While their courtship was famously swift (and heavily scrutinized), Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer did share some genuinely tender moments in the early days of their failed relationship. And as Diana revealed in Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story—in Her Own Words, the then-Prince of Wales sent her a special letter and gift on the eve of their royal wedding.
The note, written just before their legendary July 29, 1981 wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral, offers a rare glimpse into Prince Charles’s romantic side.
“He sent me a very nice signet ring the night before to Clarence House, with the Prince of Wales feathers on and a very nice card that said: ‘I’m so proud of you and when you come up I’ll be there at the altar for you tomorrow,'” Princess Diana told Morton.
The note ended with a piece of sweet advice: “Just look ’em in the eye and knock ’em dead.”
Prince Charles’s card must have been unexpected for the princess, given Charles wasn’t prone to romantic gestures. Her former butler, Paul Burrell, told Marie Claire that Diana would “send romantic cards to Prince Charles” but the gestures weren’t reciprocated.
“It’s such a sad thing to say that he never loved her and so he never returned the compliment,” the former palace employee said. “He wasn’t romantic. He tried to be, but he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body.”
Princess Diana and Prince Charles married in July 1981.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words
Ironically, The King continues to wear a similar signet pinky ring as the one he gifted Diana, and Meghan Markle recently debuted a very similar design while visiting Vancouver for the 2025 Invictus Games.
Despite his kind card, Diana said the wedding preparations were extremely overwhelming and she “had a very bad fit of bulimia the night before” their ceremony. In the morning, however, she felt nothing but “deathly calm.”
“I felt I was a lamb to the slaughter. I knew it and couldn’t do anything about it,” the princess told Morton. However, she also noted “being so in love” with Prince Charles that she couldn’t stop looking at him.
“I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world,” Diana said of their wedding day. “He was going to look after me. Well, I was wrong on that assumption.”
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