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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Zahna Eklund

Princess Diana fans spot unusual detail in old photos of her with King Charles

King Charles III and his first wife, Princess Diana, were often pictured together during their 15-year marriage, with professional shots capturing everything from their engagement to the birth of their two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

But there's one unusual detail in many of the photographs that still leaves royal fans stumped - King Charles' height.

Several of the pictures taken of the monarch and the late Princess - who died in 1997 - show His Majesty standing several inches taller than Diana, when in reality, the couple were actually the same height, exactly 1.78m, which is just under 5ft 9.

King Charles often looked much taller than Diana (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
But they were actually around the same height (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

When you see the couple standing next to each other, it's indisputable, as confirmed by their official engagement photo, anniversary snaps and cute family portraits.

In fact, Princess Diana would often wear shoes that were flat or only had a very small heel so that she didn't tower over her then-husband, and even had to choose her wedding shoes carefully to make sure she wasn't too tall.

But despite their similar heights, many photos taken during their marriage show King Charles - who at the time of their marriage was the Prince of Wales - to be significantly taller than Diana.

One fan on social media previously shared a series of pictures which showed the monarch looking taller than Diana, and many others took to the comments to talk about the unusual detail.

Someone wrote: "That's why she always tilted her head down. She also wore flats or very short heels."

As someone else said His Majesty may have been "standing on a box" in the photos to give people the illusion that he was significantly taller than his then-wife.

According to an article on The Society Pages, it may have something to do with the societal expectation that men should be taller than women.

Lisa Wade PhD, a professor at Occidental College, suggested: "They were typically arranged so as to suggest that he was significantly taller than her, or at least to disguise the fact that he was not.

"This effort to make Charles appear taller is a social commitment to the idea that men are taller and women shorter. When our own bodies, and our chosen mates, don’t follow this rule, sometimes we’ll go to great lengths to preserve the illusion."

While this wasn't confirmed as the official reason, it could be an explanation as to why King Charles and Princess Diana were the same height in most of their pictures together.

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