This is what really happened on Lady Di and Prince Charles’ trip to Australia

Season 4 of The Crown showed us several moments in the relationship of Lady Di and Prince Charles, but one that was crucial was the trip to Australia that they both took in 1983.

In the sixth episode of the new season, titled Terra Nullius (No Man’s Land), the Prince and Princess of Wales embark on a six-week trip to Australia and New Zealand.

And it truly was a No Man’s Land for the couple, who struggled to put aside their marital problems and distinctly different personalities for the good of the Crown… to no avail.

But The Crown is historical fiction and as such there were details that were modified or omitted and that give a more complete perspective about what happened on that intense tour.

That’s why in this note we will tell you everything that really happened on that definitive trip to Australia and how the relationship between Carlos and Lady Di changed once and for all.

A delicate political situation

At the time Lady Di Carlos traveled to Australia, the country was seriously thinking about becoming independent from the Commonwealth.

The movement was led by Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke, who 12 days before the royal couple’s visit said that he “did not believe there were any more kings in Australia”, referring to Charles.

And he assured that sooner rather than later the people would end up voting to have a republic. So making a good impression was vital for the monarchy.

However, as it was Diana of Wales’s first diplomatic trip, and based on her until then shy and withdrawn character, many feared that she would not meet expectations.

Lady Di broke protocol and took her son

As shown in the series, Diana refused to follow the protocol that indicated that children could not travel with their parents on international tours.

At that time William was only 10 months old and his mother was not willing to leave him.

So he took him with him and between engagements, Diana and Carlos went to see their firstborn at a ranch where they took care of him.

The press did not love Lady Di from the beginning

Contrary to what is seen in the series, the Australian media did not immediately love Lady Di.

In fact, by then the rumors of his instability and the eating disorder he suffered were already on everyone’s lips, so journalists were attentive to any gesture of weakness.

And so it was, the first headlines spoke of the princess looking “sunburned”, “fatigued”, “with drooping eyes”.

The series recreates this discomfort on Charles and Diana’s expedition to Ayers Rock (now called Uluru) in which she complains of the heat and claims to feel dizzy.

Although in reality, what bothered Lady Di was not the sun, but rather that her dress kept rising in the air. So if she didn’t want to go up, it was because she was afraid that the entire press would see her underwear.

Years later, in 2014, William would take Kate Middleton and her son, Prince George to the same location.

Lady Di cried in public during the trip

Although she was loved throughout Australia, the Princess of Wales did not have a good time, and in one of her appearances at the Sydney Opera House she burst into tears allegedly after a fight with her husband.

A photographer captured the moment and described it like this in the documentary Inside The Crown: Secrets of The Royals:

I’m about a meter away from the princess and I’m trying to capture a little bit of the opera and the crowd in the background and then Diana started crying and sobbed for a couple of minutes.

I don’t think Carlos realized she was crying on stage. And if she did, it was typical of him to look the other way.”

Even so, both tried to keep up appearances and managed to fool everyone into believing that they were a happy couple in love.

The dance at the Sheraton was real

However, after those small incidents, the marriage was a success in Australia, especially at the gala ball at the Sheraton Wentworth Hotel.

Likewise, the prince played polo where he scored a goal (although the series only shows him falling off his horse) and they both shared stories about their son William on radio and television.

(By the way, little William did love his stuffed Koala.)

Carlos WAS jealous of Lady Di

The trip to Australia would make Lady Di a star. So much so that her popularity completely eclipsed that of her husband, the future heir to the throne.

Photographers, reporters and people looked for her and not him to greet her. And when they spoke to him about her it was only to congratulate him for having such a beautiful, funny and gentle wife.

In an interview with the writer Sarah Bradford, one of the couple’s bodyguards even said that Lady Di’s reception was comparable to Beatlemania.

Of course, this did not sit well with Carlos, his wife’s success had hit him to the depths of his pride. Diana herself said it:

“We’d walk around Australia and all you’d hear was ‘she’s on the other side.’ And if you’re a proud man like my husband, it worries you if you hear that for four weeks.

It depresses you instead of making you feel happy and I want to share it. “A lot of complicated situations arose out of that, she said.”