Charles and Di: The Truth Behind Their Wedding

At 20, Lady Diana Spencer laughed when Prince Charles proposed after they had met only a dozen times. Five months later she walked up the aisle in front of roughly three quarters of a billion people, marrying a figure many had already labeled a modern prince. This documentary reconstructs the seven days before the wedding, mixing archival footage, contemporary commentary, and interviews with people who were close to the event. It traces the grooming of a public image, the clash between private emotion and state ritual, and the intense media machinery that shaped the ceremony, and it highlights how protocol and unseen pressures shaped decisions that week.

Released in 2019 for television, the film was directed by Duncan Singh and uses interviews with journalists, former staff, and biographers. Tracy-Ann Oberman provides voiceover narration alongside contributors like Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Sarah Bradford. It originally aired on UK television.

No major industry awards or high-profile nominations are associated with this television documentary. Its reach was mostly through broadcast slots and later streaming or archive viewings, and it didn't attract major festival or awards attention, remaining outside prominent awards circuits.

By revisiting the pre-wedding week, the film fed continuing public fascination with Diana, the monarchy, and media spectacle. It contributed modestly to the steady output of royal documentaries and helped prompt renewed discussion about privacy, image management, and public appetite for intimate royal stories. It reinforced the wedding's mythic place.

Critical response was mixed, the listed user score sits at 5.0 out of 10. Viewers praised archival material and witness testimony, while some reviewers felt the program retold familiar narratives rather than offering new analysis. Some critics noted few new revelations. Themes include media construction of celebrity, class, and ceremony.