The sneaky camera 'trick' behind these wedding photos of Prince Charles and Princess Diana

We all know the camera lens can lie and photographers were able to manipulate images of Prince Charles and Princess Diana to suit a particular narrative the palace wanted to convey.

In February 1981, the engagement of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer was announced by the Lord Chancellor.

The couple had been dating for just six months and had met in person 13 times before.

A photoshoot took place at Buckingham Palace to mark the engagement, with the images showing Prince Charles towering over his fiancée.

But they were actually the same height – around 1.78 metres (or five feet 10 inches), despite attempts to make Prince Charles much taller than he really was.

It was all due to a camera trick used by photographers, reportedly done to promote traditional gender roles and not to emasculate the future king.

READ MORE: The words that 'traumatised' Diana during her engagement to Prince Charles

The engagement photos had Prince Charles standing on a few steps higher than his wife-to-be.

But other photos taken at the same time show them walking along the grass outside the palace and the look to be the same height, with Diana wearing flat shoes.

The same trick was used several months later by Princess Margaret's photographer husband Lord Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, who took a series of photos ahead of the royal wedding.

The images were used on an official postage stamp to commemorate the wedding and used in the official wedding program.

Even newspapers at the time ran the story about the height difference, with one headline declaring, 'Snowdon camera tricks keep Charles ahead'.

"He took special steps to disguise the fact that Lady Diana at around 5ft10in is only slightly shorter than the prince," the paper read.

"This picture shows them standing with Lady Diana's eyes almost level with the knot of Prince Charles' tie."

The photo used for the wedding program souvenir has Diana seated while Charles is standing next to her.

READ MORE: Princess Diana's wedding dress to go on display at Kensington Palace for the first time in decades, loaned by princes William and Harry

The two photos were released by the palace on May 11 "to beat commercial publishers" the newspaper reported.

Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, at St Paul's Cathedral in London.