Editing Charles III (section)

====Bachelorhood====
In his youth, Charles was amorously linked to a number of women. His girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of [[Sir John Russell]], who was the [[British ambassador to Spain]];{{sfn|Brandreth|p=192|2007}} [[Lady Jane Wellesley]], the daughter of the [[8th Duke of Wellington]];{{sfn|Brandreth|p=193|2007}} Davina Sheffield;{{sfn|Brandreth|p=194|2007}} [[Lady Sarah Spencer]];{{sfn|Brandreth|p=195|2007}} and [[Camilla Shand]], who later became his second wife.{{sfn|Brandreth|pp=15–17, 178|2007}}
[[File:HRH Prince Charles Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Photograph by [[Allan Warren]], 1972|alt=Portrait of Charles seated]]

Charles's great-uncle [[Lord Mountbatten]] advised him to "sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down", but, for a wife, he "should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for&nbsp;... It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage".{{sfn|Junor|p=72|2005}} Early in 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with 25-year-old Charles about a potential marriage to [[Amanda Knatchbull]], Mountbatten's granddaughter.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dimbleby|pp=204–206|1994}}; {{Harvnb|Brandreth|p=200|2007}}</ref> Charles wrote to Amanda's mother, [[Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Lady Brabourne]], who was also his godmother, expressing interest in her daughter. Lady Brabourne replied approvingly, but suggested that a courtship with a 16-year-old was premature.{{sfn|Dimbleby|p=263|1994}} Four years later, Mountbatten arranged for Amanda and himself to accompany Charles on his 1980 visit to India. Both fathers, however, objected; Prince Philip feared that his famous uncle{{efn|Mountbatten had served as the last British [[viceroy]] and first [[governor-general of India]].}} would eclipse Charles, while [[John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne|Lord Brabourne]] warned that a joint visit would concentrate media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple.{{sfn|Dimbleby|pp=263–265|1994}}

In August 1979, before Charles would depart alone for India, [[Assassination of Lord Mountbatten|Mountbatten was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army]]. When Charles returned, he proposed to Amanda.<!--Brandreth p 202 says Charles proposed two weeks before the assassination and that Amanda turned him down then, before Mountbatten's death--> But in addition to her grandfather, she had lost her [[Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne|paternal grandmother]] and [[Nicholas Knatchbull|younger brother]] in the bomb attack and was now reluctant to join the royal family.{{sfn|Dimbleby|pp=263–265|1994}}