The Complicated Life And Death Of Lady Tryon, Who Was Part Of King Charles’ Inner Circle

If things had gone a little differently, the royal family might be unrecognizable as we know it today. You see, before Princess Diana and even before Queen Camilla, King Charles III allegedly had a serious romance with another high-class blonde. This was Lady Dale Tryon, who went by the nickname “Kanga” due to her Australian background. She had it all: looks, riches, talent, and by all accounts a genuine understanding of the future King’s personality. But unfortunately her life would turn out to be every bit as tragic as Diana’s, if not more so.

Clicked

Dale first met Charles in 1966 when he was schooled while in Australia. It seems they clicked right from the beginning. And from there the connection between the pair would seemingly last a lifetime, even though both ended up married to other people. It’s clear that Camilla is the only woman for Charles now, one he fought for years to be able to wed. Yet he did once apparently refer to Dale as “the only woman who ever really understood me.” Now that sounds pretty serious!

Spina bifida

But unfortunately Dale had a pretty rough life right from the start. She was born with spina bifida, and even though it was a relatively minor case of the disorder, it prevented her from walking until she was nine years old. She seemed to overcome this at first, though. She married a British aristocrat and friend of Charles — Anthony Tryon — in 1973. When his father died he became Lord Tryon: that gave her a title, too. She had the sort of power and wealth of which most people could have only dreamt, but it didn’t make her happy.

Kanga

The media has long reported that Charles gave Dale the nickname “Kanga,” but actually that wasn’t the case. When newspaper The Australian published an inaccurate article about Dale after her untimely death, her own brother wrote to the paper to correct the misconceptions, and said that in actual fact, it had been Anthony who gave her the nickname. He also pointedly said that Dale very much wanted to be married to Anthony and it wasn’t any sort of arrangement to get her out of the way, such as what allegedly happened with Camilla.

“Unsuitable”

So the story goes, the royal family were desperate that Charles should not marry Camilla, even though he loved her. Camilla was deemed an unsuitable bride, too “experienced” for Charles apparently. Allegedly, Charles was sent away with the Navy at first, separating him from Camilla, and then the royals pushed Camilla towards Andrew Parker Bowles and Charles towards the much younger — but seemingly perfect — Diana Spencer. Of course, that relationship ended disastrously, but no-one could have known that back then.