The Reasons for Princess Diana and King Charles’s Divorce

The royal union between His Majesty King Charles and the late Princess Diana was a highly publicized event that captured global attention. In 1981, their nuptials were witnessed by 3,500 esteemed guests at St. Paul’s Cathedral, with an astounding 750 million viewers tuning in worldwide. However, their separation in 1992 and the finalization of their divorce in August 1996 were conducted with a greater degree of privacy, albeit punctuated by revealing interviews from both parties, offering insights into their perspectives.

Season 4 of the acclaimed series “The Crown” provides an intimate portrayal of the marriage between Charles and Diana, imaginatively depicting the moments away from the public eye. Spanning the years 1977 to 1990, the season concludes before their formal separation or divorce proceedings, yet the palpable unhappiness between the couple sets the stage for the events that would unfold in subsequent seasons.

Throughout the series, a sense of foreboding permeates both characters, potentially reflecting the real-life circumstances. The biography “Charles At Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes And Dreams” alleges that Charles, aged 32 at the time, harbored doubts about marrying Diana, who was 20 years old, after only 13 dates. According to biographer Robert Jobson, Charles allegedly confided, “I desperately wanted to get out of the wedding in 1981, when during the engagement I discovered just how awful the prospects were having had no chance whatsoever to get to know Diana beforehand.”

This ambivalence was evident in the famous engagement interview in 1981, where Charles awkwardly responded, “Whatever in love means” when questioned about his feelings for Diana. The couple’s relationship continued to deteriorate, leading to their eventual separation and divorce, which will be portrayed in future seasons of “The Crown” by actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki, replacing Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin.

The publication of Andrew Morton’s biography, “Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words,” in 1992 proved to be a watershed moment in the tumultuous marriage of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles. This tell-all book, featuring candid interviews with the princess herself, shattered the long-standing royal precedent of maintaining silence on personal matters.

In the book, Diana provided an unvarnished account of her struggles within the marriage, including her battle with an eating disorder, suicide attempts, her husband’s enduring affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and her feelings of despair. Her revelations were a “Molotov cocktail hurled at the House of Windsor,” as Tina Brown aptly described it, asserting that Diana would not settle for the “structural infidelity” that had maintained royal marital facades in the past.

The book’s publication coincided with a period of turmoil for the royal family, with Queen Elizabeth II famously referring to 1992 as her “annus horribilis” due to the scandalous revelations and the public separation of Charles and Diana. The book’s instant success and the ensuing media frenzy further exacerbated the strain on the royal couple’s already fractured relationship.

In a subsequent interview with the BBC’s Martin Bashir in 1995, Diana acknowledged the shock and disappointment felt by the royal family over the book’s disclosures, which had brought into the open what was once hidden from public view. The book’s impact was profound, forcing the couple to confront and address their marital issues in the public eye, ultimately leading to their divorce in 1996.

The separation between the couple caused Diana profound sadness and anguish. Diana candidly discussed the state of her marriage in Andrew Morton’s book, prompting public speculation about the future of their relationship. The couple recognized the need to address the situation, which had become untenable, leading Charles to request a separation, a decision Diana supported despite the deep sadness it brought her.

In December 1992, after 11 years of marriage and two sons, Diana and Charles officially announced their separation. This marked a significant shift in Diana’s role, where her freedoms became increasingly limited, with visits abroad being blocked, opportunities denied, and correspondence lost. Life became challenging for her as the separated wife of the Prince of Wales.

Following the separation in 1992, the royal couple became more open about their deteriorating relationship, each giving impactful interviews with different journalists, presenting their perspectives. On June 29, 1994, a two-and-a-half-hour TV documentary featuring Charles aired, in which he admitted to infidelity after his marriage to Diana had irretrievably broken down.

Similarly, in her interview with Martin Bashir on BBC’s Panorama, Diana acknowledged her own infidelities and her relationship with Major James Hewitt. She famously stated, “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” alluding to Charles’s infidelities. Diana also questioned Charles’s fitness to be king and criticized the monarchy for being out of touch.

Through this interview, Diana expressed her readiness to move on, stating, “I don’t sit here with resentment: I sit here with sadness because a marriage hasn’t worked. I sit here with hope because there’s a future ahead, a future for my husband, a future for myself and a future for the monarchy.” The Panorama interview provided Diana with the popular support she needed to pursue a divorce on her terms.

