6 Moments That Went Wrong at Princess Diana and King Charles’ Wedding

Emily BlackwoodWed, July 29, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC

1

Prince Charles and Princess Diana at their wedding day on July 29, 1981Credit: David Levenson/Getty -

Princess Diana’s wedding to the future King Charles in 1981 was watched by 750 million people worldwide

Her wedding gown faced several obstacles during the ceremony, including a perfume stain and unexpected creasing

Charles also had a few mishaps, like mixing up his vows and forgetting to kiss his bride

Princess Diana’s wedding may have been touted as a fairytale, but there were plenty of unscripted moments.

Lady Diana Spencer wed the then-Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (Charles later became monarch when he acceded to the throne in 2022, before his coronation ceremony the following year.)

Though the royal affair looked picture-perfect to the 750 million people who watched across the globe — it still holds the Guinness World Record for the largest TV audience for a wedding — the public was blind to minor upsets that happened throughout the day.

From an accidental perfume spill to an unfortunate tiara-induced headache, here are six things that went wrong on Princess Diana and King Charles’ wedding day.

Diana spilled perfume on her wedding dress before the ceremony

Diana and Charles on their wedding day on July 29, 1981Credit: Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

In Rosalind Coward’s 2004 book Diana: The Portrait, the late Princess of Wales’ makeup artist recounted a mishap that occurred right before the wedding began.

“One thing that happened that Liz and David Emanuel [Diana’s wedding dress designers] never found out about was Diana saying, ‘I’ve just put my perfume on, and I’ve just spilled some on the front of the dress. They’ll kill me,’ ” Daly said in the book.

To hide the stain, Daly told Diana to tuck the front of the gown. The bride-to-be can be seen holding and covering that part of her dress with her hands in multiple photos from her wedding day.

Their youngest bridesmaid tripped and hit her head

After Diana and Charles’ ceremony, their youngest, 5-year-old bridesmaid tripped and hit her head inside Buckingham Palace while the wedding party walked to the balcony after the ceremony.

The bride picked up the young girl, Clementine Hambro, who was one of her kindergarten students.

Hambro recalled in a 2011 interview with Today how Diana asked, “Did you bump your bottom?” To which Hambro replied, “No, I bumped my head.”

Diana’s gown was wrinkled as she walked down the aisle

Princess Diana at her wedding on July 29, 1981Credit: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

In a May 2018 interview with ITV for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, designer Elizabeth Emanuel revealed how surprised she was to see how much the dress she had helped design for Diana creased before the ceremony.

Advertisement

“We did know it would crease a bit, but when I saw her arrive at St. Paul’s and we saw the creasing, I actually felt faint,” she said, per Marie Claire. “I was horrified, really, because it was quite a lot of creasing. It was a lot more than we thought.”

The designer later attributed it to the carriage ride.

Diana and Charles misspoke during their vows

Both the bride and groom fumbled a bit when it came time to say their vows.

At the time, the BBC reported that the bride accidentally mixed up her groom’s name, and called him “Philip Charles Arthur George” rather than “Charles Philip.”

Charles also made a slight mix-up, according to the outlet, and referred to “thy good” rather than “my worldly goods” in his vows to Diana.

Charles forgot to kiss his bride at the altar

Diana and Charles during their wedding on July 29, 1981Credit: Bettmann

According to Smithsonian Magazine, Charles didn’t take the opportunity to kiss Diana at the altar.

However, he made up for it by kissing her on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, honoring a long-standing royal wedding tradition that began in 1858.

Diana’s tiara gave her a headache

The late Princess of Wales wore a diamond and gold tiara from her family’s collection as her “something borrowed” for the big day.

Her brother, Earl Spencer, told Entertainment Tonightin May 2010 that the stylish headpiece came with a less-than-ideal cost.

“In the evening, we all went to a semi-private party, and she was there and seemed incredibly relaxed and happy,” he told the outlet. “I just remember she had a cracking headache because she wasn’t used to wearing a tiara all morning.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”