WHATEVER LOVE MEANS—DIANA

Although neither or them remembered the occasion, Diana first met her future husband when she was just a baby. It happened during the winter of 1961, when twelve-year-old Charles, Prince of Wales, was visiting his mother’s Sandringham retreat.

At the time, your Prince Charles barely glanced at the tiny baby sleeping in her cot. After all, bow could a twelve-year-old boy be interested in babies?

But the Prince would eventually take a very keen interest in this particular baby —it would just take some time.

In fact, it would be sixteen years before Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer took place in the middle of a farmer’s field during a shooting party in November 1977.

It was a cold, rainy, bleak afternoon when sixteen-year-old Diana, dressed in a borrowed parka that was too large for her, boots, and blue jeans, crossed the field to meet the heir to the British throne.

It was almost twilight when the two came face to face near Nobottle Woods.

“What a sad man,” Diana thought when she first saw him. The future Princess was intrigued to finally meet the most eligible bachelor in England, thought she was not impressed with his five-foot-ten-inch height, thinking to herself that she would tower over him in high heels. But Diana would later say that she admired his beautiful blue eyes.

The Prince later remarked that he thought Diana was “a very jolly and attractive” girl, “full of fun,” though Diana herself believed that “he barely noticed me at all.”

Diana, it was discovered later, first came to the attention of the royal family when she acted as a bridesmaid for her sister Jane’s wedding that April. It was the first major social occasion that Diana attended as a young woman. And many of the royals were surprised at how beautiful and mature the once-gawky girl had become.

Even the Queen Mother. Prince Charles’s grandmother, noticed Diana’s beauty, grace, and charm. She complimented the Earl on the fine job he had done in bringing Diana up.

A short time later, Prince Charles sent his valet to hand-deliver a formal invitation for Diana to accompany him that very evening to the opera and a latenight dinner at the palace.

Though she was flustered, and the invitation came at such short notice, Diana accepted. She and her roommate, Carolyn Bartholomew, hurried to dress and prepare Diana for her big date. The evening was a success, and an invitation to party on the royal yacht came soon after……

Although she was intimidated by the crowd at Balmoral, Diana was wise enough not to stay in the castle itself . She asked for, and was granted, an invitation to stay with her sister Jane and her young husband at their cottage on the Balmoral estate.

The Prince visited Diana there every day, offering to escort her to a barbecue, or extending an invitation for a long walk in the woods.

When Charles went to Switzerland for a ski vacation, Diana missed him terribly. He called her after a day or two, and told Diana he had something important to ask her.

He arrived home on February, 3, 1981.Three days later, he arranged to see Diana at Windsor Castle. Late that evening, while Prince Charles was showing Diana the nursery, he asked her to marry him.

To his surprise, Diana treated his proposal as a joke, She actually giggled. But soon she could see that Prince Charles was serious. Despite an insistent voice inside her head that told her she would never be Queen, she accepted his proposal.

Diana told Prince Charles over and over that she loved him.

“Whatever love means.” Was his reply.

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愛就是一切——黛安娜

盡管兩人已記不清那段往事，可當黛安娜頭一次見到她未來的丈夫時，還只是個孩子。那是在1961年的冬天，當時年僅十二歲的威爾士王儲查爾斯正呆在夏丁漢他母親的休養所。

那時，年輕的查爾斯王子幾乎看都沒看那個睡在童床里的小不點兒。畢竟，十二歲的孩子怎么會對嬰兒感興趣呢？

然而，這位王子最終就是對這個嬰孩產生了強烈的興趣—只不過那是后來的事了。

實際上，查爾斯王子與黛安娜·斯賓塞女士再次相遇已是十六年后了。那次邂逅是在1977年11月的一次鄉村狩獵會途中。

那是一個陰雨綿綿，寒風刺骨的下午，十六歲的黛安娜，身穿借來的一件過大的毛皮風雪大衣，足登長靴，下身是一件藍色牛仔褲。她正經過這片狩獵場朝著這位英國王位繼承人走來。

接近黃昏時分，二人在諾布托樹木附近迎面相遇。

當黛安娜第一眼看到王子時，心里想：“一個多么憂郁的人。”盡管黛安娜對于他五英尺十英寸的身高并不心為然，覺得要是她穿著高跟鞋肯定會高過他，但這位未來的王妃還是期盼與英國最令人中意的單身漢見面。可是黛安娜后來說她很羨慕王子那雙迷人的藍色眼睛。

雖然黛安娜自己認為“他根本沒注意過我”，但王子后來說道，他覺得黛安娜是個“快樂而迷人的”姑娘，“很有趣。”

人們后來發現，黛安娜第一次引起皇室的注意是在那年四月她姐姐簡的婚禮上，當時她是伴娘。這是她成年后參加的第一個大型社交活動，許多皇室成員對這個當初還是個粗笨難看的丫頭，現如今卻出落成如此成熟美麗的女人頗感驚訝。

就連查爾斯王子的祖母王后陛下都注意到了黛安娜的美麗、端莊和迷人。她稱贊伯爵對黛安娜的精心培養。

不久之后，查爾斯王子派隨從親手送給她一張正式的請柬，邀請黛安娜當晚陪伴他去看歌劇并出席午夜的宮廷晚宴。

盡管黛安娜感到局促不安，且請柬來得太匆忙，可她還是接受了。她與她的室友卡洛琳·巴賽洛繆，匆匆忙忙地梳洗打扮并為黛安娜做好了去赴這個重大約會的準備。當晚非常盡興，不久邀請她參加皇家游艇聚會的請柬又接踵而至……..

雖然黛安娜對于拜爾馬洛的眾王族感到有些害怕，可她十分明智沒有前往城堡。她提出請求，并得到批準，邀請她住在姐姐簡和簡的年輕丈夫在拜爾馬洛的別墅中。

王子每天都去那里拜訪她，要么提出陪她參加戶外烤肉宴，要么邀請她去樹林中進行長時間散步。

當查爾斯去瑞士作滑雪旅行時，黛安娜對他朝思暮想。查爾斯到那里一兩天后就打電話給她，告訴黛安娜他回英格蘭后，要問她一些重要的事情。

1981年2月3日他回來了。三天后，他安排在溫莎堡見黛安娜。那天晚上，當查爾斯王子陪黛安娜參觀育嬰室的時候，他向她求婚。

令王子驚訝的是，黛安娜把他的求婚當作了一個玩笑。她咯咯地笑起來。但不久后她看得出查爾斯王子是認真的。盡管她的腦海中一直有個聲音告誡她不要想著去當王妃，可她還是接受了王子的請求。

黛安娜一遍又一遍地對王子說她愛他。

“愛就是一切，”王子答道。