The media interest in Princess Diana skyrocketed following the announcement she was engaged to King Charles in February 1981.
While she quickly became known as The People's Princess, Diana admitted very early in her relationship with Charles that she was aware her role in the royal family would be "challenging." In fact, just days before their wedding, which took place at St Paul's in July 1981, the royal couple sat down for an interview where they candidly opened up about "surviving" with all the "cameras poking at you" – which her son Prince Harry has compared to his wife Meghan Markle's experience.
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"I'm more used to it, knowing for years the cameras are poking at you from every quarter and recording every twitch you make. So you can get used to it to a certain extent, and on those occasions, that's part of it," began Charles, referring to the impending wedding.
He added: "If you don't work out in your own minds some kind of method for existing and surviving this kind of thing, you would go mad."
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The royal couple announced their engagement in February 1981
After acknowledging she had experienced six months of paparazzi at that point, Diana confessed was was "just" coping, and said: "[Prince Charles has been] a tower of strength. He replied: "Precious," and she jokingly continued: "I had to say that because you're sitting right there!"
Things turned more serious when Diana was asked about her thoughts about taking on the role of the Princess of Wales, a title now held by her son Prince William's wife Princess Kate.
Charles and Diana opened up about media interest in their relationship days before their wedding
"I very much look forward to going to Wales to meet everybody," replied Princess Diana, and she paused before continuing: "But my life will be a great challenge."
More recently, the Duke of Sussex opened up about the paparazzi's reaction to his relationship with Duchess Meghan going public in 2016. In the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, they said the former Suits actress was "followed" by paparazzi, who surrounded her home in Toronto.
After complaining to the police, she was told there was "nothing we can do because of who you're dating." Meghan's mother Doria Ragland also added: "I felt unsafe a lot," and said: "I was being stalked by the paparazzi."
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