Queen Elizabeth 'Wanted Diana to Marry' Another Senior Royal Member Instead of Charles

When Princess Diana married Prince Charles, on July 29, 1981, she stepped into her role with hopes of becoming Queen consort. However, given the huge age gap between her and Charles, the late Queen Elizabeth believed her younger son, Prince Andrew, would have been a better match for Diana. Royal author Ingrid Seward, who explored the early days of Charles and Diana's relationship in her book My Mother and I, claimed the Queen had her eyes set on Diana for her favorite son.

As per Seward's work, Diana’s first meeting with the late Queen came when she visited her sister Jane, who was married to Robert Fellowes, the Queen’s private secretary. Diana was invited to stay at the castle for four days to attend one of the many royal house parties at the time. Following her second visit, a staff member noted that Diana seemed determined to leave a lasting impression during her stay. Wanting to stand out, she made a point of waking up before the other guests invited, quietly strolling through the garden alone, possibly contemplating the life that awaited her, as reported by The Inquisitr.

Seward wrote, “Most of the ladies do not get up until after the guns have gone out, but Diana was always up early. If you looked out of your window at a quarter to eight, you would see her walking in the garden, and she made a great point of being there to see them off." The author added, “It was then that she played her sharpest card. She would go around telling everybody how much she loved Balmoral and that it was such a magical place and how she loved it beyond imagination.” She quickly adjusted to the customs of life as a royal. As per the book, Charles eventually invited her on fishing trips, taking long walks around the estate, which Diana truly appreciated as it was time with him away from the spotlight.

Diana’s persistence was rewarded when Charles finally proposed, and she soon moved into Buckingham Palace in the months leading up to their wedding. According to the royal author, Charles and Diana had conversations about their 12-year age difference, but any doubts Diana had were quickly overshadowed by the thrill of being pursued by the Prince. However, the Queen had two major concerns about the young woman who had entered her son’s life. As reported by GB News, Seward stated, “She [the Queen] wondered whether anyone that young could differentiate between the man and the Prince. And she couldn't help thinking that the Spencer girl would be far better suited to her younger son, Andrew.”

Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles also uncovers an intriguing piece of Diana's childhood—she and Andrew were once close friends. The book shares a charming anecdote where a young Charles, at 17, interrupted Diana’s 'tea party' with Andrew when she was just five years old. While Andrew later married Sarah Ferguson in 1986, they remained friends.