Prince Charles's romantic history is well-known, from his murky relationship with Princess Diana to his uninterrupted romance with Camilla Parker. However, what very few knew was that the heir to the English throne wanted to marry another woman before beginning his controversial courtship with Diana Spencer.
Prince Charles was set up by the queen's distant cousin
Prince Charles is said to have been planning to marry a woman close to his family before he even met Princess Diana. At least that's what's said in the new documentary The Royal House of Windsor, which aired this week on Channel 4. According to the program, Charles proposed to this woman in 1977, but was ruthlessly rejected.
The documentary states that Lord Mountbatten— Prince Philip's uncle and Queen Elizabeth II's cousin— tried to set up Charles with his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull. This is because the monarch and Knatchbull had a good relationship together since Charles was young.
Mountbatten's plan appeared to have worked, because according to the documentary, Charles proposed to Knatchbull aboard the royal yacht Britannia in 1977 during a trip they took to the Caribbean. However, she ultimately turned him down.
Prince Charles and Amanda Knatchbull went their separate ways
In The Royal House of Windsor, it was also stated that while the relationship between Amanda and Prince Charles was close, in reality there was never actually an intimate romantic bond between them.
Shortly after the snub, Prince Charles began courting Diana Spencer, and the rest is history. Meanwhile, Amanda Knatchbull continued on with her own aspirations. And in 1987— ten years after the event that could have made her the future Queen of England— she married the writer Charles Vincent Ellingworth, with whom she has three children.
Lady Amanda currently lives in the United Kingdom, and is known as an outstanding social worker for her support in child services and child protection. She was also president of The Guinness Partnership and director of the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
