Charles, Prince of Wales to remain on a pedestal after marriage. Charles's girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of the British Ambassador to Spain; Lady Jane Wellesley, the daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington; Davina Sheffield; Lady Sarah Spencer; and Camilla Shand, who later became his second wife and Duchess of Cornwall. Early in 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with Charles about a potential marriage to Amanda Knatchbull, who was Mountbatten's granddaughter. Charles wrote to Amanda's mother—Lady Brabourne, who was also his godmother—expressing interest in her daughter, to which she replied approvingly, though she suggested that a courtship with the not yet 17-year-old girl
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have been different statements on why the couple's relationship ended in 1973. Robert Lacey wrote in his 2008 book, "Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II", that Charles had met Camilla too early, and that he had not asked her to wait for him when he went overseas for military duties. Sarah Bradford wrote in her 2007 book, "Diana", that a member of the close circle of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten claimed Mountbatten arranged for Charles to be taken overseas to end the relationship with Camilla to make way for an engagement between his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull, and Charles. Some sources