that frankly we hardly know. >> i was always different. i had always this thing inside of me that i was going somewhere different. ♪ there was always in the background this haunting shadow, this black cloud, and that's

what she was settling with from the outset. >> my dreams were calling at night. i dreamt of camilla the whole time. obsessed with camilla, totally. >> she adored prince charles. she wanted to be part of the royal family, to be a credit to the monarchy. >> she wanted to show the world, and she wanted to show camilla, look who i am, look what he's got. >> the true diana came out. she has a backbone. she knows she's being seen by camilla. i'm about to marry the future king of england. >> diana frances, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband? >> i have made it. i'm here. you're there. i won. you lost.

♪ ♪ on monday we'd gone to st. paul's for our last rehearsal, and that's when the camera lights were on full. >> a crowd of about 3,000 have built up. their enthusiasm unmistakable. prince charles was so relaxed, he nearly came to grief on the top step. and when it was over, prince

charles clasped lady diana's hand reassuringly and unaffectedly. >> she was photogenic. she was young. she was beautiful. the world was in love with her. >> it was like a perfect love story, but behind the scenes a whole different story was playing out. a story of struggle. a story of a 19-year-old girl naive in this world trying to find herself. ♪ >> here at the bbc, we've mounted the biggest ever outside broadcast. there are more than 60 cameras covering the processional route. >> let's face it.essional route. the british know how to put on a big event like this. >> the date was getting nearer

and nearer, and it was starting to sink in how many people were going to be watching this wedding and how important it was going to be. >> is your hat heavy? >> no, not particularly. >> this whole machine had just taken on a life of its own. >> just about every network in japan is covering the wedding. >> yes, right. >> why the big interest there? >> well, because it's simply exciting. >> when we realized that she was the one, there was no stopping the press following her. >> diana! >> lady diana! >> every day she read about herself in the newspapers. every time she switched on the television, there she was. the pressure must have been absolutely colossal. >> a polo match, she found the ever-present photographers just too intrusive. she was led away obviously distressed.

>> it's not much fun, actually, watching polo when you're being surrounded by people with very long lenses poking at you from all directions the entire time. and this all adds up to a certain amount of strain each time. >> it's tempting to look at diana crying at polo matches and think she thought everyone was looking at her, expecting her to behave correctly. but diana's learning curve was realizing that charles wasn't really hers. that he was in love with someone else. >> the camilla thing kept rearing its head all throughout our engagement. i was trying to be mature about the situation, but i couldn't talk to anyone about it. >> diana found out about camilla

parker bowles and charles's relationship from the gossipmongers at buckingham palace. >> she knew at that stage that charles was in love with camilla, even though he had broken off the relationship and to be the dutiful loving husband of diana. all of that must have sounded very hollow to her. >> she was too young to understand what charles and camilla have between each other. charles and camilla are soulmates. they know each other at a very profound level. >> camilla was uncomplicated. she was sexy. it would have been so much easier for everyone if those two just got together. but the timing didn't quite work out.

>> he went away. he was studying. he was in the navy. she got married. she had her kids. then he was engaged. camilla was not deemed a suitable lady to join the royal family, and certainly not a suitable future queen. she was adventurous, she was outspoken, she was a bit racy. she was very popular with men. she'd had some boyfriends. she'd been around. >> you could not have the future queen of england with skeletons in the cupboard, with lovers in the past. you could not have that. >> camilla and diana did know each other. some of the courtship that charles and diana enjoyed actually happens at camilla's family home. >> charles, when he introduced

diana to camilla, never explained to her that camilla had been a girlfriend. and when she discovered that there had been a relationship, would have felt embarrassed and humiliated. >> and she began to have misgivings about marrying somebody that had had such a significant other relationship. and she was talking about how she would handle this. >> she fights to become that perfect modern princess, not only for the royal family and the world, but for charles.

