Prince Charles may have ended up marrying someone else other than Diana or Camilla Parker-Bowles. An article in the 70s has emerged, and it suggested that the heir to the British was supposed to marry Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg.
The Prince of Wales tied the knot with Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Their fairytale-like wedding ended up in infidelity and eventual divorce in 1996. Charles rekindled his romance with former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles while still married to Diana. The Prince of Wales eventually married Camilla in 2005.
Before these marriages happened, it was rumored that Charles is set to marry a real-life princess instead of Diana. Many thought there were only two women who got involved in Prince Charles' life. There is one more, and she may have wed the prince in the late 70s.
Express cited the front page of the Daily Express on June 17, 1977, that revealed the woman who believed to have caught the Prince of Wales' eyes before he met Diana. The headline indicated, "Prince Charles is to marry Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg."
The outlet said though Charles and Astrid's association with each other has been secret, the two fell in love at their first meeting. The report added that Buckingham Palace will announce the formal engagement of Charles and Astrid on the next Monday of the article's publication.
However, the article also included a final quote that indicated Buckingham Palace denying the engagement rumors. The supposed engagement and wedding never happened. Instead, Prince Charles married Diana in 1982 while Astrid tied the knot with Archduke Carl Christian of Austria. She is now the Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria.
Princess Marie Astrid is the daughter of Jean, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Her mother, the former Princess Josephine Charlotte, is the daughter of the former King Leopold III and Queen Astrid of the Belgians.
Marie Astrid was 23 years old when she first met Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's eldest child in 1976. At the time, Astrid is one of the few eligible princesses in Europe hence many considered her as the perfect match for the next head of the British monarch, Prince Charles.
It was reported that a marriage between Charles and Astrid became an issue because they have different religions. A marriage involving an heir to the throne and a member of non-Christian faiths is prohibited under the Act of Settlement of 1701.
In February 2017, Royal Central reported that it had been suggested that the marriage rumors of Charles and Astrid backed then were just to find a leaker in the Privy Council. The site explained that it has been known that a marriage between the two was extremely unlikely.
It is because Charles is the next head of the Church of England while Princess Marie Astrid is a devout Catholic. The disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic has been removed already in the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
