It happened during the hot summer of 1970. Twenty-one-year-old Prince Charles, heir to the British crown, arrived in the United States for the first time on an official visit accompanied by his sister, Princess Anne. At that time, the young Charles was widely considered by the international press to be the world’s most eligible bachelor. His arrival in Washington did not go unnoticed, especially by the sitting president, Richard Nixon, who showed a clear interest in ensuring that his eldest daughter, Tricia, spent as much time as possible with the prince.
The American leader’s plan, as a devoted admirer of the British monarchy and its dazzling glamour, was straightforward yet ambitious. He saw this visit as a unique opportunity to forge a family connection with the royal family. The prince’s visit was carefully planned to bring the young people closer together. Tricia showed their distinguished guest around the capital, then they attended a baseball game at RFK Stadium, sitting side by side, and the highlight was a formal dinner for 700 guests. The evening concluded with a ball, where Charles and Tricia, seated at the same table, took to the dance floor. President Nixon, witnessing the scene, was beside himself with joy.
Tricia Nixon was a charming young woman with a mane of blonde hair—confident and modern. The press endlessly speculated about a possible romance with the prince. However, behind the scenes of these carefully orchestrated events, there was a fundamental disconnect. At the time, Charles was an inexperienced and shy young man, clearly burdened by the label of ‘sex symbol’ forced upon him. In all the photos with the president’s daughter, he looked a bit intimidated. The newspapers ultimately dubbed them ‘the couple that never was.’
In reality, there was never any possibility of a romance. Just a few months after that visit, Tricia married her longtime sweetheart, attorney Edward Cox, a Harvard graduate. Their wedding in the White House garden became one of the most memorable events in presidential history. As for Charles, his path turned out to be far more complicated. Back in 1970, his heart already belonged to someone else—a young aristocrat named Camilla Shand. Their story would stretch over decades before they were finally able to marry.
Years later, Charles III himself would recall, with humor, Nixon’s attempts to marry him off. In an interview in the early 2000s, he smiled as he recounted how they “tried to set me up with Tricia Nixon.” Later, after he became king, he joked about it again at a banquet, noting that he could very well have been married to an American today. His wife, Queen Camilla, received this remark with a slight smile. The grand political scheme of the president—thwarted by a lack of mutual feelings—has since become an amusing historical anecdote.
