Editing Diana, Princess of Wales (section)

===Engagement and wedding===
{{further|Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer|Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer}}
[[File:Stamp of Seychelles - Zil Eloigne Sesel - 1981 - Colnect 500902 - Royal Wedding - Victoria and Albert.jpeg|thumb|Diana and Charles's wedding commemorated on a stamp by the Post of Seychelles]]
Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981.<ref name="robinson">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/diana/stories/glamor0901.htm|title= International Special Report: Princess Diana, 1961–1997|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 January 1999|access-date=13 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000819020342/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/diana/stories/glamor0901.htm|archive-date=19 August 2000|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Diana selected [[Engagement ring of Lady Diana Spencer|her own engagement ring]].<ref name="robinson"/> Following the engagement, she left her occupation as a nursery teacher's assistant and temporarily lived at the Queen Mother's residence, [[Clarence House]].<ref name=lpost15july>{{cite news|title=It was love at first sight between British people and Lady Diana|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0oxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3129,3799923&dq=diana+spencer|access-date=23 July 2013|newspaper=The Leader Post|date=15 July 1981|agency=AP|location=London|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417234913/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0oxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3129,3799923&dq=diana+spencer|url-status=live}}</ref> She subsequently resided at Buckingham Palace until the wedding,<ref name=lpost15july/> where, according to the biographer Ingrid Seward, her life was "incredibly lonely".<ref name="Time-2020">{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5910567/diana-charles-camilla-the-crown/|title=The True Story Behind The Crown's Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Camilla Parker Bowles Love Triangle|magazine=Time|first1=Eliana|last1=Dockterman|first2=Suyin|last2=Haynes|date=15 November 2020|access-date=17 November 2020|archive-date=3 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603145618/https://time.com/5910567/diana-charles-camilla-the-crown/|url-status=live}}</ref> Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry the first in line to the throne since [[Anne Hyde]] married James, Duke of York and Albany (later [[James VII and II]]), over 300 years earlier, and she was also the first royal bride to have a paying job before her engagement.<ref name="robinson"/><ref name="TeenageRoyal"/> Diana's first public appearance with Charles was at a charity ball held at [[Goldsmiths' Hall]] in March 1981, where she was introduced to [[Princess Grace of Monaco]].<ref name=lpost15july/>

Diana became Princess of Wales at age 20 when she married Charles, then 32, on 29 July 1981. The wedding was held at [[St Paul's Cathedral]], which offered more seating than [[Westminster Abbey]], a church that was generally used for royal weddings.<ref name="robinson"/><ref name="TeenageRoyal"/> The service was widely described as a "fairytale wedding" and was watched by a global television audience of 750{{nbsp}}million people while 600,000 spectators lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the couple en route to the ceremony.<ref name="robinson"/><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/29/newsid_2494000/2494949.stm|title=1981: Charles and Diana marry|work=BBC News|date=29 July 1981|access-date=27 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307135340/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/29/newsid_2494000/2494949.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008}}</ref> At the altar, Diana inadvertently reversed the order of his first two names, saying "Philip Charles" Arthur George instead.<ref name="BBC"/> She did not say she would "obey" him; that traditional vow was left out at the couple's request, which caused some comment at the time.<ref name="'70s 98">{{Cite book|title= How We Got bare: The '70s|last= Frum|first= David|author-link= David Frum|year= 2000|publisher= Basic Books|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-46-504195-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/98 98]|url= https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum|url-access= registration}}</ref> Diana [[Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer|wore a dress]] valued at £9,000 ({{Inflation|UK|9000|1981|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) with a 25-foot (7.62-metre) train.<ref name="Denney2005">{{cite book|last=Denney|first=Colleen|title=Representing Diana, Princess of Wales: cultural memory and fairy tales revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NU7rpq8HFxYC&pg=PA57|access-date=30 April 2011|year=2005|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|isbn=978-0-8386-4023-4|page=57|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425180829/https://books.google.com/books?id=NU7rpq8HFxYC&pg=PA57|archive-date=25 April 2016}}</ref> Within a few years of the wedding, the Queen extended Diana visible tokens of membership in the royal family, lending her the [[Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Field|first=Leslie|title=The Queen's Jewels: The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II|publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]]|year=2002|location=London|isbn=978-0-81-098172-0|pages=113–115}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/12040776/Duchess-of-Cambridge-wears-Princess-Dianas-favourite-tiara-to-diplomatic-reception-at-Buckingham-Palace.html|title=Duchess of Cambridge wears Princess Diana's favourite tiara to diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace|author=Lucy Clarke-Billings|date=9 December 2015|access-date=29 December 2015|newspaper=The Telegraph|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225031537/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/12040776/Duchess-of-Cambridge-wears-Princess-Dianas-favourite-tiara-to-diplomatic-reception-at-Buckingham-Palace.html|archive-date=25 December 2015|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and granting her the badge of the [[Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mailbox|work=The Royal Family|date=April 2006|page=3|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5143.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806122649/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5143.asp|archive-date=6 August 2007}}</ref><ref name="Vickers1994p147">{{cite book|last1=Vickers|first1=Hugo|title=Royal Orders|year=1994|publisher=Boxtree|isbn=9781852835101|page=147}}</ref>