The recorded phone conversation between Charles and Camilla, which contained inappropriate remarks, led to further turmoil within the royal family. The Crown series has decided to omit this notorious incident from its portrayal of events. Josh O’Connor, the actor portraying Charles, affirmed that the controversial “tampon phone call” would not be depicted, as it was a condition he set when accepting the role.

The phone call in question occurred in 1989 when Charles was still married to Diana, and Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles. During the flirtatious conversation, Charles made an inappropriate joke about wanting to be Camilla’s tampon, leading to an equally inappropriate response from Camilla.

After Charles and Diana’s separation, Princes William and Harry divided their time between their parents. The princes attended Ludgrove boarding school during much of the turmoil leading up to the official separation announcement in December 1992. According to reports, Harry seemed bewildered, while William burst into tears, expressing hope that his parents would be happy.

During the separation period, the princes shuttled between their parents’ diverging lives, with Diana socializing with a new celebrity circle, including Elton John and Jemima Khan. William later reflected on the difficulty of not seeing enough of either parent during that time.

One of the most iconic images from this period is a photograph of Diana, dressed casually, enjoying a day at Thorpe Park with her sons in 1993.

Ultimately, it was Queen Elizabeth II who urged Diana to agree to an early divorce from Charles in 1995, writing a letter stating that it was in the “best interests of the country.” The Queen had discussed the matter with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prime Minister, who agreed that a divorce was necessary.

The debate surrounding Diana’s retention of her royal title after her divorce from Prince Charles was a matter of significant discussion and scrutiny. In 1994, following a series of revelations about her marriage in the tabloid press, Prince Philip summoned Diana to a meeting, as documented in Andrew Morton’s book. According to the account, Prince Philip issued a stern warning, stating, “If you don’t behave, my girl, we’ll take your title away.” Diana, however, responded with a resolute and defiant stance, asserting, “My title is a lot older than yours, Philip,” a reference to her aristocratic lineage as the daughter of the Earl Spencer.

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Ultimately, upon her divorce in August 1996, Diana was required to relinquish her style of “Her Royal Highness” (HRH) when entering public life, being known simply as Diana, Princess of Wales. Her son, Prince William, reportedly promised to restore her title once he ascended the throne, as recounted by Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, in his book “A Royal Duty.”

The divorce settlement finalized in August 1996, a year before Diana’s untimely death, granted her a lump sum of £17 million and an annual payment of £400,000. While she lost her HRH title, Diana maintained her residence at Kensington Palace and other ties to her royal life. Her staff was significantly reduced, consisting of a cleaner, cook, dresser, and her butler, Burrell. Notably, Diana refused to retain her royal security detail after the divorce, a decision that is particularly poignant in light of her subsequent tragic demise.

In the immediate aftermath of signing the divorce papers, Diana was seen wearing her wedding band and her iconic diamond and sapphire engagement ring, a symbolic gesture that, as Andrew Morton wrote, “reminded the world not only of the sad dissolution of their marriage that morning at Somerset House, but the joyous day of promises at St. Paul’s Cathedral fifteen years before.” However, after the divorce, Diana replaced her famous sapphire engagement ring with an aquamarine one that she had purchased herself.

Years later, during their respective weddings, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton paid tribute to Diana’s legacy by wearing her aquamarine ring and her sapphire engagement ring, respectively, further solidifying the enduring significance of these symbolic pieces of jewelry.

In the aftermath of the divorce, Charles’s association with Camilla became a matter of public knowledge. According to Brown’s biographical account, those in the inner circles of Charles and Diana held the belief that their marriage could have endured, had it not been for a singular factor: Camilla, Charles’s long-standing romantic interest. “The marriage could have been salvaged by a workable compromise that might have eventually evolved into a lasting resolution,” Patrick Jephson, Diana’s aide, conveyed to Brown.

However, the circumstances unfolded differently, and Camilla’s presence in Charles’s life became more overt during the period of separation, precipitated by Morton’s literary work. “Diana now realized that by revealing Camilla’s existence to Morton, she had inadvertently bestowed a favor upon her rival. The revelation further entrenched Camilla’s position in the Prince’s life,” Brown documented.

Camilla and her spouse, Andrew Parker Bowles, dissolved their marriage in 1994, subsequent to the publication of Dimbleby’s biographical work on Charles. Camilla and Charles ultimately solemnized their union in 2005.