"The happy couple"
July 29, 1981: Charles, Prince of Wales, and heir to the British throne, marries Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
There is an awkward moment during the vows. As Robert Runcie, then the Archbishop of Canterbury, asked her to repeat her intended's full name, "Charles Philip Arthur George," she mixed it up: "Philip Charles Arthur George." She gave an uneasy smile that the entire world, or at least that portion of it watching on television, could see.
Despite the age difference -- Charles was 32 years old, and Diana, then a teacher in what Americans would call elementary school, only 19 -- the marriage was sanctioned by Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II, head of state for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and thus the head of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest-ranking official in that church, but the British monarch remains his boss. (Since 2013, Justin Welby has held that title.)
The marriage would produce 2 sons: William Arthur Philip Louis, now Duke of Cambridge and 2nd in line to the throne after his father; and Henry Charles Albert David, a.k.a. Prince Harry, now Duke of Sussex, currently 6th in line after Charles, William, and William's 3 children.
But in 1992, after accusations of infidelity on both sides, Charles and Diana separated. The "fairy tale" was over. They divorced in 1996. In 1997, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.
In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles, who had been his mistress, and, before meeting Diana and her own 1st marriage, his first love. At long last, he had married his one true love. But he paid a price for it. The royal family as a whole paid a price for it. And Diana paid the biggest price of all -- even before that price came to include her life.
In 1986, Charles' brother, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, married Sarah Ferguson. That marriage didn't last, either, although Andrew and "Fergie" seem to have remained friendly since. And she goofed the name, too: When the Archbishop read off Andrew's name during the vows, he said it very carefully, so she wouldn't goof it: "Andrew -- Albert -- Christian -- Edward"; but she stumbled: "Andrew Albert Christian... Christian Edward."
When the youngest brother, Prince Edward, now Earl of Wessex, married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, she got the full name right: Edward Antony Richard Louis. As of July 29, 2022, they are still married. Is that the key? Perhaps not: Charles' younger sister was the 1st of the Queen's 4 children to marry, and her husband, Army Captain Mark Phillips, got her name right: Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. But they divorced.
UPDATE: Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. On May 6, 2023, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey. Had Charles and Diana worked things out, she would have been Queen Diana, age 61.
William received all the titles formerly held by his father, including Prince of Wales. Edward got the title formerly held by his father, Prince Philip: Duke of Edinburgh. Anne got no new titles, but, as she and Charles are close, she was moved up into the main level of advisors to the monarch. Andrew, for reasons I won't get into here, not only got no new title, but was frozen out by his brother.
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July 29, 1981 was a Wednesday. It was during baseball's Strike of '81, and during the off-seasons for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. So there were no games on this historic day.
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