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there were five months between diana's engagement and her marriage. weirdly, during that time, she was left to her own devices. >> buckingham palace is a great mausoleum of a palace, really. because it is the place of work for the queen and the royal family. there is no warmth there. the windsors aren't just a family. it's an entire history. it's a machine.

it's a process. so what your heart wants isn't the same as what the system wants for you. >> it was courtiers and people in suits. life was much more structured in a way that was alien to her. but diana wasn't actually left completely alone. >> camilla parker bowles left diana a note saying, "such exciting news, love to see the engagement ring." that's a real, like, mafia thug move. that's so "mean girls," it's unbelievable. that's a power move right there. >> in diana's own words, she told me that any marriage prince charles might have made could never be as strong as the relationship he had with camilla. and that's what she was battling with from the outset. >> but she has something that camilla doesn't have, which is her youth, her beauty, her sparkle, her charisma.

and that's something she's going to hold on to and use. >> diana was incredibly determined to make charles love her. >> her role was to triumph in the fairytale over the wicked lady in the house down the road. ♪ >> one of diana's early engagements was an evening at the goldsmith's hall in london. >> she came in to have a look around in the showroom. she made a dive for this one particular dress which had kind of a deep cleavage, a tight bone bodice. >> diana chose this dress herself because she wanted to show the world and she wanted to show camilla that she, the younger woman, was hotter, was

better, was the prize. >> no one harbored any illusions about just who the crowd have braved the rain to see, and lady diana didn't disappoint those anxious to see her on her first public outing with her prince. >> comments on her appearance >> black to me was the smartest color you could have at the age of 19. it was a real grown-up dress. and i was quite big-chested then. >> comments on her appearance range from fabulous and stunning, to an admiring silence. >> diana was the belle of the ball at goldsmith's hall. she looked absolutely gorgeous. nobody could take their eyes off her. and then she met a woman who was

quite similar to her. grace kelly had been an actress, and she's married into a big old royal family, just like diana was about to do. >> the charity concert was in aid of the royal opera house, and one of the performers was princess grace of monaco. when. >> that night i remember meeting princess grace and how wonderful and serene she was. i remember that evening so well. >> they were supposed to be announcing the budget, and they pushed that right to the back of the newspaper, and the front pages of all the newspapers were diana. >> it was the first time that diana realized she had power as a fashion plate and power as an image maker. >> i'm the one who's going to be the most famous woman in the world, and i'm going to show you who i am, what i've got, my assets. she just put herself on display. >> at the end something else lady diana is going to have to

get used to, the fusillade of camera flash bulbs. >> clever. the whole world is watching her. camilla is watching her. >> diana wanted that to happen. i can do this. i can be this. i can become this. your partner's head to help. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. don't miss our labor day weekend special. save 50% on the sleep number 360® limited edition smart bed. ends labor day. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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♪ during that five-month period before the wedding, diana knows she's not the first choice, but she is the acceptable choice, for charles. >> diana says that she overheard prince charles while he was taking a bath. she heard through the door that he was telling camilla that he loved her. it must have been incredibly devastating for diana, and very humiliating. diana was already beginning to

project into the future that this other emotional love affair was going to continue. they moved in exactly the same circles. they were all part of the same group of friends. camilla just remained this unignorable background hum in everybody else's life. >> but she doesn't back down. she doesn't shy away from that. she really recognizes that she has a power here, and she's going to use it. >> diana was realizing, you have to become the heroine of your own story. like a princess in a fairytale. >> the best place for diana to start was the creation of the wedding dress to end all wedding dresses. >> david and elizabeth emanuel set up their fashion business in london's brook street in 1977. all their designs are individual. if you have a dress made here, you won't see anyone else wearing the same thing.

>> i was in the studio doing a fitting, and the phone rang. it was diana. she said, would you do me the honor of making my wedding dress? >> this is the look which persuaded lady diana to choose the young couple as her designers. >> you can imagine every designer wanted to do her wedding dress. i think it was a kind of decision, she was going against the grain. she just put her foot down and said, no, i want them. >> news of lady diana's visit spread quickly. lady sarah spencer was there to give a sister's opinion of the wedding dress. the crowd saw that like most brides, lady diana has lost weight as the day approaches. >> normally you don't want to start cutting into the actual fabric until everything is perfect with the fit. >> her wedding dress had a tight bodice, and it needed to be taken in multiple times as diana became thinner and thinner.

>> did we suspect that she had bulimia? no, i don't think we did at that stage. but later on, it became clear that there was something not quite right. >> as you see the engagement coming close to the wedding itself, diana's bulimia got markedly worse. >> and the people that do it, when asked to try and explain why they do it, will say that it is the one thing in their life that they can control. >> in one sense, you're punishing yourself. and that punishment makes you stronger, or at least feeds that strength to you. >> it's also symbolic. so when you eat a lot and you throw up, you are also purging yourself of negative feelings, of all your worry and your fear and your anxiety.

