Princess Diana’s Wedding Day: The Truth Behind the Scenes

Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding day was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of their lives.

However, it was marred by the presence of Charles' longtime love interest, Camilla Parker Bowles.

In her new biography of Prince Charles, Sally Bettle-Smith reveals what happened behind the scenes leading up to the big day.

Diana famously declared that there were three people in her marriage to Prince Charles, with the third being Camilla.

Bettle-Smith's book suggests that this was the situation from the start.

Right before the wedding, Diana overheard Charles murmuring endearments to Camilla on the phone.

Sensing a threat, she asked Charles if he still loved Camilla.

His reply was genuine but ingenuous – he explained that she had been one of his most intimate friends but that their intimacy had ended.

While there was evidence that Charles and Camilla had ended their physical relationship at the time, it was still not the ideal thing for Diana to hear right before her wedding.

To make matters worse, Charles decided to buy gifts for a dozen of his close friends, including Camilla, ahead of the ceremony.

Camilla's gift was a gold bracelet personalised with a blue enamel disc engraved with the initials GF, which stood for Girl Friday, Charles' nickname for his intimate friend.

Diana discovered the gift and confronted Charles, which led to her breaking down following their wedding rehearsal.

She was devastated and recalled bawling her eyes out in the car with the Camilla thing rearing its head.

If that wasn't bad enough, Camilla was also invited to the wedding at St Paul's Cathedral.

Her then-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, even escorted Charles and Diana's horse-drawn carriage back to Buckingham Palace.

According to Bettle-Smith, Camilla acted as a disturbing distraction to Diana on what should have been a happy day.