Princess Diana Was Made Shorter Than Prince Charles When In Pictures

Celebrity | Royals

The Ridiculous Thing You Never Noticed About Prince Charles And Diana's Photos

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Ever since Prince Charles was born, all eyes have been on him.

At 69 years old, the heir to the throne's every move has been scrutinized by the media, such as his tumultuous marriage to the late Princess Diana, and his scandalous affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker Bowles.

But despite a good deal of unwanted attention, the Prince of Wales knew how to present himself when on candid camera.

During their 15-year marriage, Charles and Diana had several professional photos of them distributed to the public, and while many people may not have noticed, there is something peculiar about almost every single one of them.

Photo Manipulation

Although the royal couple were both 5'8, Charles was shown to look nearly a head taller than Diana.

Professor Lisa Wade at the Occidental College in Los Angeles said Charles was portrayed towering over Diana in an effort to reinforce the social norm that men are taller than women and are in the possession of power.

"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.

When Charles and Diana were posed together formally, however, 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."

Twitter Reacts

After social media users caught wind of this revelation, they were quick to point out the sexist nature of this practice.

"One may/may not recall the lengths to which the couple (the crown?) went to disguise #LadyDiana's height. #Conformity #Sexism," one person tweeted.

"It's not about him wearing heels, it's about him making her squat in the photo," someone else chimed in.

Another added, "Even Diana had to go to such lengths (pun intended) to massage the male ego. Relationship soured when she became an individual."

Some people compared the manipulation used in Charles and Diana's photos with images of Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Katie Holmes.

Although Cruise stands at 5'7 and Holmes is 5'9, aside from their wedding photos, they never seemed to mind showing off their height difference.

In a 2005 interview with David Letterman, the Dawson's Creek actress defended Cruise's shorter stature.

"I'm sitting here and I'm thinking Tom Cruise has got the loveliest woman in the world. How does that happen, for God's sakes...? He's shorter than you are," Letterman told Holmes.

Not taking the bail, she responded, "I think he's sexy... I just wanted to add it."

[H/T: The Sun]

Are you the same height as your spouse? If not, let us know the height difference in the comments!

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