>> diana was clearly going downhill. it was a worry. carolyn, one of her flatmates, rang up and said that she was concerned about how diana was. and so we thought it might be a good thing for a group of us to sort of team up and, as it were, support her again. we had a couple of lunches, and she seemed to enjoy those, and that was the start, really, of a rebuild. >> hundreds of people greeted the prince and lady diana as they walked through the town. >> what diana had going for her was charisma and presence, people skills and soft power. >> could she handle this? it didn't take long to find out. and it made the picture of the day. >> she was an absolute natural.

>> joy of welcome seen in the eyes of a child. >> she knew what to say to people. >> when the princess stopped to ask mr. walter mills if he was cold, he was so overcome he burst into tears. >> she kissed children. this was not what we'd seen on a royal tour before. >> when you think the royal family, they're looking down on you, diana didn't do that. she broke that mold and did something extraordinary. she got down on the same level as the rest of us. she met us eye to eye. she opened up her arms and took us in. never been done before. >> she got the recognition within that environment of being good at things. she thrived on that. problem so lve together, and find the answer that was right under their nose.

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in the days leading up to the wedding, we've been hearing about a staggering amount of mail that's been arriving daily by the vanload at buckingham palace. 100,000 letters and cards and around 3,000 presents at the last count apparently. the bulk of the mail is being handled by the staff in the prince of wales' own office. >> those working the office have to be ready to take on any

peculiar or unusual thing. >> before the wedding, presents were flooding in. diana was fascinated by this, and a couple weeks before the wedding she was passing by the prince of wales' private secretary's office. she saw there some parcels, one of which caught her eye. it was from the crown jewelers. she said, oh, i'll open that, thinking it must be for her. she opened the parcel. inside there was a bracelet, beautiful bracelet. >> when charles became engaged, he asked the crown jeweler to make several pieces of jewelry for several women who had been kind to him during his bachelor years. >> they're love or friendship tokens. they're sort of saying, sorry you weren't the one i married. >> it was a present for camilla, and charles had intended to take

her to lunch and say thank you and farewell. >> diana discovers the gift that charles has got for camilla. >> it's a gold chain bracelet with a blue enamel disk. it's got "g" and "f" entwined in it. >> diana knew what that meant, she knew that "girl friday" was charles's name for camilla parker-bowles. >> she found that incredibly difficult and was suspicious that camilla parker bowles was back in the prince's life. when charles came back into the room, he met diana in a rage and tears. and he thought, what on earth is the matter with her? she'd got to his desk, she'd found and seen the bracelet that had "gf" on it.

>> on the day that charles went to have lunch with camilla parker bowles and give her her bracelet, diana went and had lunch with her two sisters, sarah and jane. she told her sisters she couldn't go through with this. >> she wanted to run away and call off the wedding entirely. fear, anxiety, all playing into this. >> and they said, "too late, dutch," which was the nickname they used for her. "your face is already on the tea towels." >> she thought about what her sisters said and she rallied, because she had -- she was a proud person. >> diana had this sense of courage engrained within her to say nope, i'm going to prove to everybody that i am going to turn up on my wedding day. i'm going to show them. i'm going to do this the right way. >> i think the rebel, the

non-compliant diana, came out. because that was in there already. and i think as she gathered strength again, she started to come into her own. >> and this young woman on the verge of her wedding, she wanted charles to break off the relationship with camilla. she wanted him to love her as much as she loved him. she wanted that from him, and that was what he did. charles did break off his relationship with camilla. >> diana really does have courage to stand her ground. >> so i thought, fine, i was able to recognize an inner determination to survive. >> wedding day in london. fine weather, ceremony and celebration. in the early morning, the route was already lined with thousands of people.

