Meet King Charles' fleet of ex-girlfriends, including the one he proposed before Princess Diana

When it comes to the ladies in King Charles’ life, three names come to mind: his first wife Princess Diana, his second wife Queen Camilla and his late mother Queen Elizabeth II. But before Charles “settled down” (these quotes go overtime) with Diana, he was known as the world’s most eligible bachelor and earned a reputation as a “playboy prince” thanks to the sheer number of women with which he was leaving. Most of them have been spotted accompanying him to various, er, romantic (?) polo matches.

According to Charles’ valet (in Sarah Bradford’s biography Diana), he had a very specific “recipe for the perfect woman” (ew), which involved her being “tall, blonde, round and with an English rose complexion”. Uh. So much could be said and analyzed about this, but let’s move on! Here’s a full list of everyone Charles has publicly dated – and for your reference, much of that information comes from Bradford’s biography, which you can buy here:

Bettina Lindsay

Charles and Bettina were linked after they were spotted attending a concert together in 1970. Of course, we don’t know for sure they were in a full-fledged relationship, but the dads snapped a snap them on their way back from the show!

Lucia Santa Cruz

Lucia was rumored to be Prince Charles’ college girlfriend (this photo of them was taken in 1970), but ironically, she was actually the one who introduced him to…

Camille Shand

Also known as Queen Camilla. Charles and Camilla met at a polo match (where else?) in 1970 and immediately hooked up, but the early days of their relationship are honestly a huge saga involving a love square, so read on about it here. The thing is, they haven’t met for a looooooong time, and Charles has dated a lot of other women.

Amanda Knatchbull

Amanda is the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten, Charles’ godfather to whom he was incredibly close. Apparently Mountbatten really wanted Charles and Amanda to get married, and they dated from 1974 to 1979. And Charles actually proposed! But according to the book, Amanda “turned it down” because she “didn’t want to walk the royal treadmill.” I mean, just.

The story continues

Lady Jane Wellesley

Lady Jane was the Duke of Wellington’s daughter, and apparently she and Charles were loosely dating, but it ended up being more of a “just friends” vibe.

Georgiana Russell

No information on their relationship (and no photos!) except that Bradford writes that Georgiana “got tired of standing in the cold Scottish rivers and married someone else”.

Sabrina Guinness

Not much info on their relationship either, but apparently they had one!

Davina Sheffield

Apparently, Davina and Charles “seemed ready for the wedding,” and she was even invited to lunch with the Queen. Buuuuuut then one of her former boyfriends apparently told the press that they had been living together and it was all called off because “Charles couldn’t afford to marry someone who could create any type of scandal”.

Lady Leonora Grosvenor

The royal family wanted Charles to marry Lady Leonora, but she married the queen’s cousin, womp (that’s them at their wedding ^) instead.

Anna Wallace

Charles and Anna met on the (hot!) hunting ground and she also grew close to the Royal Family, scoring a coveted lunch with the Queen. But Anna ended things after arguing with Charles at the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday party and again at a polo ball (to be fair, Charles was ignoring her to hang out with Camilla).

Jeanne Ward

A short but well-documented relationship!

Sarah Spencer

Yes, Charles dated Princess Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah Spencer, in 1977, but she just wasn’t a fan of him. As she told a magazine, “I’m not in love with Prince Charles. I’m kind of a whirlwind woman, as opposed to a slow-build dating person. “If there was any engagement between Prince Charles and myself, it would have happened by now. I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love, be it the garbage collector or the King of England.”

princess diana

We have a full breakdown of how Diana met Charles here, but it happened in November 1977 when Charles was visiting the Spencer family home in Althorp for a pheasant hunt. They reconnected in 1979 after Lord Mountbatten died, and the rest is (not so well) history.

And that’s it! You officially know more about King Charles dating history than you ever expected.

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