Prince Charles Casually Proposed to His Cousin Before Marrying Princess Diana
Hi, Prince Charles apparently once proposed to his second cousin Amanda Knatchbull.
Help.
Today in royal news that has left me in a state of ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ it turns out Prince Charles proposed to another woman before marrying Princess Diana. No, not Camilla Parker Bowles. His cousin, Amanda Knatchbull.
I'll give you a moment.
To be fair, Amanda is actually Charles' second cousin, but that doesn't stop their potential union from being any less eyebrow-raising due to the fact that marrying ones relative is generally considered a bad idea by most of society. But hey! The royals aren't most of society!
Anyway, this casual update comes courtesy of royal author Robert Lacey’s book Battle of Brothers (via The Express), in which he explained that Charles' great uncle Lord Mountbatten pressured him to propose to Amanda—who happened to be his granddaughter. Lacey says Charles was actually "very fond" of her, and "over the years the two cousins did grow close, developing a mutual respect and friendship that has lasted to the present day."
So why did Charles get turned down? Shockingly, not because they were literal relatives! "When the prince finally made his proposal in the summer of 1979—shortly before Lord Mountbatten's assassination by the IRA—the independent-minded Amanda politely turned him down," Lacey explains.
Turns out Amanda wasn't psyched about the loss of independence that would come with joining the royals, which makes a lot of sense. And also, again, they were literal cousins.
Anyway, this has been an update!
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