This is apparently the exact moment Prince Charles realised Princess Diana was more popular than him

(According to the Queen's cousin.)

prince charles popularity
(Image credit: REX/Shutterstock)

(According to the Queen's cousin.)

Princess Diana may no longer be with us but her legacy has lived on in her humanitarian work, love for her sons and her status as the most influential royal fashion icon of all time. Even in her lifetime, she was easily the most popular member of the royal family and Prince Charles definitely noticed according to Queen Elizabeth’s cousin.

Following Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, she quickly blossomed in the public eye and became a household name overnight. The Queen’s cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anson, said to PEOPLE she had ‘metamorphosed into a very, very elegant blonde beauty’ in a short span of time and the public fell in love.

Back when Prince Charles and Princess Diana were newlyweds and had wrapped up honeymooning in Balmoral, they then made a public appearance in North Wales where the full magnitude of Princess Diana’s fanbase became apparent to her husband.

prince charles popularity

(Image credit: Reginald Davis/REX/Shutterstock)

Lady Elizabeth Anson continued in the same interview, ‘They did a visit to Wales which was the beginning of, for Prince Charles, realising, ‘They’ve come out to see my wife, they haven’t come out to see me.'’

It was only the start of their troubles however as their marriage gradually broke down, with Prince Charles writing a letter to First Lady Nancy Reagan in which he called their union ‘a kind of Greek tragedy’.

A number of beady-eyed royalists also noticed that the Prince Charles may have attempted to get one up on his former wife - literally. A Twitter user pointed out that even though Prince Charles and Princess Diana were the same height (5ft 8 for reference), for some reason he always towered over her in official photographs.

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Naturally, it led to conspiracy theories that the Palace were deliberately staging these photographs with one Twitter user writing, ‘One may/may not recall the lengths to which the couple (the crown?) went to disguise #LadyDiana’s height. #Conformity #Sexim [sic]’.

prince charles popularity

REX/Shutterstock
(Image credit: REX/Shutterstock)

In any case, it’ll come as no surprise that Prince Charles still isn’t everybody’s favourite royal if the recent news cycle is anything to go by. It’s no secret that people are enamoured with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after their fairytale wedding at St George’s Chapel earlier this year, while many also have soft spots for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

If you ask us though, we’re personally total Princess Charlotte stans. Her little wave totally puts Julie Andrews in Princess Diaries to shame.

Megan C. Hills

Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband.