MILLIONS watched around the globe as Charles and Diana tied the knot 43 years ago today.
The Princess was just 20 years old when she walked down the aisle at St Paul’s Cathedral as 3,500 guests watched in the congregation.
Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy
8
Today marks 43 years since Charles and Diana’s wedding dayCredit: Getty
The couple barely knew each other, with Diana later admitting they had only met 13 times before their wedding day.
King Charles and Diana were sadly an unhappy match and they announced their separation in 1992 before eventually getting divorced, a few years later.
But there are some body language moments on the day which can reveal exactly how the young future Princess of Wales may have been feeling on her big day.
Body language expert Judi James told Fabulous: “This ‘fairytale’ event was later described by Diana as ‘the worst day of my life’ and there are clues to her powerful but conflicting emotions during these six key moments.
“Even if we take away the royal theme, Diana’s wedding day had red flags flapping about like bunting in the breeze.”
1) ‘ANXIOUS’ ARRIVAL
Looking shy and hesitant as she arrived at St Paul’s, Diana had to watch as her crumpled dress was smoothed out as she relished her last opportunity to bolt.
Her anxiety signals appeared at their peak here although many of them were prompted by concerns for her father.
Her eye expressions look retrospectively heart-breaking.
One minute she is coy and smiling shyly but the next a look of utter sadness replaces the eye-smiles as her mouth seems to droop slightly, suggesting feelings of fear as well as excitement.
2) ALTAR SMILE
8
Diana appeared to show her ‘fun side’ at the altarCredit: AP:Associated Press
This pose shows Diana’s ability to be relatable and even show glimpses of her fun side as well as some inner anxieties as she sat next to her rather pompous and solemn-looking husband-to-be.
Princess Diana arrives at St Paul’s Cathedral in her incredible wedding dress for marriage to Prince Charles on 29 July 1981
She had just walked up the aisle past Camilla and seemed to have shot her a telling glance as she did so.
Diana always showed a keen eye for more ridiculous situations and the way she sits here, settled into her meringue of a dress as though comfy on a sofa at home, with a subtle, slight smile of fun on her face suggests this is where she went to at this dramatic, soap-opera moment, especially during the pause after the priest asked if anyone objected to their marriage.
3) PENSIVE CARRIAGE RIDE
8
The reality of her new marriage hit Diana in the carriageCredit: Getty – Contributor
8
Diana had a pensive moment looking upwards in the carriageCredit: Hulton Archive – Getty
Perhaps the reality of her new life first hit Diana here.
As Charles turns his back on her to smile at the crowds, Diana leans forward and stretches her neck to look upward with a very pensive facial expression.
She was so young and she craved Charles’s attention but her pose here suggests feelings of vulnerability, from her ‘hedgehog’ partly-curled and self-protective pose to the bared neck that signals submission.
When Diana did eye-engage with the crowds though, we can see the first forming of tie-sign bonds of mutual affection that lasted throughout her lifetime.
Her eye-engage and her smile look natural and relatable.
It was an expression of personal friendship rather than a royal rictus.
She may have been feeling that any love she might miss from Charles would be there for her from the public.
4) SHY BALCONY
8
Diana looked ‘shy’ on the Buckingham Palace balconyCredit: Getty
Diana returned to a body language pose she felt safe and familiar with here, thanks to her previous role in a kindergarten.
Standing with the small bridesmaids, she showed how much children were her priority and how much her sons would be another future source of her happiness.
The pecking order was made clear here, the Queen is to the front with her son just behind her.
Diana’s dipped head and shy smile suggest she understood her place in the line-up and was happier standing back in a warmer and less formal role.
5) TRUSTING KISS
8
Diana leaned towards Charles for their kiss showing ‘trust’Credit: AP
Diana’s pose during this kiss shows how prepared she was to abandon her life and her heart to Charles.
Leaning towards him, she turns and throws back her head and stretches and bares her neck in a gesture that signals high levels of trust in him now he is her husband.
Her belief in fairytale romance is obvious here, despite all the glaring red flags to suggest the opposite.
6) MODEST PHOTOS
8
Diana’s wedding photo showed her sitting in a ‘gesture of a desire to be liked’Credit: Getty – Contributor
Diana was not labelled as one of the world’s most beautiful women at this point and her pose for the official photos suggests a lack of vanity and a desire to be liked and to be treated as ‘normal’ despite her new royal rank.
This pose lacks any sense of pomp and formality.
She’s sitting on the floor, leaning forward slightly and with her head tilted or cocked in a gesture of a desire to be liked and to make people smile.
She is now surrounded by people, which she seems to feel is an opportunity to have fun and make friends but her new status was making relaxed, easy-going friendships difficult.
Her sweet, self-effacing body language suggests a huge desire to trust people and engage with them here, which made her future lifestyle even more poignant.
8
Diana’s formal official photos showed a ‘lack of vanity’