>> it was a carnival in the sun, a festival on the theme of red, white and blue. >> the huge cheerful crowd that has waited so long and patiently roars and waves its welcome. >> i was the main anchor for the bbc's coverage of the wedding. one of our cameras is just outside the main gate of clarence house, as you can see behind me there. that means we're going to get our very first glimpse of not just lady diana, but also the best-kept secret of the wedding, the wedding dress. >> went up the stairs, and all the bridesmaids were there. diana was there. it was such a wonderful atmosphere. everybody was smiling and happy. it's kind of surreal in a way, because you could hear the people outside in the crowds. >> everybody was waiting for the

famous carriage coming with diana and her father, earl spencer, going to st. paul's. >> then you hear the clip-clop as the carriage rolls up. >> leaving clarence house in the glass coach, her father beside her, lady diana spencer. >> her father was quite a big man. there was a lot of diana and the dress and her father in the tiny carriage. a bit of a challenge getting her in there. >> the world gets its first full glimpse of the fairytale princess. and i remember hearing the director in my ear saying to the cameraman who was in the point position to get that shot as she came out of the carriage. go in tight. go in tight. >> this is the moment so many of us have been waiting for. the wedding dress is an ivory

pure silk taffeta. and look at it, isn't it fairy tale? it's in old lace as well, hand embroidered, tiny mother of pearl sequins and pearls. and just look at that train. >> they threw everything including the kitchen sink at that frock. it had frills. it had bows. it had puffed sleeves and ruffles. there was a ton of silk. it was like something out of disney. and then that incredible train at the back of it, which looked magnificent, of course, as she was going up the steps. ♪ >> the fancier came and diana came in on her father's arm. >> the gown was spectacular. and she's such a pretty girl. >> she has very, very little

makeup on today. she is so beautiful she doesn't really need any help from anyone at all. >> wilt thou love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health and forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him so long as you both shall live? >> i will. i, diana frances -- >> take thee, charles philip arthur george -- >> take thee, philip arthur george -- >> to my wedded husband. >> to my wedded husband. >> to have and to hold. >> to have and to hold. >> from this day forward. >> from this day forward. >> according to god's holy law. >> according to god's holy law. >> and there to i give thee my troth. >> and there to i give thee my troth. ♪ >> here is the stuff of which

fairytales are made. the prince and princess on their wedding day. >> so walking down the aisle, i was watching camilla with gray veiled hat, pillbox hat, saw it all. i thought, well, there we are, that's it. that's all over with. >> they locked eyes for a quick second. i spot you. i'm in the fairytale dress. i'm wearing the tiara. i'm up here with charles. i'm marrying him, and you're just a guest. >> out to the open air, into the world and the world's cheers. ♪

>> such a perfect story. here is this lovely young woman marrying prince charles. the most eligible bachelor in the world. >> the beauty of diana at this moment, the glory of diana, the genius of diana was to triumph in the fairytale to capture prince charming. >> i realized i'd taken on an enormous role, but i had no idea what i was getting into. no idea. (driver 1) it's all you. (driver 2) no, i insist.

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then all eyes were on the balcony at buckingham palace. >> diana was born into the aristocracy. at the wedding, diana had the choice of all of the royal tiaras. she chose to wear her own family tiara, the spencer tiara. you've just said no to the queen. incredible. >> that atmosphere of that crowd looking up at the balcony and seeing charles and di, the

center of attention in the middle. i think we all felt we were guests at their wedding and that we were part of the beginning of something very beautiful. >> that famous kiss on the balcony never seen before until then. i have sealed the deal. it sent a message. i am now the princess of wales. >> she was optimistic and she was certainly head over heels in love with him. she really did refer to him as perfect. >> at last, after fond farewells, the young couple manage to get away on their honeymoon.

>> soon they were boarding "britannia," their home for the next two weeks. in the meantime a splendid armada was forming in the harbor with everyone trying to keep up with "britannia" so everyone could see the couple on the veranda deck. >> diana now has to make the marriage work. however, not long after charles and diana boarded the ship, diana spotted a pair of cufflinks charles was wearing that she had never seen before. they were engraved with two cs. do these two cs represent charles and camilla? was this a gift from camilla to charles? diana just couldn't shake this lingering presence of this woman who's been so much a part of charles' life. >> she's on a royal battleship. then she comes to scotland. she goes onto the royal estate of balmoral.

