Whispers at the altar — On what should have been the “wedding of the century,” Diana stumbled over her vows, calling her groom by the wrong name. Charles faltered too, and behind the lavish spectacle, the first cracks began to show. A missing ring, a crying bridesmaid, a gown too vast to fit into the carriage — all seemed like fleeting mishaps. But there was one ominous sign that day which many still believe was the most chilling foreshadowing of the royal marriage’s tragic downfall

Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles at St Paul’s Cathedral was a fairytale come to life. Dubbed ‘the wedding of the century,’ the July 1981 wedding drew a whopping 750 million viewers. The intense pressure and the public’s fascination left the then 20-year-old Diana with serious wedding jitters. In a moment of nervousness, she made the biggest blunder—called Charles by the wrong name during her vows.

Charles was first introduced to Diana in November 1977 by her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale. Soon after, the pair reportedly began dating, and Charles proposed to Diana in February 1981. The wedding, attended by 600,000 spectators and 3,500 guests, seemed straight out of a Disney movie. According to BBC, during their wedding vows, Diana called her husband-to-be ‘Philip Charles’ as opposed to the other way round, which it should have been, ‘Charles Philip’. Given the many middle names used by royal family members, it’s no wonder that the Princess of Wales made an innocent slip-up.

Diana wasn’t the only one with some nuptial anxiety. Charles also said ‘thy goods’ in his vows, rather than ‘my worldly goods’, as it should have been. In Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, Sally Bedell Smith revealed that the blunder was quickly ignored by the celebrant, who proceeded to complete his duties.

The royal couple’s wedding was also marred by other embarrassing goof-ups. One of them happened when a four-year-old bridesmaid, Clementine Hambro, fell and banged her head. Speaking to DailyMail, she said, “We all trooped down the picture gallery to get to the balcony. On the way, I slipped on the wooden floor and banged my head. I was overcome with embarrassment that I could have possibly done such a thing.” The couple’s wedding rings were also missing from the royal pillow. Moreover, the voluminous wedding gown caused some logistical issues. Diana had trouble getting into the carriage because of the sheer size of her train.

While the couple seemed like a match made in heaven, the reality was far different. Penny Thornton, Diana’s astrologer, spoke about her second thoughts during ITV’s 2020 documentary, The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess. She claimed, “One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn’t love her. She thought about not attending the wedding.” Various sources claimed Diana’s cold feet also stemmed from a bracelet given to Charles by his former flame, Camilla Parker Bowles, while he was still courting Diana. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce in August 1996. A year later Diana passed in a tragic accident in Paris.