In today’s day and age, aspiring royals like Meghan Markle can’t walk down the aisle without Queen Elizabeth’s seal of approval. But when Princess Diana joined the royal family, the vetting process was a little more, um, invasive.
Princes Di and royal brides before her had to prove that they were virgins before they were given the wedding greenlight, and all we can say is we’ve never been more grateful to be married to a non-royal.
While there was no explicit rule that said royal brides had to be virgins, it was an accepted part of a royal protocol. So before Diana could marry Prince Charles, her family had to confirm that she was, in fact, a virgin.
Diana’s chastity was one of the things that Queen Elizabeth liked most about her, according to Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles. The book alleges that Queen E chose Diana for Charles specifically because she was “irresistibly innocent” and didn’t have an ex-boyfriend who could air her dirty laundry.
