Charles and Diana Only Met 13 Times Before They Got Married — Most of Their Courtship Was on the Phone

Charles and Diana Only Met 13 Times Before They Got Married — Most of Their Courtship Was on the Phone

BY YEET MAGAZINE — ROYAL DESK | October 9, 2026

Thirteen meetings. That's it. That's all Charles and Diana had before he proposed. Not thirteen dates. Thirteen times in the same room. They didn't have dinner alone. They didn't go to the theater together. They didn't take long walks and learn each other's secrets. They met. Thirteen times. And then they got married. Most of their courtship happened over the phone. He called her from Buckingham Palace. She sat in her flat in Coleherne Court. They talked. They didn't date. And that, more than anything else, explains what happened next — and why Charles's heart was never fully in it.

What Counts as a Meeting?

Let's be specific. When we say they met 13 times, we don't mean dates. We mean moments when they were in the same physical space.

It could be a lunch at Buckingham Palace. A walk in the garden. A weekend at Balmoral. A family gathering. There were 13 of these moments.

Some of them were with other people. Some of them were brief. Some of them were formal. But there were only 13.

After that, Charles proposed.

Why Was Their Courtship Mostly on the Phone?

Because Charles was busy. He was the Prince of Wales. He had duties. He had travel. He had a packed schedule.

Diana was in London. She worked at a kindergarten. She lived in a flat with friends. She waited for the phone to ring.

And Charles called. He called from Buckingham Palace. He called from Balmoral. He called from wherever he was. They talked for hours. They got to know each other through words.

But talking on the phone isn't the same as being together. You can't read body language. You can't see how someone reacts. You can't feel the energy in the room. It's the same trap people fall into when they try to figure out whether they're actually in love or just infatuated.

Charles and Diana fell in love — or something like it — over a phone line. That was the foundation. It wasn't enough.

The Timeline: Charles and Diana's 13 Meetings

What Did Diana Say About the Courtship?

She said she was in love. She said she was excited. She said she thought it was a fairy tale — the kind of story people still romanticize, much like Priscilla and Elvis Presley's early romance.

But she also said she was lonely. She said Charles was distant. She said she didn't know him.

In recordings for Andrew Morton's book, Diana said: "I was the first person to say, 'Oh my God, this is the worst day of my life.'" That was on her wedding day.

She said she felt like a "lamb to the slaughter." She said she knew something was wrong. She just didn't know what. Her story echoes other royal women who married into a system they couldn't control, like Meghan Markle and Wallis Simpson.

Why Did Charles Propose If He Barely Knew Her?

Pressure. That's the only answer. Charles was 32. He was the heir. He needed a wife. He needed an heir. The family was pushing. The country was waiting.

Diana was suitable. She was aristocratic. She was young. She was a virgin. She ticked the boxes.

Charles later told friends he "desperately wanted to get out of the wedding" after he realized "just how awful the prospects were." But it was too late. The wedding was set. He went through with it. It was the same kind of pressure and manipulation that shatters people's self-esteem in ordinary relationships.

What Happened After the Wedding?

The fairy tale collapsed. Charles and Diana were miserable. Charles rekindled his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. Diana struggled with bulimia and depression. They separated in 1992. They divorced in 1996.

Diana died in 1997. Charles married Camilla in 2005. The story ended the way it ended.

The fallout never really stopped. It shaped everything that came after — including the feud between William and Harry and Charles's own fractured relationship with his younger son.

But the warning signs were there from the beginning. Thirteen meetings. A courtship over the phone. A proposal born from pressure. It was never going to work.

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