CHARLIE’S ANGELS
Before meeting Diana, the Prince dated a number of aristocratic women – but he knew the challenges he faced in finding a suitable wife
Charles steps out with Davina Sheffield in 1976
with Lady Jane Wellesley
Encouraged, reportedly, by his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten to “sow his wild oats”, the then Prince of Wales enjoyed a string of romances with more than 20 mostly titled, aristocratic girls – dubbed “Charlie’s Angels” by the press – before his marriage to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
He planned to wed by the age of 30 but acknowledged the challenges of finding a suitable wife. “This is obviously very difficult because you’ve got to remember that when you marry, in my position, you’re going to marry somebody who perhaps one day is going to become Queen,” he said in his first TV interview with the BBC in 1969.