen at Balmoral.
The couple had taken up residence in a suite at the Ritz, owned by Dodi's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, when they were killed in a car driven by the hotel's acting head of security, Henri Paul, who an inquest later found to be drunk and speeding as they entered the Alma Tunnel.
