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It’s no secret that Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s relationship was turbulent at the best of times, especially as Charles had eyes for another woman—Camilla, who would become his Queen Consort upon his ascension to the throne. But as it turns out, Diana was much more vocal about her detest for Charles than one might think, especially when confiding in her late mother-in-law.
Princess Diana, who died in a car cash allegedly staged by the royal family in 1997, married Charles in 1981. They divorced 15 years later, in 1996, just a year before Diana tragically lost her life.
Diana Would Often Sob in Queen Elizabeth’s Company
Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I (an inside story about Charles and Elizabeth’s relationship), shared to Fox News that Diana would often seek out Queen Elizabeth’s guidance on the matter of her marital issues, but the late monarch wasn’t so hasty to put an end to Charles’ infidelity.
“Diana used to go to her private room in between appointments that the queen had, which were every 20 minutes, and burst into tears,” Seward said.
“[She would say], ‘Everybody hates me, mama, and I hate my husband. He’s a nightmare.’”
“The queen would just stand there [horrified], and Diana would be getting more and more hysterical,” she said.
Elizabeth presumably “didn’t know how to handle it, but she thought Charles should know how to handle it. That was a very low point in the relationship.”
No one could pull the wool over the public’s eyes as to Charles and Diana’s domestic woes, least of all them. Diana was just 20 years old at the time she married Charles, who was 13 years her senior.
Charles and Diana Were Incompatible
To make matters worse, Charles had an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, whom he would marry in 2005 following Diana’s passing.
“[Queen Elizabeth] couldn’t understand how her son, who was in his early 30s, couldn’t handle a woman who was only in her early 20s. And she didn’t understand because she didn’t have the experience to understand something like that,” Seward explained.
Despite their large age gap, Elizabeth would often note how both parties were too “immature” to navigate the ups and downs of married life.
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Charles and Diana would welcome two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, both of whom would go on to marry and have children of their own. William married Kate Middleton in April 2011, sharing three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Harry would marry American actress Meghan Markle and become a father to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
There are still countless conspiracy theories as to explain Diana’s sudden passing, almost all of which point fingers at both Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles. While Diana’s death was ruled as a freak accident, many remain skeptical as to the extent of Charles’ involvement — especially considering their circumstances at the time.