>> imagine a rainy, drizzly, muddy country day. clothes that are the same as what your parents have been wearing for decades. tramping about in the mud. >> it's rainy and it's dark. even in august. and you don't expect that. >> everyone was really delighted when the prince and princess of wales came along as well. >> they play a role at balmoral. >> the princess suitably stunning in what was officially described as a tartan-style suit. >> balmoral is all about being in scotland, and not the real scotland, but the scotland that victoria and albert invented. it was the royal family shooting, hunting, bagging, all of that. she hated shooting. she hated riding. for her it's like, this is it? i got to be here every august? i got to be here?

she looks really, like, get me out of here. >> rained and rained and rained. i came down early from balmoral. back to london. >> once they moved her over to kensington palace, she assured me that she was going to be fine in her new life and her new role. >> the diana that was still very much there decided it was just time, patience, and adapting, all that was needed. >> diana is beginning her married life in london. it was, right, we need to produce a baby and hopefully that baby will be a boy. that is how the royal family has worked for 1,000 years.

>> a godsend. we have a baby on the way. i got married in july, and william was on the way by october. >> if there was one thing about diana, she was just born to be a mother. she was magic with children. >> but charles wasn't always there with her. charles was a busy working member of the royal family. that didn't stop when she announced her pregnancy. it couldn't stop. >> being a young pregnant woman with not enough support was not a good place for diana to be. >> diana is alone and facing the challenge of early motherhood entirely by herself. and she has no mother of her own to talk to. is she going to chat with the queen about how warm a mother the queen has been to her own children? no.

>> it feeds into her issues around abandonment, low self-esteem, is she good enough, and all these issues start to resurface for diana. >> i felt so desperate, and i was crying my eyes out. so i threw myself down the stairs. bearing in mind i was carrying a child. the queen comes out actually horrified. shaking, she's so frightened. just like with bulimia, self harming and cry for help, someone needs to give me attention. the same holds true with diana intentionally throwing herself down the stairs to have someone in the royal family take notice of her and notice that she is

struggling. >> so much of what we know about charles and diana is an assumption here duty would've made him recognize that the duty was not just to the monarchy and people but the woman he married.'s duty to make her happy, giving her the kind of support and advice and comfort she would have needed. >> tech: wow, thank you! >> customer and grandkids: bye! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire.

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a 41 gun salute and then bells from westminster abbey. the new prince slept through most of it. the rest of london nursing the celebration hangover and was not so lucky. >> it takes place only once in a generation. this is just what the doctor ordered. >> it was a moment to remember as the prince and princess left with their son. >> great excitement. the queen looked in the incubator and said thank goodness he hasn't -- . >> diana is beaming.

she is really happy. she produced the -- . age 20. that is terribly young. she had become a princess, a wife and a mother. >> mother and media toy, a member of the family, you name it. it is just too much for one person. >> diana was preparing for the christening. you would think that as the mother of the baby, she would have a lot of say. real christenings were done in a formal and traditional way. set photographers. >> the press officer said i will give you a list. this is how it will happen.

do not approach the queen and do not talk to them. >> i was treated like nobody else's business. it couldn't have been worse. >> william never stopped crying. >> why did she have to go along with it? that is because it is the way it has always been done and it is the way it is done and the way it always will be done in the royal family. >> i was -- . >> the christening fed into diana's worst fears of this royal and stuffy protocol. there is literally no getting away. >> it is everything she doesn't want. i have to figure something else

out to start to do things differently. >> three months after william was born, princess grace of monaco was killed in a car crash. a terrible accident. >> diana felt very strongly about going to the funeral. princess grace had been very kind to her and she felt a keen affinity with her. >> there are protocols of who goes to what. charles said initially no. that is not a good idea. >> she goes straight to the queen. the queen has quite a refreshing response and said if you feel that you are passionate and you want to go then do it. the queen's response empowers princess diana to step forward

and say i am going to princess grace's funeral as a representative of the royal family. >> this is diana's first appearance on the international stage and she nails it. she proves to the family and to herself that she can do this. from this point on, diana will dominate all royal coverage. the question is, can the royal family cope with the new superstar in the palace? >> it was like having a rock star join the family. >> there was so much attention on me.

>> the one man she really wanted to adore her, i did not. >> to the outside world it is still a fairytale. the reality is different. >> for diana to look camilla in the i is a huge show of power. >> she wanted the life she had hoped for. she kept fighting for it. hello and welcome. you were watching cnn. just ahead, jackson's mayor leads with residents to get out immediately as record rain threatens more flooding in mississippi. we will have the forecast from the weather center. we are just hours away from the launch of the most powerful rocket to date. and historic step that will shape the future of